Community Supported Propagation
Championing the stewardship and conservation of Georgia’s native plants by growing them!
Georgia Native Plant Society’s Community-Supported Propagation program grows ecoregion-appropriate and affordable native plants while also providing educational and volunteer opportunities. This largely volunteer effort produces plants for a variety of educational and conservation initiatives. Plants grown are used for:
- Habitat restoration
- Pollinator gardens and other demonstration gardens
- Plant sales and nursery stock, and
- Species conservation projects
Stone Mountain Park
Boy Scout Rd. (Macon area)
Two Different Volunteer Locations
Come out and volunteer at our two different, propagation locations:
Volunteers learn propagation techniques, plant identification, and restoration strategies while enjoying the company of like-minded peers and performing a critical and priceless community service.
What is Plant Propagation?
Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources including seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plants. With permission, seed is collected throughout year from stock plants furnished by the GNPS rescue program, member and partner donations and planned field collection.
There are many steps that make up the propagation process:
1.
Make sure fertile, ripe seed is collected, cleaned and stored to maintain viability. Some seeds need a rest period after collecting while others need to be collected in their green stage before wildlife finds them.
2.
The collected seed is stored in coin envelopes marked with date, species and location found. Some seeds go into a refrigerator for stratification over the winter months and others might be sown and set into a greenhouse for the winter.
3.
As the new year warms up, we sow different seeds in a soilless mix, moisten and protect from the environment.
4.
The growing plants receive our care and lots of watering throughout a majority of the year through our weekly volunteer workdays.
Looking to buy plants?
How to Order Plants for your Project
SMPP offers wholesale pricing on a selection of native plants for community organizations, schools, and public entities. Generally we provide plants for conservation projects such as restoration sites, education gardens, community gardens, or plant sales. While SMPP has hosted retail sales in the past, our focus has shifted to special orders. If you are in need of Piedmont natives for your project, please send an inquiry to SMPP_Admin@gnps.org. Our nursery manager will provide a current availability list for you to review and submit an order. For a general idea of species selection, check out our pollinator plant list.
