When Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy’s semi-annual Native Plant Sale returns to Morven Park on April 5,  it will have five native plant nurseries participating.  During the early years of the sale, Nature by Design and Hill House were the only two nurseries.  Then in 2015, Watermark Woods became the third nursery and Seven Bends was added as the fourth nursery in 2022.  Now Yellow House Natives joins as the fifth nursery.  We invited each of the nurseries to tell us about themselves.

Nature By Design

Randee Wilson gives advice.

Nature By Design was started in 2001 by Randee Wilson and Carla Thomas, who wanted to focus on a more environmentally responsible model, offering native plants and using only organic methods (although not certified). They opened a retail garden center in Alexandria in 2006, selling plants that are indigenous to the southern Chesapeake Bay watershed and support pollinators and other wildlife, while satisfying the aesthetic and practical requirements of residential property owners.

Nature By Design does not currently have a retail location, but we offer free delivery to all Alexandria mailing addresses and all Northern Virginia locations inside the Beltway. Call us for a delivery estimate outside that area. We are also at the Four Mile Run Farmers’ Market in Alexandria on Sunday mornings starting on March 16.   You can view our 2025 plant list and place your orders by emailing plantfolks@nature-by-design.com, or call us at (703) 683-4769.

Hill House Farm & Nursery

Janet Davis in the greenhouse.

Janet Davis founded Hill House Nursery in 2006 with a commitment to growing only native plants and has expanded since then to have a broad outreach and incredible, dedicated staff including nursery manager, Sterling Askin, her husband, Rob Devening (aka “Mr. Infrastructure”) and propagation assistant, Eleanor Gould. Hill House Nursery specializes in growing regionally-appropriate, exceptional native plants. We are committed to helping our customers and clients build beautiful gardens and diversity-rich landscapes while restoring natural ecosystems in the process. Whether you have a townhouse patio, a suburban lot, a track of land or a conservation area, we have native plants for any location or site.

Hill House Nursery is open by appointment for customers to visit and shop; email Janet at hillhousenativeplants@gmail.com to set up a date and time. We also assist customers and sell our plants at regional plant sale events. The full list of dates and locations are shown on our online event calendar. We welcome pre-orders, so let us know if you are looking for something in particular. And stayed tuned for our upcoming big announcement: our grand re-opening at our new location, slated for fall 2025!

Watermark Woods

Julie Borneman among her plants.

Watermark Woods – Native Plants has been a native plant–dedicated business in Loudoun for 11 years now. We specialize in pesticide-free native plants from the Piedmont region. We are located in Hamilton, just a few minutes west of Leesburg. Our inventory database is fully searchable, which helps you plan your landscape needs and streamline your shopping trip with a list in hand.

Our passionate and knowledgeable staff members are available to help you with your landscape needs. We are open April 1 through October 31 on Tuesday–Friday 9:00am – 2:00 pm and Saturday 9:00 am – 4:00pm. We are happy to take pre-orders to the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy Native Plant Sale; just send your list to julie@watermarkwoods.com.

Seven Bends

Iara Lacher with Monarch butterfly.

Seven Bends Nursery is a native plant nursery located in Berryville, VA focused on sustainable horticulture and ecosystem-based landscaping. We offer a “Straight-Species Guarantee” in that we carry no cultivars and grow a significant amount of our plants from seed, even sourcing several locally. Seven Bends is unique in that it is owned and operated by Iara Lacher, PhD, a conservation ecologist dedicated to not only increasing the availability of native plant material but also spreading information on the importance of native plants in supporting the function of ecosystems and the services they provide (clean water, recreation, productive soils, etc.).

Seven Bends Nursery is a certified woman- and minority-owned small business.  Hours of operation are Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday 9:00am to 6:00pm and Sunday 11:00am to 3:00pm.

Yellow House Natives

Wendy Dorsey at her nursery.

In 2020 Wendy Dorsey was dividing perennials at her home and had a lightening bolt moment: I should be growing native perennials. One week later I began work on my nursery, Yellow House Natives. I am committed to growing and providing native plants that are beneficial for so many reasons. (See inventory and availability.) The value and role of native plants in our ecosystem is of particular interest, though I can geek out reading tirelessly about native plants and related issues when I have time. Whether someone is looking for an HOA-friendly plant that will look good, or wants to create a naturalized area on his/her property, I love helping in the process. I welcome you to come visit my nursery, located in the middle of our family farm in Berryville. In addition, Yellow House Natives can be found at several plant sales around the area including the Loudoun Wildlife Native Plant Sale.

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