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Wild Ridge Plants

@wildridgeplants

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Native plant nursery & ecological consulting in Alpha, NJ. Retail & Mail Order.

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We welcome you to Wild Ridge Plants — our chemical-free, open-pollinated native plant nursery. See our gorgeous plants, our retail shop, and details about our ecological restoration approach in this short video. We had fun making it!

If you’ve been with us for a while now, please share with your friends who may be interested in visiting us!

Check our website or bio for our upcoming seasonal hours.

Thanks!

Rachel and Jared

———
Video and music by Jared @wildplantculture

#nativeplantnursery #nativeplants #njnativeplants #wildflowers #mailordernursery taken in Wild Ridge Plants by @wildridgeplants

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8 months ago

Now you can search our native plant catalog by color. The whole rainbow is there, plus white and pink. Most people have preferences and associations with colors. Ultimately, color can affect how we feel. In fact, creating the color categories and exploring the catalog in that way was really enjoyable for me!

Many of our client gravitate towards or away from certain color palettes. It's fascinating and fun. Red can have particularly strong associations. In the Red category, you'll find wildflowers, trees, and shrubs that feature red blooms, red fruit, scarlet fall color, and even red branches.

Of course, we have the essential reds - Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis), Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) and Bee Balm (Monarda didyma). Let's go beyond the essentials and explore:

It's now mid-October, and red fall foliage is on the rise. Serviceberry species like Canadian serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) have had red foliage for weeks. Soon, Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) will have radiant burgundy red leaves.

Autumn is spurring on red fruit - Spicebush (Lindera benzoin), Hearts-a-Bursting (Euonymus americanus), Virginia Rose (Rosa virginiana), Solomon's Plume (Maianthemum racemosum), and Spikenard (Aralia racemosa).

Many landscapers love to work with the brilliantly red Red-osier Dogwood. However Silky Dogwood (Cornus amomum) is a great choice for more subtle red. Silky Dogwood is hardy, fast-growing, commonly occurring native shrub of wet/moist shores and shrublands. Birds love Silky Dogwood fruit.

Lastly, we have the autumn flush of Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) flowers.

Often red is a fleeting part of the native garden. You can enjoy longer lasting reds with Coral Honeysuckle (blooms in the spring/early summer and again late summer through fall). The ruby-red Virginia Rose hips stick around from summer through winter months. Depending on bird migration, we've sometimes had Spicebush fruits persist. The red arils of Hearts-a-Bursting can stick around, too. Lastly, the red branches of Silky Dogwood are a year-round feature. by @wildridgeplants

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2 days ago

LAST CHANCE! SIGN UP TODAY…JUST A FEW SPOTS LEFT to join Jared Rosenbaum and NPSNJ

Field Clues to Land Use History – Guided Walk with Jared Rosenbaum
October 15 @ 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

Why is there so much native plant diversity in one place. and so many weeds in another? Understanding land use history is crucial to understanding the composition of natural areas.

Land uses such as crop farming, logging, and grazing have a huge effect on the plant species we find in wild areas today. Sometimes the presence of native plants or weeds communicates as much about recent history as it does about “natural” conditions like soils or aspect.

How can we decipher clues to prior land use in the field? Join Jared Rosenbaum, Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner at Wild Ridge Plants, on a gentle walk where we’ll interpret everything from the trees to the rocks as clues to prior and present land use influences on native plant composition and diversity.

The walk will start at Wild Ridge Plants and will largely be on a paved road. Email programs@npsnj.org with questions.

Go to NPSNJ.org/events to sign up or click link in our story. by @wildridgeplants

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5 days ago

Life came full circle when ABC No Rio wrote us to see if @wildridgeplants would custom grow native plants for the green roof on their new building.

We both hung out at ABC in our teens. Like every Saturday. For me, the community and the music are one of the best sets of memories I have.

We grew a mix of native plants for both full sun and also for the shady conditions under the solar panels, based on wild plant communities of rocky ridgelines as well as deep forests.

Locally native species from black cohosh and foamflower to pearly everlasting and wild columbine are all part of the palette of species we’ve been growing out, all plants we propagated ourselves from local wild seeds.

We can’t wait to get planting with the green roof collective! Big thanks to Rudi @freebeertomoro for reaching out to me this spring!

So looking forward to seeing some familiar faces from way back when.

Jared (Kaboom!, The Bad Form)
&
Rachel (An Oxygen Auction)

…Now making plants as @wildridgeplants
& music as @hollowhowlband
& art as @rachel.mackow.art

Check out @abcnorio and the new building taking shape at 156 Rivington in NYC if you wanna be involved or offer support! by @wildridgeplants

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9 days ago

We ship our native plants every Monday, and sometimes Tuesday (by request), too.

You can visit our native plant shop on Fridays from 9AM - 4PM / Saturdays from 9AM - 12PM.

#mailorder #nativeplants #wildflowers #nativeplantnursery #njsmallbusiness #njfarm by @wildridgeplants

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10 days ago

At the moment, we grow six species of native asters --
Late Purple Aster (Symphyotrichum patens)
Smooth Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)
Blue Heart-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)
New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata)
Big Leaf Aster (Eurybia macrophylla)

What these native wildflowers share is that asters host a variety of Lepidopterans (butterflies and moths), including the Pearl Crescent butterfly, as well as, the many moths.

Generally, we find that asters can be very flexible in garden situations. In the wild, the plants display varied habitat preferences.

Dry to average / sun to part shade: Late Purple Aster, Smooth Aster and Blue Heart-leaved Aster are great for average and well-drained to dry soils. Late Purple Aster and Smooth Aster will do best in full sun. Blue Heart-leaved Aster is often found in sunny meadows to partly shaded wood's edges. All top out at about 2 feet to 3 feet tall. Late Purple Aster is the slowest to colonize, while the other two will settle in and get to spreading in a season or two.

�Dry to average / part sun to shade: White Wood Aster and Big Leaf Aster are for your part sun to shade gardens. We've seen White Wood Aster used often in tough urban spots with lots of sun -- that's too extreme! White Wood Aster prefers a bit more shade than that. While this nicely spreading aster has a reputation for being overly abundant, we don't experience that in our gardens. If you do, plant White Wood Aster with other spreaders -- Blue Heart-leaved Aster and Bottlebrush Grass would do it!

Big Leaf Aster does really well in our upland woodland plantings among Wreath Goldenrod, Purple Joe Pye Weed, and Upland Boneset. We love the low, broad, heart-shaped foliage. It's an excellent groundcover.

Average to moist / sun to part sun: In a category all alone is New England Aster. Give this wildflower good soil and sun, and you'll have radiant PURPLE blooms in abundance. Give this tall plant a stake... or Blue Heart-leaved Aster to lean on.

#nativewildflowers #asters #wildridgeplants #njnursery #pollinatorplants #autumngarden by @wildridgeplants

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12 days ago

October is full of native flowers! Here’s some of what’s blooming on the grounds at Wild Ridge Plants.

Most of these are also available through our native plant nursery

#asters #nativeplants #njnativeplants #nativeolantnursery #goldenrods by @wildridgeplants

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13 days ago

Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) grew beautifully at Wild Ridge Plants in 2026. Whether in our woodlands or in containers at our native nursery, Black Cohosh grew full and lush.

In the first picture below, you can see the dark brown seed capsules. We'll harvest the seeds for future grow outs.

We conduct a yearly winter effort to pull Vinca in this patch of microforest. Over the past ten years, it's rebounded and Black Cohosh is just one of the many plants that now thrive here. We offer tours in the spring and by request.

#nativeplantnursery #wildridgeplants #blackcohosh #actaearacemosa #wildflowers #gardenshop #njsmallbusiness taken in Wild Ridge Plants by @wildridgeplants

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15 days ago

Let's get our forests looking like this. White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata) is a great woodland wildflower for average / mesic / dry soil. This plant creates really pretty drifts.

For pollinators -- Solitary bees love it. White Wood Aster is a host for Pearl Crescent butterflies -- pictured here on a Rudbeckia.

#mailordernursery #nativeplants #healthyforest #wildflowers by @wildridgeplants

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18 days ago

Remember how hot and gross the summer was? On July 29, we expanded the upper banks of a wildflower garden at Wild Ridge Plants.

We smothered the lawn, added compost, and planted over a dozen wildflowers and graminoids. Here's what the natives look like two months later on September 29.

Truly, if you can adequately care for a planting... the best time is when you have time. Spring, summer, fall.

Plant into the best soil you have, weed and water. Add compost if you can/need to. As best you can. No more inertia, no more perfection, no more I'm too busy. We're all too busy.

The native plants need a place to be. They don't need our strange ideas of perfection. They don't need our busy minds. They need our busy hands.

Get planting!

Pictured:
Dotted Horsemint (pink and yellow flowers)
Great Blue Lobelia (blue)
Cardinal Flower
Blue Eyed Grass
Big Leaf Aster
Narrowleaf Mountain Mint
Gray's Sedge
and the garden back in July.

#raingarden #nativeplants #wildflowers #ecology #pollinatorgarden #nj #nativeplantnursery by @wildridgeplants

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19 days ago

Devotion to native plants, connecting people and plants, restoring the land.

Stay on track! Keep tending the native plants.

#yoga #nativeplants Yoga Loka by @wildridgeplants

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24 days ago

Autumn wildflowers are in full bloom at Wild Ridge Plants. Our meadows and gardens look like this!

We have each of these plants in stock in our nursery shop in Alpha, NJ / AND / also available for mail order.

Stop in on Friday or Saturday!

Pictured:
Symphyotrichum laeve / Smooth Aster
Symphyotrichum cordifolium / Blue Heartleaf Aster
Lobelia siphilitica / Great Blue Lobelia
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae / New England Aster
Eurybia macrophylla / Bigleaf Aster
Helianthus strumosus / Paleleaf Sunflower
Helianthus strumosus / Paleleaf Sunflower (pictured twice -- had to!)
Solidago caesia / Wreath Goldenrod
Ageratina altissima / White Snakeroot (yes, many of us have this native wildflower... but if you don't AND you have lots of deer OR a highly disturbed site... it's a GREAT option).

#nativewildflower #nativeplantnursery #mailorder #njsmallbusiness #aster #pollinator by @wildridgeplants

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25 days ago