Challenges to developing the market for native shrubs

There is increased demand for native shrubs to use in developing sustainable landscapes. Native plant species provide support for pollinators and other ecological systems and are a suitable landscape alterna8ve to invasive plants. Through my research and extension program at the University of Connecticut, I have worked to expand the availability of native shrubs in the nursery trade by studying their landscape suitability, propagation and production in containers. This poster presents the issues around developing the market for native shrubs including the need for education about landscape use, lack of liner sources for growers, poor quality of nursery stock, lack of cultivars, and perceived drawbacks of cultivar use.