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Where to Find Native Plants in WNC and Upstate SC

honeybee on butterfly weed
A honeybee gathers nectar on butterfly weed, a variety of milkweed. Photo by Kim Bailey of Milkweed Meadows.

Nurseries, garden centers, and plants sales, updated for 2024

If you live in Western North Carolina or Upstate South Carolina and you’re feeling inspired to restore a piece of nature right where you live, where can you find the native plants you need? Native plants are the key to supporting more pollinators, butterflies, birds, and other wildlife. But many garden centers don’t carry them. Fortunately, there are lots of places to get native plants if you know where to look.

Here’s an updated list of local businesses, spring plant sales, and native plant resources so you can make your garden truly a place of wonder.

Why Native Plants?

Many common garden plants come from other parts of the world and many of them are lovely. You can definitely have a great looking garden with or without native plants. So why grow natives? Because insects like to eat them! That might seem counterintuitive at first, but think about it.

Many insects, including most butterflies and moths, are extremely picky in their larval stage. They will only eat their native host plants. It’s well known that monarch butterflies will only eat milkweed in their caterpillar stage. And this is also the case with many other insects. They have relationships with native plants that they need to survive.

And those caterpillars and other insects are what birds like to eat. Insects are the base of our whole food web—and we’ve actually seen a scary drop in insect numbers so we need to bring them back. The more native plants you grow, the more wildlife of every kind you’re supporting. You’re helping restore much needed habitat and you’ll be rewarded with more pollinators, butterflies, birds, and more.

Learn more: Want to learn more about gardening for butterflies? Check out this full guide to butterfly gardening in Western NC and Upstate SC.

Monarch on common milkweed

Where to Get Native Plants

We asked a number of native plant gardeners what their favorite spots are to get native plants, and this is what we heard back. We are not necessarily endorsing these businesses, but if you’re looking for natives, check out these options. You can definitely find a great source to meet your needs!

Local and Regional Businesses

2025 Plant Sales and Events

Favorites Outside Our Region

In addition to many local businesses, we heard good things about these sources:

  • Prairie Moon Nursery, based in the Midwest, is great for meadow seed mixes, bare root plants, and plant starts that you can order online. Their website and customer service staff provide good advice on how to get your meadow or native garden started.
  • Woodthrush Native Nursery in Floyd, Virginia, is worth a stop if you’re up that way.

More Places to Find Native Plants

Both the NC and SC Native Plant Societies put out lists of where you can find native plants statewide. You can find those lists here:

 

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