A marketplace for native plants
Izel offers a large selection of mid-Atlantic natives
and is expanding into other regions.
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to find the right species for your project.
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even when ordering from more than one nursery.
Izel News
June 20, 2017
If you’re anything like me, the least utilized area of your lot is the front yard. The American Dream sold us single family homes with sprawling front lawns that ultimately have little visual appeal, serve no ecological purpose, and the maintenance of which is environmentally questionable and a chore that no member of the family wants to take on voluntarily.
September 16, 2016
Franklinia alatamaha is probably the rarest of all trees native to North America. The species was discovered in 1765 along the Altamaha River, in southeastern Georgia, by famed botanists and horticulturists John Bartram and son William. Ultimately, they named the species in honor of their dear friend Benjamin Franklin. William went back a few years later to collect seed which was successfully propagated. Were it not for this fortuitous discovery, and the recognition of having found something exceptional, this species, last observed in the wild in 1803, would now be extinct. Franklin tree soon became an attraction at Bartram’s Garden; the oldest botanic garden in the country, on 46 acres along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. read more
September 9, 2016
When implementing a plan to plant a meadow, consider this:
• Is the seed sourced from mono-cropped production fields?
• Is the seed cleaned and denuded of essential chemicals that are required for good germination?
• Is the diversity in the seed mix a true representation of a stable, functioning prairie, or just a landscape designer's wishful thinking? read more
Featured Plants
Asarum canadense is a deciduous, mat-forming plant. It has strongly veined, heart-shaped, slightly velvety basal leaves up to 6" wide. The cup-shaped, purplish-brown flowers are attractive but appear close to the ground and are often hidden under the leaves.
Carex texensis is a wispy, fine-textured sedge with arching 5 to 10" long blades that are a mere 1/16" across. It blooms abundantly in spring to early summer, with flowers floating just above the foliage to a height of a bout 12". Although the individual flower clusters are rather small, collectively they put on quite a show which is not a common feature of many sedges.
Mertensia virginica is an ephemeral that welcomes spring like few other species can. It emerges after the last frosts with gray-green leaves that unfurl and grow to become oval, up to 7" long and light green. Soon thereafter, leafy stems develop and are terminated by large clusters of pink to pale blue bell-shaped flowers. By mid summer, the plants set seed and die down to live another day, and make room for late emerging plants.
Colonies of this showy woodland plant are a common sight in damp, open woods and on riverbanks. May apple is easily recognized by its large, deeply divided, umbrella-shaped leaves which unfurl in early spring from a single stem. A solitary, nodding, white, and occasionally tinged with yellow or pink, fragrant flower grows from the axil of two-leaved plants (single leaved plants will not bloom). The fleshy, yellow berry that follows gave the May apple its common name.
Ratibida pinnata is a striking wildflower with robust, sparingly leaved branching stems that can grow to a height of 5'. The large terminal flowers are stunning, with bright yellow, drooping rays that are up to 3" long, and a conspicuous disk that starts out slightly domed and gray, becoming dark brown and cone-like as the seeds ripen. The leaves are pinnate (feather-like) and divided, hence the specific epithet "pinnata" (nothing to do with a Mexican "piñata"). Although the flowers are not fragrant, their disk will exude an anise-like aroma if rubbed or crushed.
