Just realized the local native plant sale is a better bet than the big box store garden center

I bought a flat of the same coneflower from both places last spring. The native sale plants, grown from local seed, didn't need any babying, while the store-bought ones got powdery mildew by August. Anyone else find that 'local' actually means 'hardier' in practice?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicew681d ago

My local hardware store gets its plants from a big regional grower, and honestly they thrive just fine. I mean, that coneflower you bought could have just been a bad batch. Those native sales often have volunteers doing the growing, and the quality can be really hit or miss. A professional nursery has way more control over disease and soil quality from the start. Sometimes a plant just gets sick, it doesn't mean where you bought it is the problem. I've had plenty of big box store plants outlive the fancy local ones.

jordan_young1d ago

Tell me about it, my local sale plants just laugh at our weird weather.

hayes.jake1d ago

Switched to a local native plant sale last year. Got a milkweed that looked rough but perked up after a week in the ground. Their stuff is grown right here, so it's already used to our crazy soil and weather swings.