Purchasing plant materials can be expensive but has many benefits, including knowledge of source populations, ease and support of local small businesses. Because species can vary widely in their tolerance to biotic and abiotic factors, depending on where they are sourced from [1], when possible, purchase varieties that are from sites with similar climatic and edaphic conditions to the revegetation site [2].
Most native seed and plant purveyors will provide recommendations for material purchase based on climate zones. Learn about climate zones in reference to plants and to find your climate zone.
When purchasing seed, pay attention to purity values, which drive pounds per acre needed for seeding. Seed quality is determined by its ‘Pure Live Seed’ or PLS value, which is a function of purity, germination and dormancy. PLS varies across and even within species. For example, forbs are expected to have lower PLS values because they often have a complex dormancy
mechanism. Keep in mind that critical information associated with germination and dormancy break is unknown for many native plants [3]. However, similar plants (e.g. phylogenetically close) often have similar requirements [4], which can be a helpful guide.