2025 Native Plant Sale Recap

What an incredible day for native plants and our Central Chapter! When the doors opened at 9:00 AM, a line of more than 200 eager shoppers—some from across Central Illinois and others from much farther afield—were ready to dive in. With the help of over 70 dedicated INPS volunteers sharing their time and expertise, this year’s sale was a tremendous success. Nearly 7,000 native plants found new homes, reinforcing the growing enthusiasm for restoring and celebrating Illinois’ native flora. Our heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who shopped, volunteered, and supported this vibrant celebration of biodiversity!

We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who helped make this year’s event such a success:

• Our growers – A big thank you to 3B Natives, Forrest Keeling Nursery, Starhill Forest Arboretum, and member Lois Fox for supplying such a diverse and high-quality selection of native plants.

• Our volunteers – A heartfelt thank you to the many dedicated members who generously gave their time to dig, pot, sort, label, transport, and guide shoppers throughout the sale. This event truly wouldn’t happen without you!

• Our venue partners – Special thanks to the staff at the Illinois State Fairgrounds for their continued support and help with logistics.

• Our print partner – Shoutout to Rudin Printing for their prompt and professional service in producing our signage, handouts, and those ever-popular plant photo cards.

• Our planning team – From early organizing to last-minute coordination, Central Chapter members poured countless volunteer hours into ensuring every detail was ready. Your teamwork and dedication made this event shine!

Wrap-Up Meeting & Feedback

We’ll be holding a brief wrap-up meeting at 6:00 p.m. prior to our June 12th meeting at Adams Wildlife Sanctuary. Everyone is welcome to attend, share observations, and celebrate our collective effort.

We’d also love your input! Please take a few minutes to fill out our Plant Sale Feedback Survey and let us know what went well and what we can improve for next year.

Thanks again for helping make this year’s sale a blooming success!

Photos by Tim McDonough