Where to go for the native plants to get your at-home garden growing
The case for native plants holds water.
The benefits of filling your garden with local flowers, shrubs and trees are truly endless, but perhaps the greatest advantage is how they tend to easily attract pollinators, promoting a vital biodiversity that helps keep our little South Fork circle of life going ‘round. Most garden centers and nurseries found across the Hamptons carry a robust selection to pick from in both seed and sapling format. As far as prices, packets of seeds are affordable and easy to procure, while gallon plants typically range from around $10 up to $50, depending on size. Go on a dreamy day of native plant exploration to a few of our favorite places — complete with the preferred picks of local experts.
Sag Harbor Garden Center
11 Spring St., Sag Harbor, 631-725-3345
“I’m a huge fan of planting native pollinators to keep our bees, butterflies and birds healthy and happy and our local ecosystem going,” says Linnette Roe, owner of Sag Harbor Garden Center.
Roe consistently offers myriad pollinator-attracting perennials, trees and shrubs, but Milkweed (both Asclepias incarnata and Asclepias tuberosa, vital for the survival of monarch butterflies), False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides), Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hir-ta), Seaside Goldenrod (solidago sempervirens), Dense Blazing Star Plant (Liatris spicata), New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis), and Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis) rank among her favorites and will attract bees, hummingbirds and butterflies well into the fall.
Though not technically a Long Island native, Roe also recommends Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), a perennial plant from the mint family. “I personally love this plant for its very long bloom time and its deer resistance,” she says. “With periodic trimming, you can keep this plant blooming all summer and into the fall, giving so many different pollinators the chance to visit.”
White Oak Farm & Gardens
74 North Ferry Road, Shelter Island, 631-749-5814
Coneflowers (echinacea purpurea) are consistently recommended at White Oak for their vibrancy as well as their minimal maintenance. Available in a variety of colors, they’re drought-tolerant and have a long bloom time. Beautyberry (Calicarpa americana) is also a top pick, as the large shrub has long, arching stems covered in electric purple berries that provide a late-season food source for local birds. Fittingly, White Oak (Quercus alba), the preeminent hardwood of eastern and central North America, is another popular choice from the Shelter Island locale, as the species is known for its large shade-producing canopy that provides pollinators not just with food but with shelter.
Marders
120 Snake Hollow Road, Bridgehampton, 631-537-3700)
As far as native plants go, Marders has all the basic standbys, with their current catalog boasting at least 50 familiar florae. “The list of native plants sold at Marders could remind one of that old song ‘99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall’ and feel a little overwhelming,” says Victoria Tetrault, a representative from the research and marketing team at the iconic 40-acre garden center and nursery.
Unusual native grasses available at Marders are the sedge-like Mulhy grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) and the tall, bamboo-like — but not nearly as
invasive — Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium). Both are excellent for not only attracting butterflies of all kinds but for enticing lacewings — insects that act as beneficial predators, eating a variety of garden pests.
“Most importantly, before one starts making decisions on any plants, native or otherwise, a landscape’s design plus the specific rubrics of the particular property’s macroclimate (and possible microclimates), its soil structure, its nutrition, its level of microbial soil life, its percolation and drainage must all be considered in order to create a thriving plant community,” Tetrault and her team say. “The thing to ask is what will support and increase diversity, not just above the soil but also below it.”
Wittendale’s Florist and Greenhouses
89 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, 631-324-7160
Sharing that sentiment is Don Horowitz, co-owner at Wittendale’s Florist and Greenhouses, as he and his team offer an ever-expanding selection of perennials, herbs, vegetables and, he says, a “huge selection of bedding plants.” Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) ranks among his favorite native plants: highly coveted for being deer resistant, extremely adaptable and easy to grow, it’s a winning choice if you want to give your vegetable garden a little extra TLC. From the fern family, Horowitz likes Ostrich of Fiddlehead (Matteuccia) and Cinnamon (Osmunda cinnamomea) because they’re fast-growing and generally thrive in shady conditions.
Although the beloved horticultural hub has been in business for 42 years, “this is the second year of us really promoting native plants,” he says. “We’re looking to educate both the local year-rounders as well as the second-homeowners. It’s about the big picture and it’s about longevity.”
