Photo credit: Vicki Bonk
Mail order
Prairie Moon Nursery
Prairie Nursery
Seed Savers Exchange (non-native and not necessarily regional, but a non-profit dedicated to preserving heirloom, organic vegetable and fruit seeds)
A Sampling of Regional Native Plant Nurseries and Landscape Designers (Minnesota)
Blazing Star Gardens: Design and landscaping services. Phone orders for pick up (Owatonna) or delivery.
Boreal Natives: A satellite of Prairie Restorations. Esko, MN.
Dragonfly Gardens: Dragonfly Gardens carries a wide range of native perennials, grasses, ferns, shrubs, and trees to restore native habitats from shoreland, wetlands, and forests, to prairies. Amery, WI.
Ecoscapes Sustainable Landscaping: Design and landscaping services. Delivery only for plant stock.
Glacial Ridge Growers: Saturday St. Paul Farmer’s Market.
Hedberg Landscape: Stillwater.
Hilscher Design & Ecology: Uniquely designed sustainable landscapes in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. As both a Registered Landscape Architect and Native Plant Ecologist, Diane Hilscher has designed and guided construction for residential, nature centers, business and public projects for over 30 years.
Kinnickinnic Natives: Retail location in River Falls, WI.
Landscape Alternatives: Shafer retail location.
Minnesota Native Landscapes: Minnesota Native Landscapes is a full service ecological restoration company. Ecological services range from native seeding to prescribed burning to bio-engineering, and everything in between. Ostego, MN.
Morning Sky Greenery: A Minnesota Native Plant Nursery, growing native plants for shoreline restoration, raingardens and infiltration basins, and backyard butterfly, birdwatcher and pollinator gardens. Retail and online. Morris, MN.
Native Sun: See website for plant sale events
Natural Shore: Shoreline, ponds, wetlands, and prairies. Retail location in Independence, MN.
Naturally Wild: Minneapolis location in May and June.
Outback Nursery: Design and landscaping services. Hastings retail location.
Pasque Ecological Design: Specializing in providing susainable landscape architecture services for residential, commercial, public, and institutional clients, including schools and faith-based communities.
Prairie Restorations: Offers planning, installation, and management services for native landscaping projects of any kind. Retail store located in Princeton, MN offers locally grown native grasses, wildflowers, trees, and shrubs. Specializes in corporate, residential, public, wetland/shoreline restorations as well as buckthorn removal and burn/mowing maintenance.
ReWild Gardens: Offers a wide range of services from a garden plan for your DIY project to a full garden renovation with install.
Simonet Design: Landscape master planning, site design, and sustainable landscape design.
Sogn Valley Farm: Saturday St. Paul farmers market. Certified organic produce, native plants, and CSA.
Sunshine Gardens Nursery: A full service landscaping company serving Pine River, Backus, Aitkin, Pequot Lakes, Crosslake, Ideal Township, Longville, Walker, Fifty Lakes, Outing, Brainerd, Grand Rapids, and Nisswa. Nursery located in Pine River, MN.
True Nature Design: Design, installation, and management services.
Organic Lawn Care
Green Core
Organic Bob
Numerous non-profit organizations need citizens to report their findings in the natural world. Many of these programs are great for families. Below is a sampling of organizations that rely on citizen scientists.
Annual Christmas Bird Count
Audubon “The Great Backyard Bird Count” (every February)
Bumblebee Watch
Citizen Lake Monitoring Program
Citizen Stream Monitoring Program
Dragonfly Pondwatch Project
Firefly Watch
Frog and Toad Calling Survey (MN DNR-statewide opportunities)
Frogwatch USA
Journey North Monarch Sightings
Lake Ice Reporting Program
Lake Level Minnesota Program
Loon Watcher Survey
Lost Ladybug Project
Minnesota Bee Atlas
Minnesota Bumblebee Survey
Monarch Larva Monitoring Project
Wetlands Health Evaluation Program
Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program
Books
100 Plants to Feed the Bees
AttractingNative Pollinators
Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds: Creating Natural Habitats for Properties Large and Small
Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide
Braiding Sweetgrass
Bringing Nature Home
Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change
Gardening for Butterflies
Growing A Revolution
Insects and Gardens: In Pursuit of a Garden Ecology
Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota
Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard
Native Plants of the Midwest
Pollinators of Native Plants
Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota
The Living Landscape
Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota
Wasps, A Guide for Eastern North America
Newsletters, Publications and Other Resources
Audubon Magazine
BugGuide.net: We enjoy the opportunity to instill in others the fascination and appreciation that we share for the intricate lives of these oft-maligned creatures.
Butterfly Magazine
EcoBeneficial
Ecological Landscape Alliance newsletter
iNaturalist: iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you. Get connected with a community of over 750,000 scientists and naturalists who can help you learn more about nature!
Minnesota Conservation Volunteer Magazine
Monarch Gardens
The Butterfly Effect
Xerces Society(butterflies and insects)
Articles
Home Is Where the Habitat Is
Milkweed for Monarchs
Pesticides in Your Garden
Below is a sampling of regional and national organizations that share complementary goals of community environmental education, stewardship, and conservation.
Local
Friends of the Mississippi
Frogtown Green
Great River Greening
GreenStep Cities
Homegrown National Park
Izaak Walton League
Leave No Trace
Master Naturalist Program
Minnesota Water Steward Program
Minnesota Audubon Chapters
Minnesota Bird Altas
Minnesota Native Intelligence
Minnesota Native Plant Society
Nokomis Naturescape
Pollinator Friendly Alliance
Renaissance Soil
Wild Ones Minnesota Chapters
Wilderness in the City
National
Audubon Society
Bee City USA
Bee City Campus
Ecological Landscape Alliance
Homegrown National Park
Monarch Watch
Native Plant Trust
The Great Healthy Yard Project
Wild Ones Locate a Chapter
Wild Seed Project
Xerces Society
WildOnes “Healing the Earth One Yard at a Time”: Monthly Meetings
Wild Ones’ mission is to promote environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration, and establishment of native plant communities.
Find a local chapter near you throughout the U.S.Most chapters meet monthly, September through May.
Nokomis Naturescape “Gardeneering”
Ongoing May-October, most Tuesday evenings.
Interested in learning how to ecoscape with Minnesota native plants? Want to lend a hand in a spectacular public garden? Then say no more! Join our merry group of gardeneers (that’s not a typo!) to learn, volunteer, and enjoy an occasional ice cream cone. Visit the Naturescape’s facebook page to sign up to be notified about the season’s volunteer schedule. We roll up our sleeves most (but not all) Tuesday evenings from 6-8 p.m. Our schedule shifts to 5-7 p.m. when the sun starts to go down earlier later in the season.
Hawk Ridge, Duluth: September-October
Most raptors are reluctant to cross large bodies of water. When they migrate south and encounter Lake Superior, the birds naturally veer southwest along the lakeshore. They concentrate in impressive numbers on the bluffs overlooking East Duluth and can be easily seen from the overlook at Hawk Ridge. Of the 20 species of raptors and vultures that have been seen at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve, the peregrine falcon and gyrfalcon are among the rarest. Whether species are common or rare, they are all thrilling to watch as they traverse the ridge, often at or below eye level. Naturalists are onsite until the end of October. Click the above link for visitor information. Who knew this was practically in our own backyards? Bring lawn chairs, a pot of coffee, binoculars, and enjoy life in the slow lane for awhile.
Certify Your Garden Through National Wildlife Federation
Green Cities, Good Health
Homegrown National Park
Invasive Species
Minnesota Wildflowers
Native Plants, Moths and Butterflies by Zip Code National Wildlife Federation
Native Plants for Birds by Zip Code Audubon Society
Pollinators and Native Plants: Downloadable Posters
Pollinator Partnership
Pollinator Plants of the Great Lakes Region
Raingardens
Restore Your Shore: MN Native Plant Encyclopedia
Sustainable Lawn Care
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Your contact information will be kept strictly confidential and will only be used to send you issues of The Butterfly Effect and occasional update emails.
