plants + seeds + events

376 Washington Street • Norwell, MA, rear lot
www.bluestemnatives.com
current inventory • facebook • instagram • youtube

Hello friends!
 
Things are busy busy at Blue Stem. Native plant gardeners are ramping up their projects, getting the plants in the ground now to establish some roots before the winter. They will be rewarded with happy plants come springtime! So stop in soon.
 
The seed countdown has begun! You can look for single species packets* to be available starting on October 1(ish). All seeds will be available for in person purchase or online purchase (with shipping throughout New England or with in-person pick up). However, our custom seed meadow mixes are now available for pre-order...and bonus: if you pre-order these you get a discounted price. Once they hit the shelves the price will increase a bit.
 
Below you'll find a plethora of resources on sowing seeds, including a link to our December winter seed sowing workshops at Blue Stem. Now open for registration. 
 
Cheers! Britt and Kristen
pictured above: cleaning seeds of Senna hebecarpa (wild senna)
link to current plant inventory
 
*want to be automatically notified when we put single-species packets in stock? Click on that product page on the website and click "notify me".

Upcoming Events

Saturday, September 14: Norwell Conservation Day.
9am-1pm. Jacob's Pond. 81 Jacobs Ln., Norwell, MA.
 
Tuesday, September 17: Newton Farmer's Market.
1:30pm-6:30pm. Cold Spring Park. 1094 Beacon St., Newton, MA.
 
Saturday, September 21: OPEN HOUSE at Blue Stem Natives.
 
Thursday, September 26: Kendall Square Farmer's Market.
noon-6pm. 1 Broad Canal Way, Cambridge, MA.
 
Tuesday, October 1: Lexington Farmer's Market. 2-6:30pm.
Worthen Road Practice Field. 80 Worthen Rd., Lexington, MA.
 
Thursday, December 5, 1-2pm, Winter Seed Sowing in Milkjugs
 
Saturday, December 7, 11am-noon, Winter Seed Sowing in Milkjugs

Seed Sowing Resources

Collecting Seeds
(please only collect seeds from your own property or from other's property with permission and only in small amounts. And only collect if you know the species isn't rare or endangered.)
video: Cleaning milkweed seeds, Blue Stem Natives
webpage: Collecting Native Seed, US Forest Service
 
Sowing Native Seeds
webpage: Seed Sowing, Blue Stem Natives
webpage: Stratification Codes, Blue Stem Natives (note: not always the same from seed seller to seed seller)
webpage: Sowing Native Seed, Ecological Landscape Alliance
book: Growing and Propagating Wildflowers of the United States and Canada, William Cullina
If you are interested in diving deeper into sowing native seeds we recommend subscribing to Native Plants Journal, UW Press
 
Meadows
video: Larry Weaner, "The Self-Proliferating Landscape: Setting a Process in Motion", NYBG 
video: Virtual Symposium: The Making of a Meadow, University of Illinois Press 
book: Lawns into Meadows: Growing a Regenerative Landscape, Owen Wormser
webpage: Meadows – Dream and Reality, Ecological Landscape Alliance
webpage: Establishing a Miniature Meadow in Brooklyn, Ecological Landscape Alliance (a note that our meadow mix should be sown in late Autumn not spring like this write-up)

Pictured here: just a snippet of our "Trading Post", garden tools, sleeves, books, and so much more!
 
Blue Stem Natives
376 Washington Street
Norwell, MA 02043
REAR LOT
 
Hours:
T-F: 10am-6pm
S+S: 10am-5pm
Closed on Mondays
 
We will be open for in-person plant shopping through roughly October 15 (weather dependent). Online plant purchases with contactless pick-up will be available after that through October 30.
 
Seed purchases will be available:
in-person through October 15.
online with in-person pick up or shipping though early December.
At our winter pop-up shopping event in the greenhouse, date TBD.

info@bluestemnatives.com