b'Ive had our dealers ask me Hey, my customer seeded a couple weeks ago and they havent seen anything come up yet, is there something wrong? and we have to explain that some natives take a long time to sprout. They dont all germinate at the same time, and thats normal, she says.Von Arx says one important part of making sure that native plantings are successful is to prep the site before seeding.Be sure to properly prep where youre plantingthats some-thing that will help give the seed a chance to establish, she says.In addition, cost associated with natives can be surprising to new growers. Someone new coming up into natives doesnt always realize the cost associated with natives, Lizotte says. If were going down the root of local ecotypes down to a region or county, it can get expensive.I never like to shock anyone with a quote, he continues. When we begin conversations about natives, Im always trans-parent and upfront. Ive been doing this long enough to know that consumers want to know that sooner rather than later. We try to work to match a budget.Von Arx says that its possible to get native seeds or mixes in on a budget. However, it depends on the specific variety of natives youre looking into.If youre just looking for native grasses, its easy to make an affordable mix, she says. The prices vary so much on native species, from a few dollars to a couple of thousand dollars a pound. But planting a prairie on a couple of acres can be pretty manageable for your wallet.As gardeners and growers become more involved and aware about Sometimes it comes down to how much seed is in thepollinators, native seed demand has increased. market, Von Arx says.Demand Ebbs and Flows demand increase due to a major public interest: helping pollinators. As for the demand, natives seem to ebb and flow as the yearsOur demand was brought upon at least five years ago, go on. Depending on the area you work in, native demand couldLizotte says. Starting with the decline of monarchs and the be up, or native demand could be ebbing.decline with bees.At La Crosse, theyre seeing a bit slower of a demand, thatsLizotte notes that these are a hotly debated topic that has steadily starting to pick up. really engaged everyday consumerseveryones concerned We had a couple quiet years for natives, as this year was theabout the decline in pollinators. first year since 2016 for general CRP signups, Von Arx says. What better way to support bees and monarchs than by According to Von Arx, when the Farm Bill expired and thereestablishing habitats? he says. This started about five years ago was a delay in signing a new one, some CRP acres expired. Thiswith some of those unfortunate changes that were happening delayed those acres from reenrolling and there werent any newthroughout the country and world.acres being signed up. This delay in sign-ups caused a delay inHowever, Lizotte notes that this also brought up some chal-selling. lenges. As an example, he says that there were a lot of major However, she reports acreage is on the up and up. news stories covering the decline in pollinators. Were now seeing a ramp up in demand, Von Arx says. AsYoull have a novice gardener that just read a New York CRP ramps up, weve being seeing more quote requests come in. Times article about the decline in pollinators who want to do She says they expect to continue to see this trend grow moresomething, he says. This can be where the misconception this fall and in the spring of 2021.about price can factor in.Other companies, like American Meadows, have steadily seen aLizotte believes this drive in demand is all for good. OCTOBER 2020SEEDWORLD.COM /19'