Toadshade's Upcoming Events

Every Sunday in September, 9:00 to 1:00 pm: Toadshade will be back selling plants and seeds at the Hunterdon Community Farmers Market at the Dvoor farm (111 Mine St, Flemington NJ 08822).

On Saturday, September 6, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm: Toadshade will be selling plants and seeds at the Madison Environmental Eco garden tour (12 Fairwood Rd, Madison, NJ 07940).

On Thursday, September 11, 7:00 pm: Randi will be giving a lecture to the Allentown Garden Club on the subject of “Native Groundcovers: Sustainable Living Mulch."

On Saturday, September 13, (Stay Tuned: Time and Location TBA!): Toadshade will be back at the Lambertville Goes Wild fall plant sale.

On Saturday, September 20, 8:30 am to 12:30 pm: Toadshade will be selling plants and seeds at the Hardy Plant Society Fall Gardeners Market, on the grounds of the Farm Home and Youth Foundation (formerly 4H) (1015 Bridge Road, Collegeville, PA 19426).

On Saturday, September 27, 8:15 am-2:30 pm: We'll be back at the Jersey-Friendly Yards conference Native Plant Sale (Ocean County College, College Drive, Toms River, NJ 08754).

Keep an eye out in your emails and on our website for further updates!

Other pick up options: We're always happy to bring pre-orders to our events, so feel free to order ahead of time and arrange to pick up your order at any of our upcoming events. Just make sure you give us time to prepare your pre-order by ordering no later than 5 pm on Thursday before the event where you intend to pick up! And as always, you can order plants and seeds through our website and pick up 7 days a week at Frenchtown Home & Hardware (11 Kingwood Ave, Frenchtown, NJ 08825: Monday-Saturday 8:30-6:00, Sundays 10:00-4:00). Please be sure to wait to receive your personalized order pick up confirmation before you head over to pick up your order!

It's monarch season, and milkweeds like this Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) are having a great year. It's a common misconception that you need specific conditions to plant milkweed in your garden- in fact, there's a milkweed for just about every space! If your garden is sunny and moist, Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is a good option- but if you don't like how Common Milkweeds spread, give Swamp Milkweeds like this one a try! They're much better behaved, and can handle anything from wet to average conditions in the sun. Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is good for dry, sunny areas, and there are even milkweeds for shady areas, like Poke Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata)! All of them support a variety of pollinators and native insects, in addition to the Monarchs people already know and love.

Need a Toadshade Hat?

We originally had only intended these hats to make us more identifiable at events, but we were asked enough times if our hats were for sale that we finally caved, and for the first time we're offering Toadshade Wildflower Farm baseball caps. Since we've had ours for years, you can consider these hats very thoroughly field-tested; working outside as we do, we are not especially kind to hats here at Toadshade, but these hold up well, and don't easily fade. They make good gifts, and they keep the sun off your face (your dermatologist will thank you). They're soft and comfortable, a nice sage green color, and although they only come in one size, they're quite adjustable.

You would not believe how deer-resistant these things are.

Don't see what you're looking for on our online catalogue? Check back soon! We frequently make changes over the course of the season as more species become available. And if in doubt, ask! We'd love to hear from you!

Toadshade is primarily a mail order nursery, and the farm itself is not open to the public. We have, however, partnered with our wonderful local hardware store (Frenchtown Home & Hardware), which is a ‘pick-up’ point for orders, allowing order pickup 7 days a week in beautiful downtown Frenchtown . Any pickup order costing more than $50 must be pre-paid, but pickup is always free! If you would like to pick up your order rather than having it sent by mail, please simply let us know (with 24 hour notice, M-F), and you will be able to pick up your order at the hardware store’s address (Frenchtown Home & Hardware, 11 Kingwood Ave, Frenchtown, NJ 08825) after receiving pickup details and confirmation from us by phone or email.

Has your group considered a Lecture, Seminar, and Workshop? Randi is an accomplished lecturer and popular public speaker. If you would like her to come share her knowledge with your local group, be they a garden club, a university class, master gardeners, etc. let us know.

Check out our Educational Resources

Listen to her discuss native plants, how she got into growing them, some of her favorite parts of being a naturalist, and ways to make an ecological difference in an episode of Backyard Ecology with host Shannon Trimboli

Listen to her speak about Native Plant Societies with Jeff Nelson from the Kentucky Native Plant Society, Ellen Honeycutt from the Georgia Native Plant Society and of course, host Shannon Trimboli in another episode of Backyard Ecology

Or tune in to the Native Plant Society of New Jersey’s new podcast, The WildStory: A Podcast of Poetry and Plants (Randi’s not featured in this one, but she does speak in the central blurb, discussing the Native Plant Society of New Jersey!).

Randi was also interviewed for the Washington Post this year, talking about how to best help your local wildlife in your garden outside of the growing season.

And, for those of you who have always wanted to attend one of Randi’s lectures but haven’t been able to make it, you can now view a recorded version of her presentation Native Groundcovers: Sustainable, Living Mulch” on YouTube, courtesy of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey.

Don't forget to subscribe to our series of educational blogs.

Let us know if you would like a copy of our printed catalogue or sign up for our blog.

Our plant descriptions let you know how difficult each species is to start and we have a helpful guide that describe the various techniques that you can use to start native perennial seeds.