Did you walk into your local garden center recently looking for native plants and come home empty-handed? You’re not alone. Demand for native and drought-tolerant plants has surged: A 2024 NWF and National Gardening Association survey found 17% of U.S. adults are now buying native plants, and 28% are buying plants that benefit pollinators. Because of these trends, garden centers across the country are struggling to keep up.
If you want help navigating this and getting the right native plants in the ground, Lawn Love’s local gardening pros have the sourcing relationships to find what you need.
| Key takeaways |
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| • Native plant demand is outpacing supply nationally; in a recent study, 17% of U.S. adults are now buying native plants, and 28% are buying plants that benefit pollinators. • Native plant production is slower than conventional ornamentals and cannot be scaled quickly to meet current demand. • Big-box retailers rarely carry locally sourced natives, and many “native” labels are cultivars with reduced pollinator value. • Native plant society sales, specialty nurseries, and mail-order are the most reliable sources this spring. |
Why demand for native plants is surging
According to the 2025 Native Plant Market Report by Nursery Management, 82% of growers and garden centers say demand for native plants has gone up over the last 5 years. In fact, 75% of these pros say customer demand is the main reason they carry native plants at all.
Several trends are hitting at once:
Drought and water restrictions
Outdoor watering restrictions are tightening across the South and West. Denver has Stage 1 limits, a modified Phase III restriction affects 11 Florida counties through July 2026, and Texas is dealing with a sixth consecutive year of drought. Homeowners are actively looking for plants that can survive without extra irrigation. Native plants adapted to local rainfall over thousands of years are the most sustainable option.
Pollinator awareness
News about bee decline has reached mainstream audiences. A 2025 NatureServe assessment found 34.7% of native bee species face elevated extinction risk, and homeowners planting butterfly gardens and pollinator habitats are choosing natives to help support declining bee populations and actually give those spaces the ecological function they were designed to have.
Aesthetics and low maintenance
Native landscaping has shed its weedy image. A 2022 national study of more than 1,196 U.S. native plant buyers found 69% described native plants as aesthetically pleasing, and the American Society of Landscape Architects consistently cites native plantings as a cornerstone of sustainable residential design.
The low-maintenance appeal is just as important. Once they settle in, native plants are used to your local rainfall and soil. This reduces or completely eliminates the need for extra watering, fertilizer, and bug sprays. When buyers pick native plants, nursery pros say their customers care most about helping the environment (70%), keeping yard work easy (49%), and bringing in birds and bees (45%).
Legislation
In the 2026 session, Virginia legislators advanced multiple invasive plant control bills. These measures aim to phase out the sale of noxious weeds and fund local control efforts.
Massachusetts has added maiden grass to its prohibited plant list, with a phase-out that stops new imports as of Dec. 8, 2025, and ends all legal sales after Dec. 31, 2026.
Colorado’s SB 24-005, effective Jan. 1, 2026, prohibits new nonfunctional turf, artificial turf, and state-listed invasive plants on commercial, institutional, and some public properties statewide. This pushes designers toward water-wise and native plant options. As more states ban invasive plants, people are rushing to buy native replacements. This puts even more pressure on native nurseries that are already struggling to keep up.
Why supply can’t keep up
In the 2025 Native Plant Market Report, 52% of nursery pros said a lack of supply is their biggest challenge when selling native plants. Native plants are genuinely harder to produce commercially than conventional ornamentals.
Slow propagation
Many natives require a cold dormancy period before seeds will germinate, while others need specific soil conditions. You can’t rush them the way you can a petunia.
“Many native species take a lot longer to produce compared to typical ornamental plants,” says Micah Burgess, general manager at Heroes Lawn Care in Austin, Texas. “For example, trilliums and some native lilies can take years just to reach a size where they’re ready to sell.”
Gaetano Virone, owner at Environmental Designers Irrigation in New Jersey, hears the same thing from growers.
“The bottlenecks I hear from growers and see on job timelines are species that don’t behave like plug-and-play ornamentals,” Virone says. “Milkweeds can be finicky to size up uniformly, and redbud takes patience to get to a sellable, landscape-ready plant.”
Local genetics matter
A coneflower grown from Colorado seed isn’t ecologically equivalent to one from North Carolina. Local ecotypes are adapted to specific conditions and are more valuable to local pollinators.
Virone says that mismatched genetics cause major watering issues.
“If someone in Virginia plants a native grown from Oregon-sourced seed, I’ve seen the consequence show up as chronic stress that people misdiagnose as ‘needs more water’. Then they overwater, get runoff, and the whole ‘native equals low input’ promise collapses,” he explains.
Tyler Wilson, owner at Copperhead Property Maintenance in Tampa, Florida, adds that out-of-state genetics ruin bloom timing.
“If you plant a Virginia native that was sourced or seeded from Oregon, you can get mismatches in bloom timing and growth habits. So pollinators and birds miss the window,” Wilson says.
Big-box retailers prioritize volume
Home Depot and Lowe’s stock what’s available in large quantities at consistent cost. Native plants are regionally specific, lower-volume items. The production pipeline that supplies big-box stores wasn’t built for this kind of demand.
Where to find native plants this spring
Native plant society sales
This is the single best source in most regions. State and local native plant societies host annual spring plant sales. Members propagate plants from local seed, meaning you get genetically appropriate plants.
Most sales happen in April and early May. Search “[your state] native plant society spring sale.”
Independent specialty nurseries
Local independent nurseries specializing in natives carry stock that big-box retailers skip. Ask specifically whether their plants are locally sourced or grown from local seed.
Conservation districts and extension offices
Mike Marlow, co-founder of Heroes Lawn Care, recommends looking beyond traditional retail stores and nurseries.
“Local soil water conservation districts frequently hold seasonal plant sales, which are a great source for native species,” Marlow says.
Virone offers another hidden gem.
“Talk to your local cooperative extension office. In New Jersey, they maintain relationships with small propagators and restoration nurseries that never advertise publicly,” Virone says.
Mail-order specialists
When local supply is thin, mail-order is a reliable fallback. Places like Prairie Moon Nursery and Prairie Nursery ship bare-root plants and plugs timed to your planting zone. They also list the seed source regions for their plants.
What to do if you can’t find what you want
Be flexible about species
If purple coneflower is sold out, black-eyed Susan supports similar pollinators. Learning which plant families you’re trying to support (asters, milkweeds, native grasses) makes it easier to substitute.
Buy small
Four-inch pots and plugs are cheaper and more likely to be in stock. Native plants grow quickly once established.
Marlow prefers plugs.
“It can match the size of a 1-gallon plant by the second year, mainly because it avoids the transplant shock that larger, container-grown plants often experience. Instead of adjusting, it can focus right away on establishing strong roots,” Marlow says.
On the other hand, Davy Wright, owner at Wright’s Nursery & Greenhouse, Inc. in Plantersville, Alabama, urges caution.
“Plugs are a great option if you’re planting a large landscape and don’t mind losing a few plants. They will have a harder time establishing due to competition from more aggressive plants,” he says. “Natives getting choked out are the most common problems. Homeowners should be aware of natives competing with more aggressive neighboring plants.”
Get on waitlists
Call specialty nurseries in late winter or early spring and ask to be added to a waitlist. Many sell out before plants hit the sales floor.
Work with a landscape professional
Designers who specialize in native plantings often have wholesale relationships with native nurseries that give them access to plants the general public can’t find. A pro can also plan a phased approach, planting what’s available now, filling in future seasons.
Plan ahead and pre-order
Most native plant society sales and conservation districts open their ordering in late fall or mid-winter. They almost always sell out of popular species weeks before the actual pickup date. If you wait until April to start looking, you are only shopping the leftovers. You can set a calendar reminder to check sales lists a few months in advance.
How to ensure you’re buying truly native plants
Even when you find plants on the shelf, not everything labeled native or pollinator-friendly actually delivers the benefits you want.
Use native plant finders before you shop
Spend 10 minutes with a native plant lookup tool before you head to a sale, like the National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder.
Check the plant tag
Look for a Latin name on the tag, not just a cute marketing name.
“Best consumer tip to spot straight species vs a dressed-up cultivar: look at the tag like you’re doing a soil test. Read the Latin name,” Wilson says. “If it’s just the two-part name, you’re usually looking at the straight species. If it has a cultivar name in quotes, it’s been selected and bred. Those can be less useful to local insects even if they look better in a brochure.”
Ask about pesticides
Systemic insecticides like neonicotinoids can be taken up by the plant and persist in leaves, nectar, and pollen. This turns a pollinator-friendly plant into a toxic trap.
At big-box stores, it’s often impossible to tell which plants were treated. Buy from native plant nurseries or botanical garden sales that explicitly state they do not use systemic insecticides.
Avoid wild-collected plants
You might be tempted to dig up a beautiful flower from the woods or buy rescued plants from a roadside stand, but both are harmful and often illegal. Digging up wildflowers is explicitly prohibited in many states, where it can be treated as a misdemeanor. On National Forests, National Parks, and BLM land, collecting plants without a permit is a federal offense.
Beyond legal risks, removing plants from wild populations harms the very local ecosystems you are trying to help.
If a seller cannot tell you exactly where their plants came from or if they brag about digging them straight out of the forest, just walk away.
FAQs
Yes, with caveats. A Pacific Northwest field study from Oregon State University found pollinators preferred native species over cultivars 37% of the time compared to their cultivated nativar versions.
“The nursery industry will continue to sell more native species but they are not necessarily true natives and are referred to as nativars,” he says.
“These nativars are bred to be more eye appealing and create an emotional response from consumers. Many of the nativars have been selected for unique beauty and are not beneficial to pollinators,” Wright says.
Breeders are beginning to see this and putting more focus on selecting for both beauty and pollinator-friendly traits. Specialty growers and seed collectors will continue to be the best choice for true native plants,” he continues.
Yet, many cultivars still provide significant benefits compared to non-native ornamentals. When in doubt, the straight species is better, but a cultivar beats nothing.
Slower propagation, smaller production runs, and regionally specific sourcing all add cost. Native plants are also typically sold without the heavy fertilization and pest control that make conventional ornamentals look perfect on the shelf. They may look scrappier at the point of sale, but they are hardier long-term.
Many native perennials follow the classic rule of thumb: sleep, creep, leap. In year one, they focus on roots and may look unremarkable. In year two, they start to spread and fill in. In year three, they often really take off.
During the sleep phase, homeowners often panic.
“Homeowners often assume the plant isn’t doing anything and end up overwatering or even digging it up to check on it,” Marlow explains. “In reality, the plant is putting most of its energy into root development. Leave it alone, stay consistent with watering and you’ll see better results.”
Let the pros build your native garden
Getting the right plants in the right spots, and finding them when supply is tight, takes expertise and sourcing relationships most homeowners don’t have.
Lawn Love connects you with local gardening pros who can help you design, source, and plant a native garden that works for your yard this spring.
Main Image: A certified wildlife habitat and rain garden. Photo Credit: Amy Stenglein / Lawn Love
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