Rainy Day Plant Sale
Plants will be ready for pickup or 08108 delivery May 2-4
Want to attract and support fireflies, songbirds, and other pollinators?
Our native plants are sourced specifically with our location on the inner coastal plain and the changing climate in mind. All of the species featured in support firefly habitat, feed songbirds, and host the caterpillars your local food web depends on. Every plant on this year’s Green Festival list earns its place.
-
If you live in Collingswood, we’re offering free local delivery. For our customers outside of Collingswood, there will be multiple pickup windows here in Collingswood Friday, May 2 through Monday, May 4.
-
This year most plants are the typical larger gallon size we’ve been selling recently. (Sorry, no kits at this particular event!) For more info on plant sizing, visit our Custom Plant Sourcing page.
-
Yes, absolutely! You can place 1 order but there are two pickup dates just due to when the smaller plants will be ready. So if you order from both lists today, you’ll receive the more mature ones first.
Spring Bloomers
These early-season plants are a critical first nectar source for pollinators and the foundation of the firefly food web, attracting the flies, beetles, and specialist insects that larvae depend on before summer's peak activity begins.
We are thrilled to offer this resilient, adaptable spring ephemeral for the first time this year! Virginia bluebells get their common name from their bell-shape blooms, which vary from blue to pale purple in color. They spread nicely but do go dormant by the middle of the summer, so planting them with ferns or other shade garden plants is a good idea.
Height: 1’ - 2’
Blooms: Spring, Blue
Light: Shade, Partial Shade (think woodland landscape)
Soil: Moist
A bright yellow late-spring bloomer from the carrot family, this plant will self-seed to fill in blank spaces in your garden. Suitable for a wide range of light conditions, though it does best in full sun.
Height: 1-2.5’
Blooms: May
Soil: Average to moist
Light: Full Sun to Shade
Gorgeous spiked flowers in spring and lovely foliage for rest of season (can be semi-evergreen).
Height: 1’
Blooms: May-June
Soil: Average to moist
Light: Shade to Part Shade
A classic for native woodland gardens, Wild Columbine’s long lasting and interesting flowers attract hummingbirds and other pollinators in shade or part-shade conditions. It’s also a host for the Columbine Duskywing (Erynnis lucilius) butterfly.
Sunset Farmstead, the South Jersey-based grower of this plant, grows this cultivar that is very true to the straight species so you will see lots of pollinator action on this slightly fuller, slightly shorter version.
Great pollinator plant and one of the earliest wildflowers to bloom in sunny sites. The foliage is evergreen. Can be short-lived, but they re-seed readily, which we think makes up for that. If you don’t like where they pop up, you can always move them.
Height: 3’ - 4’
Bloom: White
Soil: Adaptable, drought-tolerant
Light: Full sun
Achillea millefolium produces white and pink blooms and can be found all throughout the continent. Pollinators love it. It’s super resilient during hot months with little rain, and also makes a great cut flower and can be used for tea if you’re into that kind of thing.
Super adaptable, pretty flower that is also edible. Indigenous folks used it to treat croup, fevers, and colds. The small clusters of purple flowers last a long time, making it a great addition to the garden. Because the flowers face downward, nectar is protected.
Height: 1’
Blooms: July - August, sometimes beyond.
Soil: Dry to moist
Light: Partial to full sun
This species can handle a bit more sun than other heucheras and blooms in late summer/fall. Extremely versatile as a groundcover or in mixed perennial beds, and gorgeous when paired with spring bloomers like foamflower and wild geranium.
Summer/Fall Bloomers
This striking red cultivar is a favorite of hummingbirds in addition to many insect pollinators. This variety exhibits good mildew resistance. Will spread via underground rhizomes.
Height: 3’ - 4’
Light: Full sun to partial shade
Bloom: July - August, Red
Blooming through August and beyond, these plants are in full swing during firefly mating season, sustaining the insects deep into fall.
Great for filling space in sunny sites with beauty and nectar. This variety exhibits good mildew resistance and is beloved by native bees.
Height: 2-3'
Blooms: June-July
Soil: Average to moist
Light: Full Sun
This is a fast spreader with long-lasting, showy blooms from mid-summer into the fall. Classic addition to a pollinator garden.
Height: 2-3'
Blooms: August-September
Soil: Average to moist
Light: Full Sun
Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue Mistflower) is a native wildflower that blooms late summer into fall, adding soft, powder blue to violet flowers to your landscape. Growing 2–3 feet tall, it spreads by rhizomes to form colonies, so it’s great for combatting weeds. It's also a magnet for pollinators like butterflies and bees.
Best conditions:
Light: Full sun to part shade; blooms most prolifically in full sun but handles shadier spots well, making it versatile at woodland edges.
Soil: Adaptable to a wide range of soils, from average to moist. It naturally grows along stream banks and moist meadows.
Water: Drought tolerant once established, but grows lusher with regular wate
It's a particularly good choice for rain gardens, naturalized areas, or any spot where you want reliable late-season color with minimal fuss.
Lovely fall bloomer and a butterfly magnet. This selection is slightly more compact than other goldenrods. Contrary to popular belief, goldenrods don't actually conribute to allergies, they just bloom at the same time as ragweed.
Height: 3-4’
Blooms: September-October
Soil: Average to moist
Light: Full Sun
Native Grasses
The backbone of habitat: their dense, deep root systems hold soil moisture through dry spells, their basal clumps shelter overwintering larvae, and their leaf litter builds the rich woodland floor where fireflies spend most of their lives.
A more compact selection of switch grass suitable for large or small gardens. Shows red streaks in summer and fall.
Height: 3'
Blooms: n/a
Soil: Average to moist
Light: Full Sun
A classic meadow grass. This selection has slightly bluer foliage (with purplish streaks at the base) and stays very upright.
Height: 3'
Blooms: n/a
Soil: Average to moist
Light: Full Sun
An attractive clump-forming ornamental native grass. Great in hot, dry areas especially. We’ve seen it recommended for areas where you’re trying to prevent or stopt erosion, as well. All in all a great plant. It looks nice in the fall garden as well, when it becomes brownish orange.
Height: 1’ - 2’
Soil: Dry, super drought-tolerant
Light: Sun
Native Shrubs That Feed Songbirds
Multi-season workhorses that feed migrating and resident birds with berries and seeds, while their layered structure creates the shaded, humid microhabitats firefly larvae need to thrive.
All seasons interest with berries to attract birds, redtwig dogwood is a must-have shrub for your wildlife habitat garden. Its white flowers are beautiful in late spring and it’s host to Spring and Summer Azure butterflies. This adaptable shrub is drought-tolerant and also suitable for a rain garden.
Height: 6’ - 9’
Blooms: Spring, white
Sun: Partial to full sun
American elderberry is a woody, deciduous shrub that can grow up to 12 feet tall 10 feet wide. It is a member of the viburnum family, and when its white flower clusters turn to berries and birds love the fruit, which can also be cooked or made into syrup and enjoyed for its anti-inflammatory and immune system-boosting properties.
American elderberry is very adaptable, thriving in wet to dry soils and sun or partial shade. It grows best (and biggest) in slightly acidic soils.
Large shrub with white spring flowers clusters that give way to summer berries that attract many native bird species. The foliage is a nice deep green in the summer and leads to brilliant fall colors. Two plants are needed for fruit production. Good for screening, though not evergreen. Individual stems can be pruned off to control height if needed.
Height: 6’ - 20’ (multi-stemmed)
Blooms: April - May, White
Light: Full sun to part shade
Soil: Adaptable, but prefers well-drained soil