For those of us in the native plant world, a day at Mt. Cuba Center isn’t just a field trip — it’s a masterclass.
Native Forest Nursery’s Mid-Atlantic Sales Specialist, Liz Harden, recently had the opportunity to attend an MNLGA (Maryland Nursery, Landscape, and Garden Association) event hosted at Mt. Cuba Center in Hockessin, Delaware. The facility is one of the most respected native plant research and demonstration gardens in the Mid-Atlantic, and a day there has a way of reminding you exactly why this work matters.
What Is Mt. Cuba Center?
Mt. Cuba Center is a public garden and research institution dedicated to the study and promotion of native plants — specifically those native to the Piedmont region of the eastern United States. Their trial gardens test native plant cultivars side-by-side, evaluating everything from pollinator value to drought tolerance to landscape performance. The results inform what professionals like us recommend to our customers.
In short: if you want to know what native plants actually perform in Mid-Atlantic landscapes, Mt. Cuba’s research is where you look.
A Day of Learning, Exploring, and Creating
The MNLGA event brought together nursery professionals, landscape designers, and native plant advocates for a full day of programming. Here’s what was on the agenda:
🚜 Hay Wagon Ride Through the Meadows
Guests loaded onto a hay wagon and toured the property’s native meadows — a living example of how native plantings can transform open land into dynamic, wildlife-supporting habitat. Seeing these landscapes at scale is something no brochure or website can replicate.
🌿 Trial Garden Tours
Wandering through the trial gardens was a highlight. Plants are labeled and arranged for comparison, making it easy to see how different species and cultivars perform side-by-side. Standouts included Spigelia marilandica (Indian Pink), with its striking red tubular flowers that hummingbirds can’t resist, and Oxalis violacea ‘Love in Vein’, a cheerful chartreuse groundcover that caught every visitor’s eye. The woodland paths through towering native trees — underplanted with layers of native groundcovers — painted a picture of what mature native landscapes can look like.
🎙️ Lectures on Native Plants and Wildlife
Educational sessions throughout the day covered the ecological relationships between native plants and wildlife — the birds, bees, butterflies, and other species that depend on them. These conversations reinforce a message we share with every customer: choosing native isn’t just an aesthetic decision. It’s an ecological one.
🔥 Pyrography Station
One of the most memorable stops was the pyrography (wood burning) station, where attendees tried their hand at burning designs — including native leaf shapes — into wood slices. It was a creative, hands-on way to connect with the materials that come from the landscapes we’re all working to protect.
Liz Was Interviewed by MNLGA
In addition to attending the sessions, Liz was invited to be interviewed by MNLGA. That video will be featured on their social channels — we’ll share it here when it goes live. It’s a great opportunity for Native Forest Nursery to be part of the larger conversation about the role native plants play in the future of the landscape industry.
Why This Matters
At Native Forest Nursery, we don’t just grow native plants — we stay connected to the people, research, and conversations that are shaping how native plants are understood and used across the Mid-Atlantic and beyond.
Events like this MNLGA gathering at Mt. Cuba are where relationships are built, where new plant knowledge is shared, and where the industry moves forward together. Being present matters.
If you’re a landscape professional, garden center, or nursery grower in the Mid-Atlantic region looking for a native plant partner who is engaged, knowledgeable, and passionate about this work — we’d love to connect.
👉 Reach out to Liz Harden or visit nativeforestnursery.com to learn more about our native plant offerings.
Native Forest Nursery grows and supplies quality native plants for landscape professionals, garden centers, and restoration projects. Based in Georgia, we serve customers across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.