Village Nurseries Celebrating Native Plant Week

By Greenhouse Grower staff|April 14, 2011

Village Nurseries, a specialty grower for landscape professionals, is doing its part to honor California Native Plant Week, April 16-24, by announcing the availability of 135 native species out of a total of 3,000 drought-tolerant plants it offers at VillageNurseries.com.

According to David House, Village Nurseries CEO, native plants are those species that have evolved within California’s complex patchwork of ecological conditions, such as climate, soil type, and rainfall. These plants continue to co-evolve with native animal species that depend upon native plants as familiar sources of food, shelter and refuge.

As water becomes a more limited resource, native plants represent the quintessential choice for sustainable and ecologically sound gardening, because natives are able to flourish with minimal irrigation beyond normal rainfall, and require little to no fertilizer, pesticides or maintenance.

“We are very cognizant of our role in helping protect California’s native plant heritage by raising awareness about our state’s amazing diversity of native plants,” House says. “Both our wholesale nursery operation and our statewide landscape center can offer retailers, wholesalers, landscaping contractors, architects and designers a huge range of species to select from that are naturally adapted to the environment.”

For the first time ever, the state of California is officially honoring its native plants by recognizing the third week in April as California Native Plant Week.