Promoting Native Perennial Plants for 29 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!

Upcoming April Event Schedule

On Wednesday, April 2, 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm: Randi will be giving the 2025 Nursery Opening Lecture for Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve over zoom, on the subject of "The Role of Native Plants in Landscape Design: Landscaping with a Purpose." Register online to attend over zoom; this webinar is open to the public with pre-registration, and is $10 for non-Bowman's Hill members (free for Bowman's Hill members)!

On Thursday, April 3, 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm: Randi will be speaking in-person to the Manada Conservancy on the subject of "Who's in Your Garden? The Life and Times of Insects and Others All Around Us" at the Milton & Catherine Hershey Conservatory at Hershey Gardens (170 Hotel Rd, Hershey, PA, 17033). This event is free and open to the public, but does require pre-registration.

On Saturday, April 12, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm: Toadshade will be selling plants and seeds at the Lambertville Green Fair at the South Hunterdon Regional Elementary School (formerly LPS) all-purpose room (200 North Main Street, Lambertville, NJ 08530). The Green Fair is free and open to the public, and pre-orders are welcome!

On Thursday, April 17, 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm: Randi will be giving her lecture "The Art and Science of Growing Native Plants from Seed: Why, When, and How" over zoom as part of Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve's Thursday Night Nature series. This event is open to the public with a $15 registration fee (20% discount for Bowman's Hill members)!

On Saturday, April 26, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm: Toadshade will be selling plants and seeds at the Madison Green & Clean town fair. We'll be at the Farmer’s Market location at the corner corner of Prospect St. and Kings Rd. (28 Prospect St, Madison, NJ 07940). This event is free and open to the public, and pre-orders are welcome!

On Sunday, April 27, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm: Toadshade will be selling plants and seeds at the Burlington Earth Fair at Historic Smithville Park (803 Smithville Road, Eastampton, NJ 08060). This event is free and open to the public, and pre-orders are welcome!

On Sunday, April 27, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm: Toadshade will also be selling plants and seeds at the Trailside Wild Earth Fest at the Trailside Nature & Science Center (452 New Providence Rd, Mountainside, NJ 07092). This event is open to the public with a $5.00 admission fee, and pre-orders are welcome!

And of course, there will be more events in May! Keep an eye out in your emails and on our website for further updates.

Other pick up options: We're always happy to bring pre-orders to our events, so feel free to order ahead of time and arrange to pick up your order at any of our upcoming events. And as always, you can order plants and seeds through our website and pick up 7 days a week at Frenchtown Home & Hardware (11 Kingwood Ave, Frenchtown, NJ 08825: Monday-Saturday 8:30-6:00, Sundays 10:00-4:00). Please be sure to wait to receive your personalized order pick up confirmation before you head over to pick up your order!

Some bumblebee species look quite distinctive, but they all seem to agree on which flowers taste the best. This Tricolored Bumblebee (Bombus ternarius) spent nearly an hour on this Coastal Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)!

Beardtongues like this Small's Beardtongue (Penstemon smallii) are also a bumblebee favorite. According to the NJDEP Fish and Wildlife Service, there are about 350 species of native pollinating bees found in New Jersey. Bumblebees are some of the most recognizable, but they're far from alone!

Some intrepid bumblebees can still be found sneaking out for a late season snack, like this Golden Northern Bumblebee (Bombus fervidus) still seeking out nectar on a late-blooming Frost Aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum) yesterday here at Toadshade.

Plant Shipping

Toadshade is done shipping plants for the season (we start shipping plants again in April), but that doesn't mean we're closed for business! We ship seeds, hats, and gift certificates all year long (they make excellent stocking stuffers!), and we'll be updating our online catalog in January, so keep an eye out. Don't forget, you can reserve plants for spring at any time!

Oaks: A National Treasure, and Our National Tree

Need a Toadshade Hat?

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.

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

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 © 1996-2025 Randi Eckel. To obtain permission to reproduce this artwork, contact Randi.