Awesome Native Spring Bloomers

It's finally spring! The trees are all colorful with flowers and lots even have leaves already! I love when the leaves come back. The bulbs are all in full force. We like to plant native perennials in our gardens because we believe if we are going to change our environment then we should try to coexist with nature rather than compete with it. Native gardens promote biodiversity, they provide food and shelter for local birds, insects and mammals. Native gardens also need less maintenance because the plants are better adapted to the area. 

Here are some of our favorite spring blooming, native perennials that you could use to brighten up your garden!

Amsonia, Eastern Bluestar

Amsonia blooms March through May with little blue clusters of flowers. This is no one-season trick plant though. In the autumn it turns dramatic orange- yellow.

Aquilegia canadensis, Eastern red columbine

Columbine's are the coolest looking flower! Look at them! Like weird little alien spaceships. They're show starts early. They can bloom from March through July.

Baptisia australis, Blue false indigo

Black swallowtail that instantly came to
Baptisia we planted on a Brooklyn rooftop

Baptisia can bloom from May through August. They attract awesome butterflies like the black swallowtail above!

Phlox stolonifera, Creeping Phlox

Who doesn't want a flower carpet? Because I sure do. Creeping phlox is such a show off. I've seen lots of it lately and it always makes me giddy. It blooms from April to May. 

Our Favorite NYC Nurseries

We have selected some of our favorite stores for plants and garden-related items in NYC and Brooklyn. This is not a list of all available options, but these are our go-to’s, and they’re retail, not wholesale so you non-industry folks can get all your goodies there too.

In no particular order:

Gowanus Nursery

A well-stocked oasis located way out in the weird nether-scape that is the “Columbia Street Waterfront District” and “Redhook”. A nicely edited selection of annuals, herbs & veggies, perennials, some trees and shrubs and more recently small indoor/tropical. Lot’s of native plants (*boner*) from Glover Perennials (*big boner*). Very knowledgeable staff, beautifully curated.

We always leave Gowanus with Baby Coop at full capacity.

Crest Hardware and Urban Garden Center  

Conveniently located on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg (between Union and Lorimer) it’s close to the BQE for us drivers and the G/L trains for subway-taking folks. Crest has everything. Nice selection of classic standby annuals, lots of herbs, veggies and fruits, perennials (more native Glovers!), trees and shrubs. A good mix of “traditional” and “awesome, native, rarely used” plants, and a big selection of indoor/tropical plants of all sizes. Soils, composts, mulch, plant vitamins, tools, etc. Good prices - they have excellent plant sales throughout the year. A beautiful, sweater-wearing pig named Franklin. And a super helpful, awesome Garden Center Manager named Kristen - she is the best! They have a bathroom, and you can use it.

Sprout Home Brooklyn

Sprout has two super cute neighboring shops located at the very end of Grand St. in Williamsburg. Nice choice of indoor plants of all sizes - especially nice “specimen” plants like rare orchids, carnivorous plants, etc. Nifty ideas for gifts and lovely green interior decorating-y stuff. Excellent selection of planters for indoors and out, plant vitamins and some soils, etc. A smaller selection of outdoor plants, but they usually have some good Glover native perennials and cool, small trees. There are usually a couple of folks with superior plant/garden knowledge working there. Anna is particularly great. A tad on the pricey side, but good quality. They offer cool workshops and classes too!

Kings County Nursery

A mighty big nursery for the city confines. They’re a bit out of the way over in East Flatbush, but the prices are good and the selection nice and traditional. If you need a good o’l echinacea or inkberry, you can probably find it here. They have a great selection of traditional fruit trees. Old school - old men, very nice, good prices.

The Sill

The Sill is a super cute shop in the Lower East Side. They are great for gifts. They sell locally made planters, easy- care houseplants, and Brooklyn blend soil. The owner Eliza is a brilliant, smart, hot lady. They do bi-monthly workshops and you should check them out!