How to Buy Plants from Us

(Updated: September 24, 2024)

Since we are so new, buying plants from us is a little different! Please read the full details before emailing us your order/reservation.

“What do you currently have available?”

List below. Note that these are mostly plug-sized plants, in ~3.5"-4" (1 pint) containers. We also have a few quart-sized containers available at this time.

Native perennials - $5/pint, or $10/quart or 2 quart pot (if available)

Bluestem/wreath goldenrod (Solidago caesia) - now in 🌸!
Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
Broad-leaved mountain-mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Common bur sedge (Carex grayi)
Common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) - marked down to $3 due to overstock!
Common ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) - this is a first year seedling of a small tree.
Foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
Golden alexanders (Zizia aurea)
Grass-leaved goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia)
Hairy/Northern beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus)
Heart-leaved/blue wood aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)
Kalm’s St. John’s Wort (Hypericum kalmianum)
Large-leaved wood aster (Eurybia macrophylla)
New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis)
Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica)
Red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) - back in stock!
Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens)
Smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) - now in 🌸!
Tall white aster (Doellingeria umbellata)
Virginia mountain-mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum)
White snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) - also available in 2 quart pots for $10 - now in 🌸!
White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata)
Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) - back in stock!
Wild mint (Mentha arvensis) - also available in 2.5 quart pots

Native annuals - on sale!

We are marking these plants down as the season is coming to an end and the individual plants, being annuals, will not return next year. However, they do self-seed prolifically, so there’s still a chance you’ll get plants next year! They will also feed fruit-eating birds, and/or can be collected for their seeds.

American black nightshade (Solanum ptycanthum or S. americanum or S. emulans or whatever they’re calling it these days!) - $4 $2 for a pint pot with 1-3 plants (depending on individual seedling size). The berries of this are especially tasty to wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, and catbirds.

“Zoigls” - $3 pint or 2 for $5

“Zoigl” originally referred to a specific style of home-brewn, unfiltered German beer with no shelf life. It’s also used to describe a beer that didn’t quite come out as expected, and thus isn’t suitable for wide distribution – a “factory second,” if you will.

What does this have to do with native plants? Well, we have some plants that didn’t quite come out as planned, or that we can’t identify to species level. We’re marking these down to $2 each.

Monarda? These seeds were labeled Monarda punctata (spotted bee-balm), but have produced plants that look more like Monarda fistulosa (wild bee-balm or wild bergamot). I’ll know when they flower, but in the meantime, you can get a discount on a lovely native that – regardless of species – has sweet-scented leaves and flowers.
Symphyotrichum cordifolium (blue wood aster; heart leaved aster) or Eurybia divaricata? (white wood aster) These are from seeds I collected last year, but I didn’t key out the plant when it was flowering. All I know they are asters, i.e. from one of the genera that used to be lumped into genus Aster, before it was split into 10 different genera(!) With only leaves to go on, I can’t tell them apart (nor can iNaturalist!) Either way, both are native species that produce a white or whitish-blue flower in late summer or early fall (when many other flowers are beginning to fade), and thrive in very similar conditions (partial shade with medium to medium-dry soil). Until they flower, benefit from my mistake!
Milkweeds (Asclepias). These were given to me to sell, with the caveat that they were either swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) or common milkweed (A. syriaca), but the person didn’t know which.
Goldenrod (Solidago sp). Like the asters, I didn’t key these out when I collected the seeds, and heck, I have a lot of goldenrods on my property! My best guess is probably Solidago canadensis, Canada goldenrod, due to its prevalence and its growth habitat. The care instructions will be very similar for this and other goldenrod species (eg. giant goldenrod or early goldenrod).
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) F2 hybrid. I grew these from seed collected from my own ‘Goldsturm’ Rudbeckia, a no-longer-under-patent cultivar which crosses Rudbeckia fulgida (orange coneflower) with Rudbeckia hirta (what is most commonly called black-eyed Susan). The offspring of an first-generation hybrid is called an F2, and they are generally less vigorous than F1s. But since we’re out of the straight species, this is a good budget price!

Non-native perennials - $4 each $2 each or 3 for $5

As we come to the end of the planting season, we are marking down many of our non-natives so that we can focus on our natives.

Chives
Lavender (‘Munstead’)
Lemon Balm - ‘Mandarina’ (smells like oranges!)
Oregano (only 1️⃣ one plant left!)
Peppermint
Rosemary
Sage (Broadleaf)
Thyme (English)

Non-native annuals - $3 each, or 2 for $5 $1 each, or 6 for $5

Habaneros
Jalapeños - Early
Basil

Non-native houseplants

Christmas/Thanksgiving cactus (genus Schlumbergera)

“What will you have available later in the year?”

Please refer to our “What We’re Growing for 2024” post. Note that none of these are guarantees, because after a certain point, Mother Nature takes the wheel 🤣

Plants that are likely to be available soon include:

Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
Field pussytoes (Antennaria neglecta)
Harebell/Scotch bellflower (Campanula rotundifolia)
Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans)
(additional) Coastal plain Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium dubium)
(additional) Flax-leaved stiff aster (Ionactis linariifolia)

“Where is your nursery located? When can I visit?”

We do not currently have a storefront. Currently we are selling plants in two ways: 1) at markets and events, and 2) by order for pickup.

“Okay, so what’s your next event?”

The next event is another Grow Native Massachusetts popup market: Lexington, MA Farmers’ Market on Tuesday, October 1st, 2024 from 2pm to 6:30pm, at Worthen Road Practice Field.

Our final market of the season will the Leominster Farmers’ Market, Saturday, October 5th, 2024, from 11am to 2pm in Monument Square in Leominster, MA.

Generally speaking, during the season (May-October) season we plan to be at 2-4 markets a month – primarily the Leominster and Ashby, MA Farmers’ Markets. Look for the bright red popup tent!

Individual Market Details:

Leominster Farmers’ Market: 1st Saturday of the month through October, in Monument Square, Leominster, MA, from 11am to 2pm. We plan to be there 7/6, 8/3, 9/7, and 10/5 of 2024.
Ashby Farmers’ Market: 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month through October, on the Ashby Town Common (1 South Rd), Ashby, MA, from 9am to noon. I plan to be there 7/14, 7/28, 8/11, 8/25, 9/8, and 9/22.

If you use Facebook, you can indicate your interest in the events using the links above.

We have decided to no longer do the Fitchburg Farmers’ Market due audience/market misalignment.

Moving into the fall, we are scheduled to do the following popup markets with Grow Native Massachusetts:

Newton Farmers’ Market, Tuesday, September 17, 2024, from 1:30pm to 6:30pm, in Cold Spring Park, Newton MA.
Lexington Farmers’ Market: Tuesday. October 1, 2024, from 2pm to 6:30pm, at Worthen Road Practice Field, Lexington, MA.

“How do I order for pickup?”

If you’re interested in purchasing any available plants (see above), please email lise@redtrilliumgardens.com with your requests. At this time, quantities are very limited.

You can pickup at one of our markets, or at our home/nursery in Lunenburg.

“Can I reserve/pre-order plants?”

If the plant is on our “What We’re Growing for 2024” list, then you may reserve plants. Please note, as always, that everything depends on the vagaries of growing plants, and we cannot 100% guarantee that we can get you that plant this year.

Given this, we don’t require payment until we actually deliver the plant. It just wouldn’t be fair to you otherwise!

“What plants are out of stock/unavailable for the year?”

The following plants from the “what we’re growing” list are unavailable at the time of writing (Sep 18, 2024). This could be because they sold out, they had poor germination, or I killed them ☹️. Sometimes, if I had limited numbers of a species, I decided to keep them for seed collection in subsequent years.

Black-eyed Susan, black-eyed coneflower (Rudbeckia hirta v. pulcherrima)
Blue toadflax (Linaria canadensis)
Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
False lily-of-the-valley/Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)
Goat’s rue (Tephrosia virginiana)
Hemp dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum)
Indian cucumber root (Medeola virginiana)
Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)
Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)
Plantain-leaved pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia)
Poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata)
Roadside agrimony (Agrimonia striata - roadside agrimony)
Showy tick-trefoil (Desmodium canadense)
Slender false foxglove (Agalinis tenuifolia)
Spotted bee-balm (Monarda punctata)
Spotted joe-pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum)
Sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis)
Swamp/rose milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)
Wild cucumber (Echinocystis lobata)
Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
Yarrow, multi-hued cultivar (Achillea millefolium)

“What forms of payment do you accept?”

I accept cash, Venmo, and credit card (via Square).

“Can I suggest plants for you to grow?”

Please do! We can’t guarantee we’ll grow them this year, but we’ll definitely look into it for next.

tl;dr: If you’d like to order or reserve plants, please email lise@redtrilliumgardens.com.