Bird-Friendly Native Plants of the Year: For Growers and Retailers

We are creating a local base of buyers for native plants, and now we need YOU – our local growers and nurserymen.

Growing and Selling North Carolina’s Bird-Friendly Native Plants

Sign-up to Participate in the Bird-Friendly Native Plants of the Year Program
See our Bird-Friendly Native Plants of the Year list .
For more information contact Kim Brand, Bird-Friendly Communities Coordinator at kbrand@audubon.org.

Bird-Friendly Native Plants of the Year is a program to help complete the sales cycle for native plants. Audubon North Carolina is working to bring back native plants that specifically benefit birds, our environment and our local economy. Through our 10 local chapters, 10,000 members and a 22-member implementation team composed of state and local organizations, we are creating a local base of buyers for native plants, and now we need YOU – our local growers and retailer. Bird-Friendly Native Plants of the Year specifically targets landscape architects, city planners, home gardeners and bird watchers. The program gives information about native plants that are helpful to birds by region to create local impact.

How Are We Creating Demand?
Through the Bird-Friendly Native Plants of the Year list promotion. Each year, we will select a handful of plants to market, adding to the list year after year. This way we will grow a base of buyers and give our growers time to prepare for future years. These plants will be a “collect as you grow” model of marketing that emphasizes and promotes the current selections while also marketing the plants from previous years.

The Bird-Friendly Native Plants of the Year list is promoted through:

Marketing – We’ll push eNews, social media, online advertising and flyers to our growing list of people interested in native plants plus Audubon NC supporters – currently 17,000+ emails and 11,000+ Facebook fans. We’ll also actively promote the list to local media.
Education – Audubon NC, our 10 local chapters and our partners will present seminars on the benefits of native plants across the state to garden clubs, bird clubs, civic organizations, government agencies, conservation nonprofits, landscape architects and building architects.

Why Native Plants?
We want to see a resurgence of native plants. They benefit our environment, our birds and our local economy. We see it pretty simply; native plants are a winning choice for growers:

Easy – Native plants are easy to grow in North Carolina’s climate. This means less maintenance and plant care before they go to market.
Perform – Since these plants are native to North Carolina, after the first year these selections often grow with little coddling. Plant it and forget it.
Earth-Friendly – Native Plants can endure North Carolina’s pests, heat, cold, natural rainfall and other plant maladies. Less pesticides and herbicides means more dollars in your pocket.
Beautiful –Native plants are gorgeous. Audubon North Carolina has been increasing awareness of native plants through the Bird-Friendly Communities program since 2013. We promote adding a few natives to your landscape each year to benefit birds in each region.
Food for Birds – Native plants help birds raise their chicks, and who isn’t happy about that? Birds need native plants to feed their chicks and to stay fed all winter. In the spring, birds pick off caterpillars to feed their babies. In the fall, the seeds and fruits from native plants are excellent sources of energy for the winter.
Available – We’re creating local demand for native plants with Audubon members, city planners, landscapers, garden clubs and backyard gardeners across the state. We just need growers and retailers to make them available to this growing market.

What Do You Get?
By signing up to participate in this program, we’ll actively promote your business as a Bird-Friendly Native Plants of the Year participant and you’ll get the following benefits:

BENEFITS FOR NURSERIES:

Listing on Marketing Materials and Website – Your contact information will be included on a 1-page flyer plus the Audubon NC website, which receives 33,000 visitors per year.
Nursery Marketing Package – Package of materials to help you market bird-friendly native plants to your customers. This includes brochures, 1-pagers, plant markers to attract customers to native selections, and access to educational presentations for your customers.
Online Marketing Package – Digital tools to help you market native plants on your website or social media including photos of birds and native plants, fast facts and more.
Bird-Friendly Native Plants of the Year eNews – 2x per year, you’ll receive an eNews with details about our list plus updates on the program.

BENEFITS FOR GROWERS AND WHOLESALERS:

Marketing to Nurseries – Your contact information will be included on a 1-page flyer sent to our retailers, and you’ll receive a list of retailers signed up for this program.
Online Marketing Package – Digital tools to help you market bird-friendly native plants on your website or social media including photos of birds and native plants, how these specific native plants benefit birds, fast facts and more.
Bird-Friendly Native Plants of the Year eNews – 2x per year, you’ll receive an eNews with details about our list plus updates on the program.

Join our growing community of Bird-Friendly Native Plants of the Year partners.

FIND RETAILERS

WHOLESALE

Mountain Region Wholesale

Piedmont Wholesale

Coastal Plain Wholesale

* Wholesale Only. Do not contact for retail sales.

LANDSCAPE

DESIGN

Funding for this project was provided in part through an Urban & Community Forestry Grant from the North Carolina Forest Service, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service, Southern Region.