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To: Bluedot Living
From: The Nantucket Conservation Foundation
Subject: Plant Native: Good For Your Garden, Great for Nantucket
In the fall, Nantucket Conservation Foundation Native Plant Propagation Manager Stacey Cooper heads out across Nantucket's open land with a paper bag and a practiced eye, collecting seeds from more than 100 native plant species across 9,000 acres of conservation land. Back at the workshop, she cleans and catalogs each batch, storing them over winter. Come spring, those seeds become seedlings that will eventually find their way into trail restoration, wetland recovery, and coastal resilience work across the island.
Plant Research Ecologist and Botanist Kelly Omand shapes the Native Plant Program's direction, drawing on 15 years of expertise in Nantucket's plant communities. Field to greenhouse, seed to plant: it's a quiet process, and an essential part of the work at the Nantucket Conservation Foundation.
Native plants are the foundation of everything that makes Nantucket's natural world function. They stabilize sandy soils that would otherwise erode and filter the water that flows to our ponds and harbors. They support the insects that pollinate our flowers and feed our birds. Every native plant helps connect habitat across the island, supporting the natural landscapes that define this place.
The good news: you don't need 9,000 acres to make a difference. Your yard is a start.
Why Native Plants Make Sense
They belong to this soil. Native plants evolved over thousands of years in Nantucket's sandy, wind-exposed, salt-sprayed terrain. They're well-adapted, thriving without the fertilizers, irrigation, and pesticide treatments that non-native ornamentals often require.
They can save you money. Less maintenance means lower costs over time. Less mowing, mulching, trimming, watering, and fertilizing all adds up. And because native plants are less palatable to deer, they're a naturally lower-maintenance choice for Nantucket gardeners.
They support local wildlife. Native plants co-evolved with local wildlife, making them the ideal food source for native insects and the birds that feed on them. More than 20% of native bees rely on specific native plants to complete their lifecycle. At NCF's own native wildflower meadow at our Cliff Road office, staff have observed a surge in butterflies, bees, dragonflies, and birds.
They protect water quality. Deep-rooted native plants filter stormwater runoff and help keep excess nutrients out of our ponds and coastal waters. Fewer fertilizers and pesticides in our landscapes means cleaner water for everyone, including our pets who are vulnerable to harmful algal blooms.
They're part of what makes Nantucket, Nantucket. The sandplain grasslands, coastal heathlands, and native meadows that define this island all start with native plants. Every native planting in a private yard is a small extension of that landscape.
Small Changes, Big Impact
Every native plant you add makes a difference, and it doesn't have to happen all at once. Start with one bed, one corner, one patch of lawn — or even a porch planter filled with native blooms. Add more each season as you find what works. When you're ready for a bigger change, try a swap: remove an invasive or non-native shrub and replace it with a native alternative. It's one of the most impactful changes a Nantucket gardener can make.
Pesticides linger longer than most people realize and hit pollinators and birds hardest. Reducing their use makes a real difference. And don't overlook trees and shrubs for the shelter, perches, and structure that make a yard truly hospitable to pollinators and birds. Nature responds quickly when you give it what it needs.
Plants with a Purpose
For gorgeous blooms: Orange milkweed (also a monarch magnet), seaside goldenrod, swamp rose mallow with its dramatic dinner-plate flowers, and the brilliant woodland sunflower all deliver stunning color from summer through late fall while supporting our native pollinators.
For privacy and screening: Bayberry, arrowwood viburnum, sweet pepperbush, and inkberry are all native shrubs that work well as hedges and borders, without the maintenance burden of boxwood or privet. American holly provides year-round evergreen structure and bright winter berries.
For ground cover: Let the plants do the work, no mulch required. Low-growing natives like bearberry, lowbush blueberry, self-heal, and sickle-leaved golden aster hold sandy soil in place and provide critical habitat for ground-nesting bees.
For something unexpected: Native grasses offer four seasons of interest with almost no maintenance. Try little bluestem for its showy seed heads and red-tinged fall color, switchgrass for its tall architectural presence through winter, or yellow feather grass for its delicate waving tufts in late summer.
Every native plant is a small act of restoration. NCF's native plant program has been growing since 2006 and so has the demand for regionally native plants across the island. To expand that capacity, NCF's Milestone Center will serve as a new home for research, education, and conservation work, with a larger greenhouse, plant nursery, climate-controlled seed storage, and a dedicated herbarium for botanical research and specimen storage. For Kelly and Stacey, it means the ability to better meet the native plant needs of our wildlands and gardens.
In the meantime, visit NCF's native wildflower meadow and garden at our 118 Cliff Road office, open to the public year-round. From July through September, we offer a monthly Native Plant Landscaping Tour, and Plant Propagation Workshops in May and June give participants a behind the scenes look at what it takes to support a native plant nursery. Native plants also feature throughout our ecology excursions in our seasonal events calendar. To learn more, find native landscaping resources, or sign up for a program, visit nantucketconservation.org.
