Go Native: the Business of Native Plants Cammie Donaldson

Learn about the Native Plant Connection, a nationwide effort to grow, inform and advance the native plant industry. Find out how you can get involved.

Many nursery owners have lost small fortunes pursuing a plant they thought sure to be a hit in the marketplace. Danny and Debbie Perkins found success by devoting their resources to a small number of very useful native species. One in particular, the Saw Palmetto, Serenoa repens, a shrub palm of the southeastern U.S., surprised everyone. Well, almost everyone. Danny's dad warned him. Learn how the Perkins have navigated the nursery industry for well over 40 years and built a very good business with native plants.

David has spent over 42 years growing, selling and designing with native plants. He started his career as a native plant grower when, as a young landscape architect, he couldn't find the plants he wanted to use on his design projects. He is a pioneer of Florida's native plant movement and personally responsible for at least one of our most popular native plant introductions, muhlygrass.

Troy started his first landscaping business when he was still in high school, and evolved a conventional mowing maintenance business to one focused on designing, installing and maintaining native landscapes that are both aesthetically pleasing and highly functional as it relates to ecosystem services. Now, he's expanding his operation to offer retail native plant sales in his community.

A little different format: Gage LaPierre, founder of the University of Florida's Native Plant Nursery on the campus of the Natural Areas Teaching Laboratory has just returned from the National Native Seed Conference in Washington, D.C., and has lots to share about seed partnership, seed strategy and the need for seed. Native seed.

Wilcox Nursery & Landscape, a retail landscape nursery in Largo, Florida, is constantly expanding and evolving to bring better plants and possibilities to its Greater Tampa Bay customer base. Hear how Bruce Turley spent nearly 50 years learning the business, buying it from his former employer, transforming it with native plants, generating demand for new design services and finally, successfully transitioning Wilcox to a fourth generation of ownership.