By Kris Gilbertson, Susan McLain Sullivan, and Scott Knudsen
Alexandria, VA – The 40th Northern Alexandria Native Plant Sale will take place on Saturday, September 28, from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Church of St. Clement, 1701 N. Quaker Lane, Alexandria. Founded in Parkfairfax in 2003, this twice-yearly sale is recognized as the largest gathering of native plant vendors in a single event in the DC metropolitan region.
Thirteen native plant vendors will be on-site, some traveling several hours from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and DC. Local musician Jim Sheats will perform at 11:00 am. Admission is free, and parking is plentiful (see sidebar for details).
The native plant sale has become a tradition in Alexandria. It was founded in October 2003 by Parkfairfax resident Scott Knudsen with help from his wife Jennifer Pease, volunteers from the Tree Stewards of Arlington and Alexandria, and members of the Parkfairfax Woodland and Landscape committees.
The plant sale grew out of Scott Knudsen’s lifelong fascination with trees. He earned the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service’s Tree Steward of Arlington and Alexandria inaugural certification in 2001. Scott recalls being amazed to learn how much he did not know about what trees need to thrive or the danger that the non-native invasive vines commonly grown in area gardens pose to trees in urban and suburban landscapes.
A year later, he learned that a neighbor had cut down a mature tree to provide more sunlight for a garden. Disturbed, he described it to a friend, Susan Crawford, who told him about native plants that thrive in woodland shady areas.
The concept of using native plants to garden in harmony with trees and the natural ecosystem resonated with Scott. He began going to native plant conferences, such as the Lahr Symposium at the National Arboretum and the Irvine Native Plant Seminar at the Irvine Nature Center northwest of Baltimore. He listened to presentations by influential speakers such as Douglas Tallamy, a notable entomologist and wildlife ecologist at the University of Delaware, who inspired him further.
Knudsen got hooked on gardening with native plants and began spreading the word about the benefits of landscaping with plants that work in harmony with nature instead of against it.
As Scott promoted native plants, he was inspired in the spring of 2003 when his neighbor Matt said, “Scott, it’s great that you’re excited about native plants, but I don’t have time to go to some native plant symposium in Maryland or somewhere. I just want to go to Home Depot and buy some plants.”
Matt’s comment convinced Scott that he needed to bring native plants into the neighborhood for people to see and buy. The point is that many gardeners only need to learn the virtues of native plants to make successful garden and landscape investments for patios and yards. He says, “Anyone can experience the botanical pleasure of seeing the right plant thrive in any size garden, terrace, or yard.”
Planning began for the first Parkfairfax Native Plant Sale to be held that fall. The goal was then and still is to focus on two missions: “One is to open people’s eyes and thoughts about how we can connect to the interconnected natural landscape; the second is to reduce the number of invasive plants in people’s gardens and yards.” The broad aims of the sale remain twofold: (a) to provide local gardeners with immediate access to native plants and information about native plant gardening, and (b) to provide a healthy marketplace where small native plant nurseries can reach a broader clientele.
The Native Plant Sale Grows
When Scott Knudsen opened the first “Parkfairfax Native Plant Sale” on the tennis court parking lot of his Parkfairfax neighborhood in October 2003, he only had help from his wife Jennifer Pease, several Tree Steward friends, and community volunteers. Just five native plant vendors took part in the sale, but it was a huge success—much greater than anyone had expected.
Customers and vendors alike were excited by that success and the prospect of a spring sale. Reluctant to commit to the amount of work involved in pulling off the first sale, many volunteers disappeared, but Scott and Jennifer enlisted Susan Crawford, the friend who had first sparked Scott’s interest in native plants, to help. The question was: Could three people pull off a successful sale in May 2004?
Come spring, five vendors were again involved. Scott, Jennifer, and Susan managed a second sale that exceeded the success of the first. Thus began the tradition of a twice-yearly native plant sale in Alexandria. The Parkfairfax Native Plant Sale was held in the spring and fall from 2004 through the spring of 2014 for a total of 22 sales. The event’s popularity grew and the number of vendors hosted each time reached 16 at the highest point. Many volunteers helped the plant sale grow.
But with success comes change. By summer 2014, the sale required a new home, and crowd management became an issue. Scott found the sale a new home at the Church of St. Clement, not far from Parkfairfax. The renamed “Northern Alexandria Native Plant Sale” worked better in St. Clement’s parking lot. The arrangement of the vendors’ stalls was more cohesive, and customers confirmed that it was easier to walk around the sale area.
As the popularity of gardening with native plants has grown in the past decade, the number of customers coming to the NANPS has climbed to some 1,200 visitors for spring sales and 800 visitors for fall sales. Although the pandemic shut the sale down for 2020 and the spring of 2021, it also increased people’s awareness of the suburban ecosystem and their gardens’ important role in it. Books such as the seminal Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy have dramatically increased public understanding of the need to build natural ecosystems in our yards.
Even today, Scott’s enthusiasm increases as each native plant sale date draws close, prompting him to give more of his “elevator speech” to people he encounters.
“It really comes down to us,” he says. “Everyone likes birds. If you want the native birds, you’ve got to have the native bugs, and if you want the native bugs, you’ve got to have the native plants and trees.” Native landscaping benefits trees, natural areas, our watershed, the Chesapeake Bay, and wildlife ecology. Especially birds, which everyone loves to watch.
Faced with puzzling looks, Knudsen will simplify the concepts further: “Baby birds have to eat the caterpillars! The chickadee is going to put its nest in proximity to the oak trees. White Oak is the key species” around this region.” Similarly, there is a huge difference between growing native Butterfly weed and non-native Butterfly bush. Both plants attract pollinators, but native Butterfly weed supports all stages of the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly (because the Monarch caterpillar can eat the plant) whereas non-native Butterfly bush supports zero species of butterflies in the earlier stages of life (because caterpillars of no native species of butterflies can eat the plant).
Thanks to Scott Knudsen’s lifelong fascination with trees, Alexandria’s urban trees, natural areas, and wildlife ecology are growing stronger every year. In recognition of their efforts, Scott and Jennifer were awarded the Ellen Pickering Environmental Excellence Award for 2024 by the Del Ray Citizens Association. Don’t miss the Northern Alexandria Native Plant Sale!
If anyone has questions about this event, please feel free to call or text Scott Knudsen at 571-232-0375. One can also email Scott at [email protected]—please put “native plant sale” or “NANPS” in the subject line if you do.
What You Need to Know About the NANPS
The NANPS is a labor of love, run on a break-even basis by Scott and Jennifer, aided by volunteers who are their friends and Tree Stewards. The event hosts native plant vendors who handle their sales transactions. All vendors are individual businesses, so please do not take plants from one vendor’s booth to another.
Information Tables are located on the grass near the church building. Next to the Information Tables, some members of the Virginia Native Plant Society will have a table where they will answer questions and offer advice about plants. VNPS members will also have free brochures and several nominally priced guides about native plants (typically $5 per guide).
Bathrooms: The Church of St. Clement graciously makes its bathrooms available for customers to the native plant sale. To enter the church building, ask a Plant Sale Volunteer at the Information Table to open the Church of St. Clement’s Parish Hall door. Signs will point the way to the bathrooms.
Parking at Christ the King Church will be allowed. The lot has 40 spaces. Although parking is limited close to the sale on Oakcrest Drive, more parking is available farther down on Oakcrest, as well as on Crestwood and Dogwood parallel to Oakcrest.
Plant transportation: Eleven red Radio Flyer wagons labeled Plant Taxis are for everyone’s use. You will find unused wagons at the Taxi Stand by the Plant Sitting Area next to the church. (NOTE: If you bring your own wagon to the sale, please put your name on it! Unlabeled wagons have been known to walk off!)
Park your plants in the Plant Sitting Area while you get your car. There’s a loading zone next to it where you can pull up to load your plants.
Alternative transportation: We will have a Bike Valet parking area next to the Plant Sitting Area. If you cycle to the sale, two plant sitters will watch to ensure your bike is safe. Please bring your bike lock and use it for extra security.
Lost and Found: If you lose something important, text Scott Knudsen at 571-232-0375. You may also find Scott or Jennifer at the sale. Look for the couple wearing the bright orange (for Scott) or bright yellow (for Jennifer) safety vests. Please be aware that any lost plants not left in the Plant Sitting Area will be extremely difficult or impossible to find.
A Message of Appreciation from Scott Knudsen
I want to thank all the people and organizations that have pitched in to hold this native plant sale over the past two decades. I could not have continued the sale without the enthusiastic support of so many people.
First and foremost is my wife Jennifer Pease. Even the second sale in Spring 2004 could not have happened without her. Jennifer is a huge part of why this event continues each time.
My friends in Parkfairfax and in the area have been a big support, as has the Tree Stewards of Arlington and Alexandria. Six to eight Tree Stewards assist with the setup of the sale, staff information tables, survey customers about the sale, run a plant-sitting area, and help to clean up.
Members of the Potowmack Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society provide information and advice about native plants and their organization. They also offer Plant NOVA Natives guides (Native Plants for Northern Virginia) to purchase.
Other organizations that have over the years include the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia, the Arlington Regional Master Naturalists, and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, especially Kirsten Conrad, the VA Cooperative Extension agent based at the VCE office in the Fairlington Community Center.
In the early years, Parkfairfax management and staff were very helpful in providing assistance with the sale. The Church of St. Clement has graciously allowed the sale on its grounds 18 times. For three years, Christ the King Church, across the street on Oakcrest Drive, has given us use of its parking lot for sale customers.
The Northern Alexandria Native Plant Sale truly has been a group effort that continues due to the support of many people. I thank them all.
Scott Knudsen
On September 28, from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, 13 vendors from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia will gather to sell native plants, shrubs, and trees for sun or shade—or both, if that’s what your garden requires—in the parking lot of the Church of St. Clement at 1701 N. Quaker Lane.
Parking during the sale will be allowed at the large parking lot for Christ the King Church across the street at 1801 N. Quaker Lane. Local artist Jim Sheats will provide live music. Admission is free, and all are welcome! For a listing of the vendors and contact info to order plants ahead of time, visit NorthernAlexandriaNativePlantSale.org.
As of publication, the following vendors have confirmed:
Bona Terra
https://bonaterradc.com/?v=7516fd43adaa
Chesapeake Natives
https://www.chesapeakenatives.org/sale-dates
Go Native Tree Farm
https://www.gonativetrees.com/
Goodman LLC Native Plants
Heartwood Nursery
https://www.heartwoodnurseryinc.com/
Hill House Farm & Nursery
https://www.hillhousenativeplants.com/
Meadowsweet Nursery
https://www.meadowsweetnative.com/
Morningside Farm & Nursery
https://www.morningsidefarmandnursery.com/
Native Plant Company (Ryan O’Meara)
https://nativeplantcompanyllc.com/
Nature By Design
https://www.nature-by-design.com/
Seven Bends Nursery
Wood Thrush Natives
https://woodthrushnatives.com/
Yellow House Natives
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