Native Plants

The majority of plants branded under the Weston Rewilding tag are grown from seed.  However, in certain cases, plant divisions may be used (e.g., hay-scented ferns, mayapples, prickly pears) or plants may be propagated by potting up runners from the mother plant (e.g., Virginia strawberry).  

For plants not propagated ourselves, our operating philosophy dictates that we source starter plants from as close to New England as possible, but the native plant vendor base is still relatively small, so we currently rely on propagation nurseries located in MA, IL, MD, MI, NC, NJ, PA, and VA who start seeds or propagate plants by division.  We continue to seek reliable local sources of starter plants, and we plan to increase the number of plants we grow ourselves from locally-collected/locally-sourced seed in the coming years.

In the case of plants we propagate from seed here at Weston Nurseries, seeds are either collected locally from mature managed plots on private property or from plants growing in the nursery.  We also purchase seed from reputable local vendors such as Wild Seed Project (based in North Yarmouth, ME) and Eco59 (a farmer-led native plant seed collective based in Connecticut).  

We do not typically gather seed from the wild; we rely on reputable vendors such as Wild Seed Project and Eco59 which use documented seed collection protocols for any wild-collected seed.  As mentioned above, we also gather seed from mature managed plots on local private property or from plants growing in the nursery.  

We are happy to share propagation information with any customer who inquires, but we have not yet published such a document for our customers.  This is a good idea and something we’ll consider in the future!  

We do not use neonicotinoids on any plants we grow in our nursery, including the native plants.  

We are very careful about the use of any pesticides on the plants we produce, but when we must use them, we default to products labeled as approved for organic gardening (e.g., horticultural soap, Neem oil, copper fungicide).  It is only in the case of extreme insect pressure where we may use pyrethrum, which is a natural insecticide.  Prior to applying any of these products on our plants, we scout to make sure beneficial insects are not present such as our much-adored monarch butterfly and spicebush swallowtail caterpillars.