RESOURCES
Caras Nursery and Landscape, Missoula MT, offer indoor and outdoor hardy plants, Montana landscaping and design, lighting and irrigation in one of the oldest establishments of this kind in Missoula. Greenhouse, outdoor nursery yard and garden store offer "Seeds, supplies, soils. Ingredients for a Gardening lifestyle. Seasonal interest, fresh harvest – happiness is a Montana garden."
Great Bear Native Plants, Hamilton MT, Native shrubs, grasses, forbs and trees for restoration, habitat & home gardens.
Center for Native Plants, Whitefish. Center for Native Plants is Flathead Valley’s only retail native plant nursery. We grow a diverse collection of plants—over 200 species of wildflowers, grasses, groundcovers, shrubs, and trees—that are native to Montana and the Intermountain Northwest. Located in Whitefish, MT, our plants are grown outdoors, making them hardy and well-adapted to our climatic extremes. Come by for a visit!
Montana Plants, Missoula. Andy Martinez, Nursery Manager 406-529-7746 hello@mtnativeplants.com mtnativeplants.com. 2304 Rattlesnake Drive Missoula, MT 59802. Specializes in growing and selling trees and shrubs native to the northern Rockies. Also performs ecological services such as seed and cutting collections, plant salvage and transplanting, project implementation and planting, custom growing, and fruit tree pruning.
Pipilo Native Plants, Elliott Conrad 406-540-2230 info@pipilonatives.com www.pipilonatives.com Missoula, MT 59801 No storefront-just web sales or call to order. Will deliver locally within Missoula and fifty-mile radius. No minimum order. Always open for information or questions. Pipilo Native Plants is 100% natives, specializing in plants native to Missoula and the Five Valleys area. All plants are grown from seed and cuttings responsibly collected from the local area. Containerized shrubs, perennials, grasses, and wetland species.
Marchie's Nursery & Garden Center, Missoula MT, “your one-stop shop for all of your plant and gardening needs... carry everything from trees and shrubs to vines and roses.” They “can also handle all of your landscaping needs.”
Montana Ace The Garden Place , Joe Walker 406-532-3478 jwalker@mtace.com . 1101 Burlington Ave. Missoula, MT 59801 . Montana Ace The Garden Place is a full-service nursery and garden center with one acre of outdoor plants and a new 3,500 sq ft indoor retail store with two new heated year-round greenhouses, located conveniently in mid-town Missoula. The Garden Place trees, shrubs, and plants are healthy, and hand selected for growth in the local climate with a great selection of Montana native plants.
Delaney’s Landscape Center, Polson MT, offer the “largest selection of high quality plants in Western Montana…” Also a full-service landscape service division: They “have the knowledgeable staff to help you with all of your landscaping problems”.
Montana Conservation Seedling Nursery, Ashley Mattson 406-542-4244 mtnursery@mt.gov www.dnrc.mt.gov/nursery 2705 Spurgin Road Missoula, MT 59804. The nursery provides bare-root and containerized stock that is derived from wild collected and source identified seed. These genetically rich seedlings are used by private landowners, county conservation districts, government agencies, conservation organizations, and the forestry industry throughout Montana to further their conservation goals. Seedlings must be used for a conservation project (wildlife/ pollinator habitat, windbreak, erosion control, habitat diversification, etc.). Our conservation verification checklist will help determine if you are eligible to purchase seedlings; any amount of land qualifies. Seedlings are sold in bulk. Opening date for ordering is mid-September, orders can be picked up in the Fall or picked up/delivered in the spring. The nursery delivers one-time for free in April/May to 35 counties across Montana, orders can be shipped via FedEx, or picked up at the nursery in Missoula. In 2022, the nursery established the Montana Native Seed Network and will begin producing grass and forb seed mixes produced from wild collected populations across Montana. The nursery anticipates seed mixes to be available in 2026.
Blackfoot Native Plants, Potomac MT, sells containerized native plants, most from Western Montana, including hardy native grasses, shrubs and wildflowers. Seeds and cuttings are hand collected to ensure genetic diversity and grown out-of-doors at 4000′ so you’ll have the hardiest plants available. They are “no longer selling at Farmers’ markets or at the nursery but are available for consultations and contract sales.” Their website is a great resource for all interested in learning more about native plants.
Blake Nursery, Big Timber MT. Providing plants for the Mountain West region including many natives. Their extensive plant list is organized by categories designed to make your selection easier - plus offering Montana landscape design, installation and maintenance.
As experienced landscapers they alert you to potential problems in construction and landscaping and share their observations in building site guidelines on their website. The article also explains the importance of preserving the Montana native vegetation during construction.
Evans Tree Farm, Rob Evans 406-721-8733 Call for appointment 4895 Mullan Road Missoula, MT 59808. Evans Tree Farm is a wholesale/retail tree farm that specializes in restoration and contract growing. Many species of native trees and shrubs are available. Some are containerized and for some species cuttings are available.
Pink Grizzly Greenhouse , Shane Clouse 406-728-3370 shane@montanawreaths.com www.pinkgrizzlygreenhouse.com . www.facebook.com Garden Center- Pink Grizzly Greenhouse 1400 Wyoming Street Missoula, MT 59801. Pink Grizzly Greenhouse is a family business in Missoula since 1956. They sell annuals, perennials, hanging baskets, vegetable starts, herbs, seeds, trees, and shrubs. They offer “flowerscaping” where they will plant your flowers at your home. Pink Grizzly has a great selection of native plants. At Christmas time they offer Christmas trees, wild and plantation grown, and a beautiful selection of handcrafted Montana native tree wreaths as a sustainable selection. Every wreath is made from wild and sustainably harvested trees grown in a natural environment. There is a great YouTube video on how they build their wreaths.
Montana Native Plant Society, Clark Fork Chapter.
"The goals of the Montana Native Plant Society are to preserve, conserve, and study the native plants and plant communities of Montana, and to educate the public about the values of our native flora." "Because native plants are adapted to local environmental conditions, they require far less water, saving time, money, and perhaps the most valuable natural resource, water. In addition to providing vital habitat for birds, many other species of wildlife benefits as well." ("Why Native Plants Matter", Audubon)
Annual Native Plant Sale 1st Saturday in June Clark Fork River Market, 225 South Pattee Street Riverside Parking Lot Missoula, MT 59802. This very popular sale offers a wide variety of native species and expert advice to enhance efforts to landscape with natives. These native plants are grown from seed and vegetative plant materials collected throughout Montana. Sources are botanists, native plant nurseries and seed farms, professional growers, home gardeners, and the Montana Native Botanic Garden. Most of these plants are grown locally by members of the Clark Fork Chapter, but some plants have been donated by professional native plant growers.
The Cashman Nursery & Landscaping in Bozeman MT, a family in business in the nursery and landscape trade for more than 120 years, offers Montana hardy plants, landscaping materials and design services, as well as gardening tips for the moutains, seminars; a super plant finder tool and plant library.
The USDA Agricultural Research Service makes a Plant Hardiness Zone Map available that is interactive with your input (type in your zip code). "Hardiness zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum temperature during a 30-year period in the past, not the lowest temperature that has ever occurred in the past or might occur in the future. Gardeners should keep that in mind when selecting plants, especially if they choose to "push" their hardiness zone by growing plants not rated for their zone. In addition, although this edition of the USDA PHZM is drawn in the most detailed scale to date, there might still be microclimates that are too small to show up on the map. "
Subscribe to the hard copy or to its newsletter which is brimful with Garden Design ideas, including a photo gallery, popular garden tips, and more. Beautiful designs are shown here and interesting plants with their care instructions and suitability to your zone gardening.
In its article on Gardening in the Rockies the magazine offers tips about Alpine Landscape Design and Designing in Mountains.
Check out its Resource pages that list its members. Here you can find a local professional as well as important nurseries, growers (retail as well as wholesale) and landscape suppliers.
The Montana Homesteader publishes lots of useful information pertaining to all sorts of issues relevant to gardening in the mountains, especially which vegetable to plant in your region.
The Urban Farmer offers a wealth of practical information at their website: Planting guide & calendar of vegetables and flowers for our Montana zones (USDA hardiness zones 3 to 6, as per this website), vegetable problems, fertilizer schedule, growing library and so much more.
Wheat Montana Farms & Bakery publish great posts on a multitude of gardening/growing and lifestyle related issues.
Tizer Botanic Garden & Arboretum is a public garden and internationally accredited arboretum that is open to the public daily from 10 am - 6 pm from Mother’s Day to October. Besides showing locally adapted plants in their natural environment and a lovely place to visit, they have a retail garden and gift shop and an extensive nursery which specializes in high altitude, drought tolerant, and cold hardy plants.
The Missoula County Weed District & Extension runs the Plant Clinic offering help with plant care and pest management issues.
Let’s not forget the Farmers’ Almanac! Their Planting Calendar for Montana might be particularly helpful to you as it allows to fine tune the planting date by selecting from an extensive list of MT cities.