Summary of Exhibitors

Native Plant-Related Products & Information Exhibited:

Native Plants Journal, a practical guide for planting and growing native plants. This magazine is highly illustrated and colorful containing a range of scholarly and non-academic articles. A one-year subscription is available for $30 by calling Kasten Dumroese, (800) 847-7377.

Horticultural Alliance, Sarasota - brochures on bio-cocktails used in the landscape industry that could be used with native plantings. Water-management gels are another product they offer in plantings where irrigation is not desirable. Mycorrhizal inoculants are on their product list.

Truax Company, Inc., Minneapolis - planters engineered for the use of native grasses and forbs, including no-till drills, broadcasters and seed slingers. Jim Truax, (612) 537-6639

Prairie Habitats, developing the technology of seed harvest and restoration, especially hand held and pull type seed strippers for harvest of natives. John Morgan, (204) 467-9371

Ag-Renewal, Inc. - source of the Woodward flail-vac seed stripper for harvest. In Oklahoma, (800) 658-1446.

Iowa Ecotype Project - seeds from Iowa, for Iowa. A practical solution from a State that recognizes the importance of restoring their natural heritage. The project is overseen by the new Native Roadside Vegetation Center of the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). Source-identified certification with licensed ecotypes are indications of their conservation ethic. UNI, (319) 273-3005.

Iowa's Living Roadway - Highway 20 is an 5000 acre application of the University of Northern Iowa's partnership in restoring native grasses and forbs to Iowa's landscape. Trees Forever, (800) 369-1269.

Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management (IRVM) - applied conservation to Iowa's roadsides has resulted in almost 600,000 acres of sustainable, safe, stable, attractive, and low-maintenance roadsides. Another UNI commitment. For more information, call (319) 273-2813.

Native Seed Growers:

Bamert Seed Company - all the way from Muleshoe, Texas. They have produced native grass seed since 1951. They have added selected forbs and legumes to their growing list. A family business. The Bamerts, www.bamertseed.com or (800) 262-9892.

Native American Seed - Their 50-page, full-color brochure is packed with details about more than 70 forb and grass species native to Texas. A lot of how-to information is included. Another family business. Bill and Jan Nieman www.seedsource.com or (800) 728-4043.

Buttes Seed Inc. - out of Greeley, Colorado sells mostly native grasses and shrub species to large projects in the West. (800) 782-5947.

Ernst Conservation Seeds, Meadville, Pennsylvania offering source-identified native seed and related products for a range of uses including wildlife habitat, strip mining, pipeline revegetation, erosion control and conservation uses. The Ernsts, (800) 873-3321.

Florida Specific:

Florida Department of Transportation - showed off their new Florida Roadside Wildflower brochure which pictures some of its common colorful wildflowers and which explains their wildflower program which began in the 1960's and is now strongly supported by an alliance with the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs. FDOT also distributed a handout explaining how Florida license plates fund wildflower research, educational programs, and someday, a Florida Wildflower Center. Jeff Caster, (850) 922-7205.

Florida Department of Agriculture - shared a new brochure, Biocontrol, a Bright Future for Florida. This educational brochure describes a number of biocontrol agents being released to control some of Florida's many invasive species problems.

Association of Florida Native Nurseries - a not-for-profit corporation whose membership is involved in native plants. It is their policy to preserve native plants in their natural habitats and encourage the planting of native species in landscaping. www.afnn.org

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services - National Plant Materials program at Brooksville, Florida. One of 26 plant material centers in the United States has the mission to provide vegetative solutions to resource conservation problems with the emphasis on using native plant materials. Their solutions attempt to protect water quality, and improve erosion control, forage, and wildlife habitat. Their 1996 technical report, Florida Native Plant Collection, Production and Direct Seeding Techniques; Interim Report can be accessed through www.fipr.state.fl.us.

The Natives, Inc. - growing native Florida plants for landscaping and restoration is located in the heart of Florida. Established in 1982, their list of native grasses, forbs, trees, shrubs and vine species. They are a design-build firm with a wide-range of projects from residential native plantings, to sandhill restorations. Their wholesale native species list is too long to count.

Conference Sponsorship: shared by the Florida Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, University of Florida, Florida Wildflower Advisory Council, and the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs.