Native Plant Nursery

Arlington County’s Native Plant Nursery facilitates the restoration of native flora.  Seeds are collected and propagated over the course of one or more growing seasons until young plants are ready for transplanting into the field.   The nursery has enabled the planting of more than 10,000 plants since its inception.

Our local-ecotype native species, propagated from locally collected seeds, represent the ‘gold standard’ for native plants used in restoration projects.  The nursery specializes in meadow species, locally rare plants, and native species that historically grew in Arlington but are no longer present.  Plants from the nursery are also used in forested areas cleared of invasive plants.

In addition to county restoration projects, plants are also provided to volunteer groups and neighborhood associations to increase biodiversity within many of Arlington’s parks.

Nursery workdays are held every Tuesday afternoon from 2-4 p.m. at our nursery in Barcroft Park. To see all our upcoming events and to register, click here.

Native Plant of the Month

Virginia Spring Beauties

Claytonia virginica

The appropriately named Virginia Spring Beauties (Claytonia virginica) are indeed beautiful, if small, spring ephemerals: growing leaves, blooming, and producing seeds before the trees fully leaf out and then disappearing until the next spring. Their scientific name was assigned by Linnaeus himself in honor of John Clayton, one of Virginia's earliest naturalists. They can be quite abundant, blanketing open woodlands so thickly they sometimes look like snow. Carolina Spring Beauty (Claytonia caroliniana) is another species that grows in the mountains West of our region. Read more.