Meet Claudio Vazquez, co-owner and -founder with Amanda McClean of Izel Native Plants, seen in D.C. last week outside the Smithsonian’s Ripley Garden. On the right, the free Izel t-shirt Susan took home from a garden party at his home a couple of years ago. It’s one of her favorites.   

Claudio had read with great interest a recent post by two former employees of a general garden center (Behnkes Nurseries) about selling native plants, so we asked him how his experience was different, as a specialist in natives.  Now heeeeere’s Claudio!

What IS Izel?

Izel Native Plants is an online store for native plants that launched in 2014, brokering plants from currently 9 growers (mostly of native plants only) and selling both wholesale and direct-to-consumer, with no minimum order requirement (so they have access to flats of plugs). Plants are shipped from the grower directly to the consumer. Izel handles marketing and customer service. It sells upwards of 800 taxa of plants in any given year. Creating and updating our plant profiles is a never-ending task. [There’s lots more on the Izel website.]

First, one point I would like to be clear is that although I’m not anti-nonnative plants, I’m squarely in the native plants camp.

Some challenges of selling native plants 

There are 4 markets for native plants, all with different expectations, priorities, and concerns.

  • Restoration/conservation
  • Green infrastructure projects like bioswales
  • Landscape clients and home gardeners who are inspired to use native plants by the strong movement in restoration/conservation
  • Incidental gardeners looking for a particular plant that happens to be native, so bloom color and form, bloom period etc matter.

Another complication for sellers:  the wild type (straight species) v. cultivar debate:

Wild-type is best for restoration projects but for other markets, cultivars provide predictability and can be more grower-friendly and user-friendly, especially for home gardens. Cultivars also serve as a gateway plant to native plant gardening.

Information problems and gaps

Because it’s still a relatively new field compared to ornamental plants, there are more questions than answers. A lot of the non-native ornamentals in the market have been selected, bred, tried and used for a long time, so we know their behavior and understand them. This is not necessarily true with a lot of native plants.

We need to dispel myths and misconceptions about native plants and provide useful, accurate information.

Common misconceptions include: that native plants are a panacea, that all native plants can grow anywhere regardless of growing conditions, with no input, and will be disease-free, robust and long-lived. Or that they’re too big and unruly. So there’s a gap between how native plants behave in cultivation and what customers expect.

When I started to get involved, the major selling points for natives were that they require less water and fertilizer, and they are pest resistant. All wrong.

There is no doubt that native plants, having evolved along native fauna, will inherently provide broad ecological services. This does not mean that non-natives can’t provide ecological benefits as well.

Customers lack experience with natives

New customers who’ve only gardened with ornamentals and are switching to native plants that are totally new to them can experience accidents, surprises, and disappointments. Skilled, experienced designers make native-centric plantings look gorgeous, natural, and easy because they know the plants, and how to design them.

Overemphasis on pollination

The focus on pollinator benefits and the resulting arguments over which plants are best at it often leave unmentioned other ecological benefits, like supporting insects in their larval stages.

How we can better inform

  • Whenever the term “native” is used, it should be defined.
  • We should provide as much information on the plants as possible at points of purchase, be they virtual or brick and mortar. 
  • We should teach not just “right plant, right plant” but also right purpose (e.g. preventing erosion, privacy screening). This applies to natives and nonnatives.
  • Both online and brick/mortar retailers can do a lot more outreach and education.

Supply and demand 

While the demand for native plants is robust, the supply sometimes falls short or is misaligned with the demand.

There’s also a real shortage of professionals in the industry (designers, contractors, horticulturists) who are knowledgeable about and skilled in working with native plants—and integrating them with traditional ornamentals – and their services are in demand. More knowledgeable professionals working in the field would help address many of the issues we’re experiencing.

The challenges of operating an online retail plant store

Building our website was not easy, or cheap. We quickly learned that selling plants online is very different from selling any other types of products, with its own set of parameters and requirements. In fact, we had two failed launches before we were able to build the bare minimum for us to start selling plants in 2014. To this day, web development is our 2nd greatest expense after the cost of plants.  And though we manage all of our web content in-house, maintaining our website still isn’t cheap.

On the plus side

The market is growing. All indicators point to the use of native plants moving beyond a mere fad and a trendy approach to planting accessible only to a select few. Signs include more native plant installations in parks and public gardens, more requirements that projects use natives, trade associations seeking/getting more education about natives.

What’s worked for Izel

It’s been a bumpy ride and I often marvel at how far we’ve come. Izel and horticulture are a second career for both Amanda McClean and myself, and in hindsight we were ill-prepared for what lay ahead. The business was built on small successes, but I want to highlight some that stick to mind as having been pivotal.

  • Partnering with North Creek Nurseries, and the validation from the industry that came with that cannot be overstated
  • In 2022 we received the Perennial Plant Association Retail Sales award.
  • Amanda was named to the board of the Perennial Plant Association and will begin her term in November. This was a culminating event for a business with an unproven model. It seems that not too long ago we were propagating plants in the dining room to help make ends meet, and we are now, on the board of PPA because they think our voice matters.