Buy Indiana Native Plants Online | Garden for Wildlife

These plants will thrive in Indiana. Help Indiana wildlife and enjoy the beauty of nature when you add one of our curated native plant collections outside your home.

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Support your local wildlife.

Help birds, pollinators such as bees, butterflies, other insects, amphibians and small mammals, and reptiles.

Have a global impact.

Help create habitats for declining wildlife, reduce urban heat islands and manage storm water runoff.

Bring nature home.

There’s no easier place to get a daily dose of nature and the physical, mental and spiritual benefits.

Support our mission.

All orders benefit our non-profit to help declining wildlife and expand native plant availability nationwide.

About Indiana native plants

It’s no secret that we get some extreme weather in Indy. We get the hot summers, with July regularly getting to 83°F. In January, it can drop to 22°F. And both spring and fall are wildly unpredictable, with the temperature going from one extreme to another on a daily, sometimes even hourly, basis! But finding plants that will survive in the face of such unpredictability is not the challenge you might think.

Indiana native plants have been growing in Indiana for millenia. Many of them thrived even without any help from humans at all. These plants are used to the cold and have adapted to even the chilliest of Indiana's winters. They’re also accustomed to the natural levels of rainfall in Indiana, so you won’t need to water them as much as non-native plants.

These Indiana native plants are well-equipped to obtain the nutrients they need from the soil, decreasing the need for fertilizer. When you buy plants native to Indiana, it’s also best to go pesticide-free as much as possible to make your garden as healthy and habitable for wildlife.

The growing conditions in Indiana

The US Department of Agriculture has classed Indiana as having only two hardiness zones, 5a to 6a. That’s great news for gardeners, as it’s going to be much easier to find Indiana native plants for sale that will thrive in your garden. While people living in states like Florida have to use a zip code native plant finder, Hoosiers can tend to find the perfect Indiana native plants according to the state.

And with some of the most fertile soil in the US, it’s a real pleasure to garden in Indy. When you buy Indiana native plants and get them into that rich soil, the maintenance levels are going to be low compared to non-native plants. From the green to the brown-thumbed, Indiana is a garden-lovers paradise — especially when it comes to growing native Indiana plants. Even if you’re famous in your family for not keeping plants alive, don’t panic. If you forget to water your native plants occasionally, they’ll be fine for years to come.

Why plant Indiana native plants?

When you plant native plants in your garden that have evolved to fit within the local ecology, you're doing a lot more than simply making your garden look nice. You’re also helping local wildlife, soil health, and water use. Indiana native plants play an essential part in the intricate web of the world around us. They aren’t just adapted to the Indiana climate, but they also sustain a massive range of wildlife, including pollinators.

Non-native, invasive species do just the opposite. While not all non-natives are bad for the local ecology, non-native invasives crowd out native plants, and they are often not a good source of food or habitat for local pollinators and other wildlife. Indiana pollinators, and the species that depend on them, need access to healthy habitats with native plants. Habitat loss is one of the largest drivers of declines for insects, birds, and other native wildlife. In the last 50 years, it's estimated that the US has lost 3 billion birds, and restoring habitat is one of the most important solutions to addressing this alarming decline..

From bees and butterflies to attracting fireflies to your Indiana garden, we need to do all we can to help nature fight back.

Are native plant gardens messy?

Everyone's tastes are different when it comes to plants. Some people prefer a wilder look, while others want a pristine garden full of symmetry. And there’s this consistent worry that gardens full of Indiana native plants are, by their very nature, messy. That’s simply not the case.

However you design your garden, native plants can help you accomplish your preferred look. The key thing to remember is that you must choose Indiana native plants that get the right amount of light. Some plants prefer up to eight hours of direct sunlight a day, while others prefer more shaded environments. Check the light conditions in your garden to help narrow down the best Indiana native plants for your garden. Check out our guide to plants and sunlight for more info.

 

FAQs about native plants in Indiana

The lawn is a seemingly quintessential part of American homeowner culture and design. It’s a status symbol to have a lawn in the US, and Indiana is no different. The problem is that lawns are far from natural and eliminate habitat for wildlife, impacting local biodiversity. As pollinator habitats disappear rapidly, we need to rethink our approach to the American lawn.

The anti-lawn movement is growing across the US. In Indiana, around 5% of the land area is covered in lawn grass, and none of that lawn does not provide the necessary ecological value to support local bees and butterflies.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can keep your lawn by all means, but adding even a few plants from our collections of Indiana native plants for sale means you immediately provide food, shelter, and habitats for local pollinators. Just a few native plants in your garden means you're doing your part to help save butterflies and bees, which are seeing declining population numbers.

It’s estimated that more than 80% of the invasive plant species found in Indiana have been planted by those in the landscape trade. That includes very invasive and hardy non-native species like the Callery pear tree and the Burning Bush. These non-native invasive species grow quickly and are extremely resistant to landscape cultivation. They quickly take over local environments, crowding out Indiana native plants. That means we lose native plants, and with them the vital ecological services they provide.

Invasive non-native plants do more than that. They also cost a lot of money to keep under control. In 2019, the Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation department spent over $140,000 on tackling invasive plant species. Callery pears are particularly prevalent in Indiana because they’re extremely adaptable. Their fruits are also ingested by birds, who disperse the seeds to new places.

You can check out the Indiana Invasive Species Council for a complete list of the invasive plants that you should avoid planting in the state. However, it’s important to note that not all non-native plants are invasive, and many will be fine to plant in your garden.

You don’t need a lot of specialist skills to get started with pollinator gardening in Indiana. Indy is one of the easiest states to garden in the entire US! More people than ever are transforming their gardens into havens for pollinators, and it’s incredibly simple to get started.

Begin by checking out our collections of Indiana native plants for sale. Choose the ones that are best suited to the light conditions of your outdoor space. Then dig into your pollinator plant planting! A top tip when designing your garden layout is to plant your Indiana native plants in clusters. This will cut down on the distance bees and butterflies have to travel to get to their plant of choice.

If you're planning to attract monarch butterflies in time for the summer breeding season in Indiana, plant as much Milkweed and Monarch-friendly nectar-producing plants as possible. Milkweed and monarch butterflies are critical parts of Indiana’s biodiversity and need all the help they can get.

This is a very common question, and it’s a popular claim among landscapers who prefer to plant invasive non-native plants. Native plant gardens will attract more wildlife across the board and from various places in the food web, including prey and the predators that help keep their populations in check. This is the hallmark of a healthy ecosystem, and the kind of environment we hope you will cultivate in your Indiana native plant garden.