On Saturday, Midwest Natives Nursery in Lincoln, NE hosted its first plant sale of the year, which will continue each Saturday until the plants are sold out.
I started following Midwest Natives Nursery on Facebook and couldn’t wait to attend their opening event. I ended up purchasing a flat of native species including various milkweed, coneflower, aster and sneezeweed (all of which were in the ground by Sunday). While there, I asked Nathan if he would mind doing an interview for the blog and thankfully, he agreed!
Let’s jump right into the interview.
What is your background and how did you get started with Midwest Natives? Also, what drew you to native plants?
I graduated from UNL in May 2014 with a degree in Horticulture Entrepreneurship. In high school I fell in love with the idea of aquaponics, growing food sustainably using fish, after having kept aquariums with live plants and finding I had a knack for growing. I entered college with this
goal in mind and decided to work towards a degree in Horticulture. After my first year of schooling, going back home for the summer to my parents’ house in Bellevue, I wanted to do something that would benefit pollinators as Colony Collapse Disorder of honeybees was a growing concern at the time. My parents allowed me to plant a small wildflower garden in their backyard. I cared for the garden all summer and absolutely fell in love with the plants and the immediate increase in pollinator activity that they supported. I began studying more and more about native plants and their benefits in the landscape and shifted my focus from aquaponics to native perennials. Having taken many business and entrepreneurship courses through UNL’s Engler Entrepreneurship program, and with the help of the wonderful faculty and advisors, I founded Midwest Natives Nursery during my senior year as my Honors Thesis project.
Why should people choose native?
The Tallgrass Prairie is one of, if not the, most endangered ecosystems on the planet. Less than 1% of native tallgrass prairie exists today due to habitat loss as a result of agriculture and urbanization. Growing native plants in the home landscape brings a bit of that ecosystem back to life, one backyard at a time. Native plants require no supplemental irrigation or fertilizer once established and are absolutely essential in providing food and habitat for struggling native pollinators and wildlife. Because many native pollinators have co-evolved with specific plants, when the plants are gone, the insects that rely on them for survival are gone too. When insects
are gone, the birds and small mammals that feed on them suffer, and a chain reaction occurs all the way up the food chain to us.
How do you grow your plants?
We begin our growing season in January, when we stratify our seeds indoors. Stratification is the process by which you mimic the natural cold period that many native seeds require to germinate. After 60-90 days of stratification in the refrigerator, we plant our seeds in plug trays in the greenhouse in early March. By early April, the seedlings are big enough to transplant into their final pots and grow until mid-May when they are ready for sale.
Do you use pesticides or fertilizers?
We do use fertilizers to get our plants as big and healthy as possible prior to sale. We are currently working on trying out different organic fertilizers in the form of worm castings from a local composting operation and liquid fish waste from a local aquaponics operation. We use virtually no pesticides as there are typically no insect pests around during the bulk of our growing season and by the time we sell the plants, our greenhouse is opened up in a way that beneficial insects such as wasps can enter and take care of any mites or aphids that might find their way onto our plant material.
What are your plans for the future?
The growing interest in native plants has been wonderful for business. We are growing more and more plants every year and are working on expanding into a second greenhouse for the 2020 season!
What is your yard like?
Unfortunately, I currently live in an apartment and don’t have the ability to plant what I’d like here in Lincoln. My original wildflower planting still exists in my parents’ backyard, however, and is growing every year! We now have over 50 species of native wildflowers and grasses thriving in only a 120 square foot area!
How can someone buy your plants?
Our greenhouse is open to the public every Saturday in Lincoln, NE at 4200 S 1st Street. You can find our plant list for the season on our Facebook page. We also take orders for weekly deliveries to the Omaha area. Unfortunately, we are not currently set up to ship plants outside of those areas, but are working on that for next year!
Here is a list of native plants that Nathan is growing, not all plants may be available at this time.
Achillea millefolium – Western Yarrow
Agastache foeniculum – Anise Hyssop
Agastache nepetoides – Yellow Giant Hyssop
Agastache scrophulariaefolia – Purple Giant Hyssop
Ageratina altissima – White Snakeroot
Allium canadense – Wild Garlic
Amorpha canescens – Lead Plant
Andropogon gerardii – Big Bluestem
Antennaria neglecta – Prairie Pussytoes
Antennaria plantaginifolia – Pussytoes
Apocynum cannabinum – Dogbane
Arnoglossum atriplicifolium – Pale Indian Plantain
Arnoglossum plantagineum – Prairie Indian Plantain
Artemisia ludoviciana – Prairie Sage
Asclepias incarnata – Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias speciosa – Showy Milkweed
Asclepias sullivantii – Prairie Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca – Common Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa – Butterfly Weed
Asclepias verticillata – Whorled Milkweed
Asclepias viridis – Spider Milkweed
Astragalus canadensis – Canada Milk Vetch
Baptisia alba – White Wild Indigo
Baptisia australis – Blue Wild Indigo
Baptisia australis var. minor – Dwarf Blue Indigo
Baptisia bracteata – Cream Wild Indigo
Bidens coronata – Tall Swamp Marigold
Blephilia hirsuta – Hairy Wood Mint
Boltonia asteroides – False Aster
Bouteloua curtipendula – Side-Oats Grama
Bouteloua dactyloides – Buffalograss
Bouteloua gracilis – Blue Grama
Calamagrostis canadensis – Blue Joint Grass
Calamovilfa longifolia – Sand Reed Grass
Campanula americana – Tall Bellflower
Carex brevior – Plains Oval Sedge
Castilleja sessiliflora – Downy Painted Cup
Cephalanthus cccidentalis – Buttonbush (shrub)
Chamaecrista fasciculata – Partridge Pea
Chasmanthium latifolium – River Oats
Chrysopsis villosa – Hairy Golden Aster
Cirsium altissimum – Tall Thistle
Cirsium discolor – Pasture Thistle
Cleome serrulata – Rocky Mountain Bee Plant
Coreopsis lanceolata – Lance-Leaf Coreopsis
Coreopsis palmata – Prairie Coreopsis
Coreopsis tinctoria – Plains Coreopsis
Coreopsis tripteris – Tall Coreopsis
Dalea candida – White Prairie Clover
Dalea purpurea – Purple Prairie Clover
Dalea villosa – Silky Prairie Clover
Desmanthus illinoensis – Illinois Bundle Flower
Desmodium canadense – Showy Tick Trefoil
Dracopis amplexicaulis – Clasping Coneflower
Echinacea angustifolia – Narrow-Leaved Coneflower
Echinacea pallida – Pale Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea – Purple Coneflower
Elymus canadensis – Canada Wild Rye
Elymus hystrix – Bottlebrush Grass
Elymus villosus – Silky Wild Rye
Elymus virginicus – Virginia Wild Rye
Eragrostis spectabilis – Purple Love Grass
Eragrostis trichodes – Sand Love Grass
Eryngium yuccifolium – Rattlesnake Master
Eupatorium altissimum – Tall Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum – Boneset
Euphorbia marginata – Snow On The Mountain
Euthamia graminifolia – Grass-Leaved Goldenrod
Euthamia gymnospermoides – Great Plains Goldenrod
Eutrochium maculatum – Joe Pye Weed
Eutrochium purpureum – Sweet Joe Pye Weed
Gaillardia aristata – Blanketflower
Gaillardia pulchella – Indian Blanket
Gaura longiflora – Large Flowered Gaura
Geranium maculatum – Wild Geranium
Helenium autumnale – Sneezeweed
Helianthus grosseserratus – Saw-Tooth Sunflower
Helianthus maximiliani – Maximilian’s Sunflower
Helianthus mollis – Downy Sunflower
Helianthus pauciflorus – Showy Sunflower
Heliopsis helianthoides – Early Sunflower
Heuchera richardsonii – Prairie Alumroot
Hibiscus laevis – Rose Mallow
Hypericum pyramidatum – Great St. John’s Wort
Ipomopsis rubra – Standing Cypress
Koeleria macrantha – June Grass
Lespedeza capitata – Round-Headed Bush Clover
Liatris aspera – Button Blazing Star
Liatris mucronata – Bottlebrush Blazing Star
Liatris punctata – Dotted Blazing Star
Liatris pycnostachya – Prairie Blazing Star
Lobelia inflata – Indian Tobacco
Lobelia siphilitica – Great Blue Lobelia
Lobelia spicata – Pale Spiked Lobelia
Mentha arvensis – Wild Mint
Monarda fistulosa – Wild Bergamot
Oenothera biennis – Common Evening Primrose
Oligoneuron rigidum – Stiff Goldenrod
Oxalis violacea – Violet Wood Sorrel
Panicum oligosanthes – Panic Grass
Panicum virgatum – Switchgrass
Parthenium integrifolium – Wild Quinine
Penstemon digitalis – Foxglove Beardtongue
Penstemon gracilis – Slender Beardtongue
Penstemon grandiflorus – Large-Flowered Beardtongue
Phlox pilosa – Prairie Phlox
Physostegia virginiana – Obedient Plant
Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium – Sweet Everlasting
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium – Slender Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum verticillatum var. pilosum – Hairy Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum virginianum – Mountain Mint
Ratibida columnifera – Long-Headed Coneflower
Ratibida pinnata – Yellow Coneflower
Rosa arkansana – Prairie Wild Rose
Rosa blanda – Early Wild Rose
Rosa carolina – Pasture Rose
Rosa setigera – Illinois Rose
Rudbeckia fulgida – Orange Coneflower
Rudbeckia hirta – Black-Eyed Susan
Rudbeckia laciniata – Wild Golden Glow
Rudbeckia subtomentosa – Sweet Black-Eyed Susan
Rudbeckia triloba – Brown-Eyed Susan
Ruellia humilis – Wild Petunia
Ruelia strepens – Smooth Wild Petunia
Salvia azurea – Pitcher Sage
Schizachyrium scoparium – Little Bluestem
Senna marilandica – Maryland Senna
Silphium integrifolium – Rosin Weed
Silphium laciniatum – Compass Plant
Silphium perfoliatum – Cup Plant
Solidago canadensis – Canada Goldenrod
Solidago flexicaulis – Zig Zag Goldenrod
Solidago gigantea – Late Goldenrod
Solidago graminifolia – Grass Leaved Goldenrod
Solidago missouriensis – Missouri Goldenrod
Solidago nemoralis – Old Field Goldenrod
Solidago speciosa – Showy Goldenrod
Solidago ulmifolia – Elm-Leaved Goldenrod
Sorghastrum nutans – Indiangrass
Spartina pectinata – Cord Grass
Sporobolus compositus – Rough Dropseed
Sporobolus cryptandrus – Sand Dropseed
Sporobolus heterolepis – Prairie Dropseed
Stipa viridula – Green Needle Grass
Symphyotrichum cordifolium – Heart-Leaved Aster
Symphyotrichum drummondii – Drummond’s Aster
Symphyotrichum ericoides – Heath Aster
Symphyotrichum laeve – Smooth Blue Aster
Symphyotrichum lanceolatum – Panicled Aster
Symphyotrichum lateriflorum – Calico Aster
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae – New England Aster
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium – Aromatic Aster
Symphyotrichum oolentangiense – Sky Blue Aster
Symphyotrichum pilosum – Frost Aster
Symphyotrichum praealtum – Willow Aster
Symphyotrichum sericeum – Silky Aster
Tephrosia virginiana – Goat’s Rue
Thalictrum dasycarpum – Purple Meadow Rue
Tradescantia ohiensis – Ohio Spiderwort
Tridens flavus – Purpletop Grass
Verbena hastata – Blue Vervain
Verbena stricta – Hoary Vervain
Verbena urticifolia – White Vervain
Verbesina alternifolia – Wingstem
Vernonia baldwinii – Western Ironweed
Vernonia fasciculata – Common Ironweed
Vernonia gigantea – Tall Ironweed
Vernonia missurica – Missouri Ironweed
Veronicastrum virginicum – Culver’s Root
Zizia aurea – Golden Alexanders
What are some good plants for shade?
Full shade: Pussytoes, wild garlic, jack in the pulpit, hairy wood mint, tall bellflower, sweet joe pye weed, wild geranium, wild golden glow, zig zag goldenrod, lions foot, heart leaved aster, calico aster, drummonds aster, wingstem, silky wild rye, bottlebrush grass, plains oval sedge.
Partial shade: hyssops, asters, plantains, sages, milkweeds, baptisia, coreopsis, clovers, coneflowers, sneezeweed, sunflowers, mallows, liatris, lobelia, monarda, penstemon, obedient plant, mints, wild roses, Silphium, Maryland senna, vervain, golden alexanders, and culvers root.
How can someone get in contact with you?
Interested customers can find our information on Facebook or they can contact me directly at
duffynathan95@gmail.com or 402-682-2955.
Thanks Nathan for agreeing to do this interview, we will be watching to see how you grow the businesses and continue with your mission. I can’t wait to share photos of my native plants and how they look after a few season. Questions? Leave a comment below!
