A popular service we offer is our Onsite Native Plant Sale. We bring a large assortment of individually tagged native perennials to your site, set up the sales area and are available throughout the day to answer questions and process sales. The sale area is complete with point-of-sale signage including pictures, care instructions and other interesting facts. Our plants are tagged with both common and scientific names and planting information. Sales generally last about 3-4 hours after which we pack up any remaining plants and head home.
In order to offer your customers the most informative shopping and growing experience we have developed a purchasing system based on QR codes that allow shoppers quick access to information about the species they are interested in or have purchased. QR codes are printed on our point-of-sale signage which allow instant access to complete cultural information, additional photographs and the online shopping cart on the Riverside Native Perennials website. The usefulness of this purchasing system is two-fold. First, it provides the customer much more information than could ever be presented on point-of-sale signage, and secondly, when customers return home, they can access all the information again to ensure they are siting and planting their perennials properly.
Bookings for the Onsite Native Plant Sale should be made as early as possible. We generally start in early May and schedule until mid-September. Please note that the first Saturday of each month is reserved for our own onsite sales here at the nursery.
The site you select for the plant sale preferably should be covered in the event of rain. This also makes it easier on the plants as their pots can dry out by the end of a long, hot day. Having water available in case the plants need it is helpful as well.
A well-publicized event is the key to success for the Onsite Native Plant Sale. Your social media accounts should all be used to publicize the event. Emailing your patrons and asking them to forward your email to friends is very effective as well. Partnering with local park systems or other environmental groups and gardening clubs all help to get to the message out quickly. Be sure to indicate that the sales area is covered in the event of rain, so the weather doesn’t negatively affect turnout. We are happy to provide custom-made graphics complete with your logo that can accompany your emails and social media postings.
Our goal is to make the plant sale a fun and informative event for your patrons, and an easy event for you to host. Many people are just now beginning to see the benefits of planting native perennials so providing them with pertinent information is going to be important for successful growing. The fact that you’ll have nursery staff on hand coupled with the easy access to information offered through our QR code sales system means people can buy with confidence!
It’s important to note that the Onsite Native Plant Sale is a service and not a fundraiser. Because of the time involved for staff, the cost of transportation and set up and the overall “risk” of not knowing if one or a thousand people are going to show up this sale is offered as a service. If you’re interested in doing a fundraiser, we offer Milkweeds 4 Monarchs, (M4M) Milkweed Fundraiser and Perennials 4 Pollinators, (P4P). Both of these fundraisers are similar in how they work. The primary difference is in what is offered for sale.
