What Native Plant Trust does

Native Plant Trust, founded in 1899 and headquartered in Wayland, Massachusetts, is the nation's first plant conservation organization and the only one focused exclusively on New England's native flora. It operates across two physical sites — Garden in the Woods, a 15-acre botanic garden in Framingham, MA, and Nasami Farm, a native plant nursery in Whately, MA — plus a portfolio of digital tools including Go Botany (a free plant identification platform covering over 3,000 species), the Garden Plant Finder database, and the PlantShare community platform, with development supported in part by the National Science Foundation. The organization propagates ecotypic native plants from wild-harvested seed, publishes authoritative botanical reference books, and maintains a seed bank for imperiled species.

The business model is a diversified nonprofit revenue structure combining plant and book sales (retail and online), garden consulting services ($250 initial consultation, $100/hour follow-ups), an annual membership program providing 10% discounts and exclusive access, educational programming (classes, certificate programs, school programs, recorded webinars), and charitable donations and planned giving. Customer segments span home gardeners (primary), landscape professionals, other nonprofit organizations, and schools/educators. Distribution is omnichannel: two seasonal physical retail locations, an online storefront for books/seeds/gift cards, email-based plant pre-orders, and on-site consulting visits across New England. The organization holds BGCI Advanced Conservation Practitioner accreditation and operates the Restoration Accelerator program targeting large-scale ecological restoration projects.

Name

Native Plant Trust

Legal name

Native Plant Trust

Website

https://nativeplanttrust.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1899

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Native Plant Trust is a nonprofit plant conservation organization founded in 1899 that conserves and promotes New England's native plants through two botanical garden/nursery sites, a digital plant identification platform (Go Botany), educational programs, consulting, and a seed bank for imperiled species.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Native Plant Conservation & Horticulture

NAICS

Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Retailers (444240), Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products (113210), Nursery and Floriculture Production (11142), Nursery and Tree Production (111421), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (71219)

SIC

Forestry (800), Agricultural Services (700), Retail-Building Materials, Hardware, Garden Supply (5200)

akta.pro primary industry

Land Trusts & Protected Areas (BPAGAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Native Species & Restoration Plant Nurseries (AFAMADAF), Invasive Species & Vegetation Management (Woody Plants) (HSAIADAI), Tree Planting & Transplanting (HSAIADAE)

Keywords

• Native plant conservation
• Ecological gardening
• Native plant nursery
• Plant identification tools
• Botanical education

Headquarters

HQ city

Wayland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Plant Sales: Sale of native New England plants including trees, shrubs, perennials, ferns, grasses, and vines grown without pesticides. Plants sold at Garden Shops and via pre-order with pickup at nursery locations.
2. Garden Shop Retail: Retail sales of native plants, seeds, books, tools, and gifts at Garden in the Woods and Nasami Farm physical locations plus online shop for books, seeds, and e-gift cards.
3. Book Sales: Sale of staff-authored and curated books on native plant horticulture, garden design, and ecology including The Northeast Native Plant Primer, Native Plants for New England Gardens, Wildflowers of New England, and Flora Novae Angliae.
4. Garden Consulting Services: One-on-one ecological gardening consultation services including initial at-home consultations ($250), follow-up consultations ($100/hour), detailed write-ups, and personal shopping assistance.
5. Membership Program: Annual membership providing 10% discount on plants, books, and merchandise, advance access to plant sales, deeper discounts on sale items, and other member perks.
6. Educational Programs: Revenue from classes, field studies, certificate programs, school programs, and botanical travel programs covering native plant gardening and ecology.
7. Donations and Fundraising: Charitable donations from supporters to support conservation and horticultural programs, including annual fund appeals and planned giving programs.
8. Gift Cards: Sale of digital and physical gift cards redeemable at Garden in the Woods and Nasami Farm for merchandise and plants.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Native Plant Trust is a nonprofit plant conservation organization that conserves and promotes New England's native plants. It operates a botanic garden (Garden in the Woods), a native plant nursery (Nasami Farm), and the Go Botany online plant identification platform, while selling native plants, pollinator kits, plant collections, books, and offering garden consulting, classes, and conservation programs.

Product overview

Native Plant Trust operates a multi-platform ecosystem centered on plant conservation and native plant promotion across New England. The core offerings include Go Botany (a free plant identification platform serving over 3,000 species), the Garden Plant Finder (a searchable plant database), and PlantShare (a community feature). These digital tools are complemented by physical retail operations at Garden in the Woods (Framingham, MA) and Nasami Farm nursery (Whately, MA), which sell native plants, pollinator kits, and themed plant collections. Educational services encompass classes, certificate programs, school programs, and the Garden Consulting Program providing one-on-one ecological gardening advice. The organization also publishes staff-authored botanical books, maintains a seed bank for conservation, and offers the Restoration Accelerator program for large-scale ecological projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Garden in the Woods: The organization's native plant botanic garden located in Framingham, MA, open to visitors seasonally.
• Nasami Farm
• Garden Consulting Program
• Restoration Accelerator
• Go Botany

Products and services

• Go Botany A free, comprehensive online plant identification platform enabling users to identify over 3,000 New England plants using Simple Key, Full Key, and Dichotomous Key tools, with a PlantShare community feature for sharing sightings and teaching resources.
• Garden Plant Finder A searchable database of plants native to New England that allows users to filter by plant type, flower color, ecoregion, exposure, moisture, bloom season, and cultivation status to find plants suitable for their garden conditions.
• Garden Consulting Program One-on-one advisory service pairing customers with ecological gardening experts for property visits, garden design guidance, plant selection advice, follow-up consultations, detailed write-ups, and personal shopping assistance for native plant landscapes.
• Pollinator Kits Carefully selected mixes of native pollinator plants available in three configurations (Full sun/dry, Part sun/moist, and Moist/wet conditions) designed to support bees, butterflies, bats, and birds, with 50 plug-sized plants per kit.
• Plant Collections Thirteen themed plant collections including Keystone Natives, Spring Ephemerals, Pollinators' Feast, Meadow, Songbird, Rain Garden/Bioswale, Shade Bloom, and Woodland Moss Garden collections, each containing 8 herbaceous plants.
• Books by Our Experts Staff-authored botanical guidebooks including The Northeast Native Plant Primer, Native Plants for New England Gardens, Wildflowers of New England, Grasses, Sedges, Rushes, and Flora Novae Angliae, available for purchase at member discounts.
• Nasami Farm Nursery A native plant nursery in Whately, MA producing plants grown from seed sustainably harvested from wild populations throughout New England, offering custom contract growing for large design projects and restorations.
• Garden in the Woods A 15-acre native plant botanic garden in Framingham, MA showcasing New England flora with walking trails, themed gardens, and educational displays, serving as the primary retail location with a Garden Shop.
• Seed Bank Conservation program banking seeds from imperiled and rare native plant species to preserve genetic diversity and support species recovery efforts across New England.
• Restoration Accelerator A program designed to accelerate landscape restoration efforts using native plants, providing resources and support for large-scale ecological restoration projects.
• Classes & Field Studies Year-round educational programming including Intro to Native Plants webinar packages, certificate programs, school programs, and botanical travel experiences covering native plant horticulture, identification, and ecological gardening.
• Online Garden Shop E-commerce platform for purchasing books, seeds, and e-gift cards year-round, with physical items available for pickup at Garden in the Woods or Nasami Farm.

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Van Berkum NurseryminorOthersPlastic pot recycling partnership. Van Berkum Nursery in Deerfield, NH partners with Native Plant Trust to recycle plastic pots from plants purchased at Garden in the Woods and Nasami Farm.
• Chewonki FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDon Hudson from Chewonki Foundation serves as a project partner for the Go Botany platform, contributing to educational outreach and botanical resources.
• Montshire Museum of ScienceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBob Raiselis from Montshire Museum of Science serves as a project partner for the Go Botany platform, supporting botanical education initiatives.
• Yale Peabody Museum of Natural HistoryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJames Sirch from Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History serves as a project partner for the Go Botany platform, contributing to museum-based botanical education.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library: Delaware-based nonprofit operating a naturalistic garden with significant native plant collections, plant sales, and educational programming. Comparable as a nonprofit garden with native plant focus, retail plant offerings, and educational mission, though in a different region.

Broad incumbents

• Chicago Botanic Garden: Large Midwestern public garden with extensive plant trials, native plant programs, and educational offerings. Comparable as a major botanic garden with native plant conservation work, though operates at substantially greater scale.
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: University of Texas-affiliated native plant conservation organization operating public gardens, research, and plant sales. Comparable as a leading native plant nonprofit with a regional focus (Texas vs. New England), botanical garden, and educational programs, though at larger scale.
• Morton Arboretum: Illinois-based tree-focused public garden and research center with plant science, conservation, and education programs. Comparable as a regional arboretum/botanic garden with conservation mission and educational programs, though focused on trees broadly.
• Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University: Historic Boston-area arboretum and research institution under Harvard management, maintaining extensive plant collections, public gardens, and educational programming. Comparable in New England botanical garden and education mission, though broader taxonomic scope.

Emerging players

• Native Plant Society of the United States: National organization supporting native plant societies and conservation education across the US. Adjacent comparable as a national native plant advocacy and education nonprofit, though operates as an umbrella for state chapters rather than as a direct garden/retail operator.
• Pollinator Partnership: National nonprofit focused on pollinator health, native plant advocacy, and habitat conservation. Adjacent comparable as a national conservation mission aligned with Native Plant Trust's pollinator and native plant work, but lacks the physical garden/nursery retail operations.

Direct peers

• North Carolina Botanical Garden: University of North Carolina-affiliated botanical garden with native plant focus, conservation programs, seed bank, and public gardens. Comparable as a state/regional native plant conservation nonprofit with public garden, plant sales, and education.
• Mt. Cuba Center: Delaware-based nonprofit native plant garden and research center with a public garden, trial gardens, ecological landscaping programs, and native plant sales. Highly comparable as a regional native plant conservation nonprofit with public garden and education.
• New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill: Botanic garden in Boylston, MA featuring display gardens, plant sales, educational programs, and conservation in New England. Direct peer given overlapping regional geography, retail garden shop, and educational programming for native plant enthusiasts.

Market position

Strengths6 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/nativeplanttrst
• YouTubeyoutube.com/newenglandwild
• Facebookfacebook.com/nativeplanttrust
• Instagraminstagram.com/nativeplanttrust

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Native Plant Trust