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About Us

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The Plant Stand:
Mon 9AM - 2PM
Tues 9AM - 2PM
Weds CLOSED
Thurs 9AM - 2PM
Fri 9AM - 2PM
Sat 9AM-2PM
Sun CLOSED
or by appointment 
 
97045 Miller Road
Yulee, FL 32034

​* Directly across the dollar general off Chester Rd 

Our Mission
​To cultivate conservation through education and advocacy, empowering individuals to create sustainable landscapes with native plants that support wildlife and enhance our community.

Our Vision
To create a future where native plants are the foundation of every landscape, ensuring biodiversity, ecological resilience, and a deep connection between people and nature.

Our Promise 
We're your partners in every step of your native gardening journey. From plant selection and design to ongoing support and education, we're here to help you create a beautiful and ecologically sound landscape that brings you joy and benefits the planet for years to come.

 

Core Values

  • Sustainability: We prioritize environmentally responsible practices in every aspect of our business, from sourcing plants to minimizing waste. We are always reassessing our methods to reduce environmental impacts.

  • Community: We foster a sense of belonging and shared purpose, connecting beginners to experienced gardeners alike with nature and each other. We encourage everyone to give gardening a try.

  • Education: We empower our gardeners with the knowledge and resources they need to succeed with Florida landscapes.

  • Wildlife: We advocate for the creation of wildlife-friendly habitats that support biodiversity and ecological balance.

ANW's Story

Hi, I'm Lindsey. In 2020 I was working as a paraprofessional at the high school I dreamed to teach in. My degree is in Biology with a concentration in plant biology and conservation. I also minored in education and accounting. I have an initial educators license in Biology for secondary education and was working towards my teaching goals. That all changed when my family had the opportunity to relocate to Florida. I knew becoming a full-time stay-at-home mom was inevitable. My husband would be traveling more, and without a family support system in Florida, I had to delay my teaching career for a few years. But I was excited! The first thing I said to my husband about the move was, "Imagine all the things I can grow!" As a hobby gardener and landscaper during summer vacations, I was eager to try my hand at all the exotic plants Florida's climate has to offer.

However, the conservationist in me was quickly alarmed when I saw the vast destruction of wildlife habitats. "Real Florida" is one of the most unique and diverse ecosystems in the world, especially here in beautiful Nassau County. We are lucky enough to have gorgeous maritime hammocks full of live oaks draped in Spanish moss, estuarine tidal marshes, floodplain swamps, and mesic flatwoods. It's no wonder people want to live here. But the clearing of these habitats for housing developments, shopping malls, and hospitals continues at an alarming rate. These developments are typically replanted with non-native species that offer little benefit to local wildlife. To make matters worse, it seems like every other house has a yard sprayed with a cocktail of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, all in the name of the perfect lawn. We are building ecological deserts.

As a transplant, I recognize I am part of the problem. I asked myself: How can I restore what once was? How can I preserve the real Florida that I fell in love with? I completely immersed myself in studying and experimenting with how to garden in Florida for wildlife, specifically with native plants. After reading countless books and watching hours of presentations by the UF/IFAS Extension and the Florida Native Plant Society, I was ready to create a wildlife habitat in my backyard. By 2022, my property became a certified wildlife habitat and Monarch waystation, and it was added to the Homegrown National Park movement. I joined the Ixia Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society and completed the Master Gardener Volunteer program. Through this program, I became involved in Zoe's Mission, based on three principles: creating safe havens for pollinators throughout Nassau County, educating our neighbors, and teaching youth about the importance of pollinators. I also connected with Gracie's Kitchen and helped manage their vegetable and pollinator gardens. Gardening for wildlife became more than a passion; it became a lifestyle.

It's amazing to watch how quickly wildlife moves in once a landscape has been purposefully replanted. It's true when they say, "Plant it and they will come." My favorite phrase by Ginny Stibolt of Sustainable Gardening for Florida is, "Native gardeners cheer when we see our plants being eaten." I know I certainly do! I believe once people see how quickly their native gardens attract wildlife, they will cheer too. But this hasn't been easy because building wildlife habitats requires native plants. These plants are the foundation of an intricate food web that we've only just begun to understand. From the smallest microorganisms and fungi in the soil to the top trophic levels, native plants are key to a healthy, balanced ecosystem.

We have a large disconnect from nature in our society. Nature is not something we can control or only use on weekend camping trips. It's not something we should try to keep separate from our homes and lives. We are nature. The sooner we remind ourselves of that, the better off the entire planet will be. As temperatures rise, storms intensify, soils and drinking water become contaminated, wildfires increase, ecosystem functions fail, and mass animal die-offs continue, mitigating these challenges feels overwhelming, like a lost cause. The current state of the world is depressing, to say the least. However, I believe that if you want to change the world, go home and love your family. This applies to our landscape as well: Go home and love your land. End or limit the use of pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers. More importantly, learn when, why, and how to use them. Recycle yard waste and food waste. Collect rainwater. Identify and remove invasive plant species. Create shelter for wildlife (it's easier than you think!). Grow your own food. Reduce the monoculture lawn. Supply a water source for wildlife. Turn off outside lights or switch to motion-activated ones. Let your yard "sleep in" in the spring. Above all, plant native and plant with a purpose. Allow balance to return.

Unfortunately, the key ingredient to stewarding our properties responsibly can be hard to find. When I began my journey, there wasn't a native plant nursery within two hours of my home. I would scour small nurseries and big box stores religiously, only to quickly learn hard lessons about genetics, ecotypes, systemic pesticides, mislabeling, and misrepresentation. I decided to focus on growing my own native plants. I honed in on Florida native milkweed species because of the abundantly available, often mislabeled, pesticide-infused, non-native tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) that has been linked to the spread of parasites and other risk factors contributing to the decline of Monarchs. However, the love of growing butterfly larvae host plants didn't end there. There are 160 butterfly species that breed in Florida and about 200 that migrate through the state. Monarchs get a lot of fame, but the reality is that numerous other species also need our support.

The majority of butterfly and moth species are specialists, meaning they depend on one or a few specific plants to raise their young. Sadly, those specific plants are typically not commercially available or valued in the landscape industry. Moreover, as we see every day, their habitats (where these specific plants naturally occur) have been turned into housing developments, mowed down, replanted with exotics, outcompeted by invasives, or paved over. Habitat destruction, urbanization, deforestation, invasive plant and insect species, intensive agriculture, pollution, climate change, and pesticides [including mosquito sprays ("One study by Dr. Karen Oberhauser and colleagues found that monarch caterpillars could be harmed or killed even 3 weeks after spraying. A more recent (2022) study by Qualls et al. found that honey bees were harmed 28 days after 'barrier' treatments were applied" Source)], are all drivers of insect decline. To make matters worse, each driver works together synergistically, amplifying the effects of one another.

When it comes down to it, when you garden for butterflies, you garden for all wildlife. Caterpillars and other soft-bodied herbivores are the primary food source for nesting birds and their offspring, along with many other animals and insects. Without caterpillars, the birds suffer, predatory insects that we value in vegetable gardens suffer, our food crops suffer, amphibians suffer, small mammals suffer, reptiles suffer, 80% of all flowering plants that depend on pollination for reproduction suffer, seed dispersal and regeneration suffer...without caterpillars, it's easy to see the beginning of ecosystem collapse. Besides adding the beauty of butterflies to your landscape, there are legitimate purposes for the recent rise in popularity of butterfly gardens.

After lots of trial and error, learning curves, and other obstacles, I became successful in growing a handful of Florida native plants from seed. Since native plants are the foundation for the health of our community and the sustainability of our future, I knew I wanted to share these incredible resources with Nassau County. This is how Amelia's Native Wildflowers, LLC was born. I have expanded from growing a few native plant species in my backyard to working with like-minded native growers to source a variety of native plants and opening a native plant agricultural stand in Yulee, Florida. ANW's plants are available at the plant stand, through local delivery, and shipping.

 

Please join ANW on our mission cultivate conservation through education and advocacy, empowering individuals to create sustainable landscapes with native plants that support wildlife and enhance our community.

Donate today to help Amelia's Native Wildflowers grow!

 

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We're always looking to make new connections. Let's get in touch.

904.206.8551 Call/Text

Lucy P., Hilliard

"Ms. Lindsey has BEAUTIFUL plants and is very kind and thoughtful. She always GIVES an extra plant every time I make a purchase. She SHARES her knowledge and wants to make sure you are happy with your purchases. Everything I have planted has thrived!"

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1 (904) 206 - 8551

Yulee, Florida 32097

97045 Miller Road

Nursery Registration No. 48031435

Aquaculture Registration No. AQ2655013

Who we Sponser

FANN, Florida association of native nurseries
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Amelia's Native Wildflowers Mission Grow

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