b'HITTING CLOSE TO HOMEAs demand picks up in native seed,Seed World checks out the reason for the spike.Alex MartinNATIVE SEEDS:theyre an industry that doesnt get talked about often, but theyre the heroes we look for when rees-tablishing habitat or rebuilding an ecosystem after devastating wildfires or habitat destruction. But, while some consumers have taken notice of the hard work being done by the native seed industry, others are just starting to learn about it. Seed World decided to call three experts in native seed to chat to them about demand, availability and the idea of local native seeds.Education About NativesWhile native seeds arent the primary focus of American Meadows, President Mike Lizotte says they took up the challenge early in the 2000s in response to customer demand. I always find theres a lot of educating you need to do, espe-cially to the new gardeners, Lizotte says. We need to both be on the same page when were defining native. After that, one of the challenges that tends to come up is that natives come at a costone thats not always known to the new person coming up into natives.For example, Lizotte mentions that consumers can come in under the impression that natives establish themselves extremely quickly, like garden variety flowers. Natives can take much longer to establish themselves from seeds than from a plug root, he says. When you get down to natives such as milkweed that help monarchs, they might take two to four years to flower. You have to have a lot of patience with natives.Carlie Von Arx, native seed specialist with La Crosse Seed, agrees that this is a misconception in the industry.Most of the time, other seeds begin growing within a few weeks, she says. Often, growers have the same expectations when it comes to natives.18/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2020'