FLORA MAINE
Native Plants & Gardens
FLORA MAINE
Native Plants & Gardens
American lady butterfly supping on Monarda fistulosa (bee balm) nectar
Milkweed leaf beetle munching on one of their host plants, Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
American lady butterfly caterpillar munching on one of their host plants, Anaphalis margaritacea (pearly everlasting)
Pearl cresent butterfly sipping from Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset)
Plants for Ecosystems - Plants for Insects - Plants for Habitat - Plants for Themselves - Plants for Joy
We are living in a time of widespread, human-created, ecological disaster. Species are suffering and disappearing, and ecosystems teeter on the verge of collapse. Many of us who follow the science and stories of this totally preventable decline find ourselves looking inside and asking, what can I do to help the more-than-human world? How can I leverage my personal power, resources, and passion to help my more-than-human kin? Flora Maine exists as one person's way to answer this question, and to move through despair into action.
Flora Maine specializes in growing the plants that have grown here since time immemorial. These plants, the foundation of our local ecosystems, have spent millennial in relationship with insect and other animal species, creating the interlocking web of relationships that make life possible. As ecological horticulturists and true plant nerds, we study the plant communities that comprise the many ecosystems across Maine— and the ecoregions that encompass them—creating plantings that knit plants together like Earth might. We embrace the principals of naturalistic plant design, combined with a Doug Tallamy inspired focus on the hyper local and "keystone" species, supporting the most life. Dry or wet, sun or shade, there's a native plant community for that. We're here to help reclaim habitat lost to traditional horticulture, lawns, and beyond, through nuanced plant selection and vibrant plants that create beauty, habitat, and healing for all animals— including humans—who encounter them.
Our plants are started from seeds collected carefully and with a staunch committment to ethics from healthy populations around the state, our seeds gardens, and from trusted local ecotype seed propagators. These magic beans are from an outstanding member of the legume family, Desmodium canadense, collected in Sagadahoc county, ME.
Grown with care and love, we use organic mediums as much as possible in our container grown plants. Sizes range from gallon all the way down to trays of 2.5'' plugs. With a commitment to keeping our plants jumping worm safe, everything is grown off the ground and with soil materials from vetted suppliers.
We are moved by the way plants create communities and immense beauty when left to their own devices. In this photo, a surviving strip of native plants along a hayfield in Thomaston, ME is comprised of a ground covering matrix of Geranium maculatum and Eurybia macrophylla, thriving under the shade of Swida sericea (red-osier dogwood) and red oak.
Let's Connect: floramainenatives@gmail.com
Instagram: @flora_maine