Promoting Native Perennial Plants for 28 years
All our plants propagated in Frenchtown, NJ

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When buying wildflowers, make sure they are propagated, not removed from the wild! If you have any doubt, ask! Some plant species have been driven to extinction in the wild due to the collection of wild plants!

What's New this Spring at Toadshade?

Spring is upon us! Plants are shipping, trees are beginning to put on leaves, and we just saw an early American Lady butterfly investigating one of its blooming host plants, Parlin's Pussytoes (Antennaria parlinii). The growing season has officially started, and we're excited to announce this year's news, updates, and spring event schedule (...at least up until the beginning of May!) Be sure to scroll down to see our upcoming events!

The Eastern Redbuds (Cercis canadensis) on our farm are just on the cusp of blooming. We've seen more than one bee already impatiently investigating the not-quite-open flowerbuds.

Catalogues Are Coming!

If you've already requested a free catalogue from us, keep an eye out in your mailbox! Our spring catalogues should be arriving within the next week or two. And if you haven't yet requested a catalogue, you can do so on our website here! Although our website (as always) has the most up-to-date information on availability, plant photos, and full descriptions of each species, we've worked hard to make our catalogue a useful tool for garden planning. The species listed in our catalogue are all available right now, and information on those species includes common names, scientific names, plant family, a quick germination guide for individual species' seeds, as well as range information, USDA plant hardiness zones, deer resistance, flower color, months in bloom, estimated plant size at maturity, information on ideal growing conditions and habitat, as well as preferred soil types, along with a brief description of the plant, all in a simple, readable format interspersed with beautiful photos. Like I said, we've worked hard to make it useful! And as always, our catalogues are free, which make them a handy, cost-effective educational resource on the approximately 238 species listed this year.

You would not believe how deer-resistant these things are.

We also sell hats now!

We originally had only intended these hats to make us more identifiable at events, but we were asked enough times if our hats were for sale that we finally caved, and for the first time we're offering Toadshade Wildflower Farm baseball caps. Since we've had ours for years, you can consider these hats very thoroughly field-tested; working outside as we do, we are not especially kind to hats here at Toadshade, but these hold up well, and don't easily fade. They make good gifts, and they keep the sun off your face (your dermatologist will thank you). They're soft and comfortable, a nice sage green color, and although they only come in one size, they're quite adjustable.

Upcoming Events

This Wednesday, April 17th, 7-8:30 pm. Randi will be presenting a webinar “Who’s in your Garden? The Life and Times of Insects all around us!” as part of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey’s April Wednesday Webinar series. The webinar is free, and you can register here!

Sunday, April 21st, 11 am - 4 pm. Toadshade will be at the Burlington County Earth Fair at the Historic Smithville Park, 803 Smithville Rd, Eastampton Township, NJ 08060. https://www.co.burlington.nj.us/1958/Earth-Fair. Find us in the ‘sustainable living’ tent – we’ll have lots of native plants and seeds for sale. You can also place preorders online for pick up. Event is free and open to the public.

Saturday, April 27th, 9 am -2 pm. Toadshade will be at Madison’s Clean and Green Town Fair at Hartley Dodge Memorial (50 Kings Road, Madison, NJ 07940) with lots of native plants and seeds for sale. You can also place preorders online for pick up. Event is free and open to the public. For more information visit https://www.rosenet.org/391/Madison-Green-Clean

Sunday, April 28th, 11 am -5 pm. We’ll be at the Trailside Nature & Science Center’s Twelfth Wild Earth Fest (452 New Providence Rd, Mountainside, NJ 07092) again, with lots of native plants and seeds for sale. You can also place preorders online for pick up. $5 admission fee for this event (children 6 & under are free). For more information visit https://ucnj.org/trailside-nature-and-science-center/events/

Saturday, May 4, 10am to 3 pm. Toadshade will be returning once again to the Manada Conservancy Native Plant Sale at East Hanover Township Nature Park (328 N Crawford Rd, Grantville, PA 17028) with lots of native plants and seeds for sale. You can also place preorders online for pick up. For more information visit https://www.manada.org/events/. This event is free and open to the public. (rain date May 11th)

Although it can be pushy in small spaces, Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans) really puts on a show when it's in bloom, and the hummingbirds love it.

Don't see what you're looking for on our online catalogue? Check back soon! We frequently make changes over the course of the season as more species become available. And if in doubt, ask! We'd love to hear from you!

Toadshade is primarily a mail order nursery, and the farm itself is not open to the public. We have, however, partnered with our wonderful local hardware store (Frenchtown Home & Hardware), which is a ‘pick-up’ point for orders, allowing order pickup 7 days a week in beautiful downtown Frenchtown . Any pickup order costing more than $50 must be pre-paid, but pickup is always free! If you would like to pick up your order rather than having it sent by mail, please simply let us know (with 24 hour notice, M-F), and you will be able to pick up your order at the hardware store’s address (Frenchtown Home & Hardware, 11 Kingwood Ave, Frenchtown, NJ 08825) after receiving pickup details and confirmation from us by phone or email.

Has your group considered a Lecture, Seminar, and Workshop? Randi is an accomplished lecturer and popular public speaker. If you would like her to come share her knowledge with your local group, be they a garden club, a university class, master gardeners, etc. let us know.

Check out our Educational Resources

Listen to her discuss native plants, how she got into growing them, some of her favorite parts of being a naturalist, and ways to make an ecological difference in an episode of Backyard Ecology with host Shannon Trimboli

Listen to her speak about Native Plant Societies with Jeff Nelson from the Kentucky Native Plant Society, Ellen Honeycutt from the Georgia Native Plant Society and of course, host Shannon Trimboli in another episode of Backyard Ecology

Or tune in to the Native Plant Society of New Jersey’s new podcast, The WildStory: A Podcast of Poetry and Plants (Randi’s not featured in this one, but she does speak in the central blurb, discussing the Native Plant Society of New Jersey!).

Randi was also interviewed for the Washington Post this year, talking about how to best help your local wildlife in your garden outside of the growing season.

And, for those of you who have always wanted to attend one of Randi’s lectures but haven’t been able to make it, you can now view a recorded version of her presentation Native Groundcovers: Sustainable, Living Mulch” on YouTube, courtesy of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey.

Don't forget to subscribe to our series of educational blogs.

Let us know if you would like a copy of our printed catalogue or sign up for our blog.

Our plant descriptions let you know how difficult each species is to start and we have a helpful guide that describe the various techniques that you can use to start native perennial seeds.

There is always music amongst the trees in the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.

Minnie Aumonier

All artwork on the Toadshade Wildflower Farm web site, including drawings and photographs is original © 1996-2024 Randi Eckel. To obtain permission to reproduce this artwork, contact Randi.