Interview with Bill Jones, Carolina Native Nursery

Introduction

At The Plant Native, we love talking with experts who have spent decades growing, advocating for, and changing the conversation around native plants. For over twenty years, Carolina Native Nursery has been a leader in the industry, growing top-quality natives and helping homeowners make the switch.

Founder Bill Jones has played an enormous role in bringing native azaleas back to gardens—we think he’s the Johnny Appleseed of native azaleas. Today, Carolina Native is the largest supplier in the U.S., producing tens of thousands each year.

In this interview, Bill shares how Carolina Native got started, the challenges of growing at scale (including rebuilding after a hurricane), and why native plants are easier than you think.

Thanks so much for the time Bill!

Carolina Native Nursery has been dedicated to growing native plants for 20+ years. What inspired you to start the nursery?

The question that needed to be answered was: Why wasn’t anyone growing native plants? In the ‘90’s I started an organic-based lawn and shrub care business in Charlotte.

The vast majority of shrubs in the landscape were non-native exotic plants. Many of them required considerable treatment to stay healthy. And that was over and above all the inputs that fescue grass (another exotic plant) lawns require to stay healthy and beautiful. The more research we did, the more apparent the benefits of native plants in the landscape would grant us all—besides the birds and the bees.

After a couple visits to horticultural trade shows, I saw that no one was trying to grow and sell garden center-quality native plants. It was either a good idea, or there was some unseen reason why it was not. Anyway, we sold the lawn care business, moved to Asheville, found some land, and started Carolina Native.

Here we are over 20 years later.

Your nursery focuses specifically on native shrubs, perennials, and ferns. What led you to prioritize these over other plant types?

Carolina Native started growing around 100 species of native shrubs over 20 years ago. Referencing our friend Dick Bir’s Growing and Propagating Showy Native Woody Plants, there was a ready list. We also grew a few understory trees, but we are not tree growers so those came off the list in short order.

It became apparent quickly that native azaleas were not available on the market in any size or quantity, so if we wanted to offer them, we had to grow them ourselves. Consequently, we began the process of establishing regular procedures to grow them on a commercial basis. Now, we produce 10,000s annually, becoming the largest native azalea supplier in the US.

Perennials, including ferns and grasses, became part of our mix over seven years ago. Now they are a large part of plant sales in general. And native perennials were an easy step for us to enlarge our offerings to our clients. It has proven to be very successful. Currently we offer well over 250 species of native shrubs, perennials, ferns, and grasses, a list that expands annually.

Bill—what you just said is incredible. Thousands of native azaleas out in the world because of your nursery? You’re basically the Johnny Appleseed of native azaleas.

I have to dig deeper into your expertise with these native shrubs—your knowledge is too good not to share.

Many people are familiar with traditional landscape azaleas, but native azaleas offer many unique benefits. Can you explain the biggest differences between them?

Native azaleas are unique. They can be the gems of your garden. Most gardeners make the assumption that all azaleas are evergreen, they think of Augusta National, and they imagine the white, pink, and red that are so common.

Native azaleas are deciduous, many are incredibly fragrant, and most of them get big. Bloom colors can be white (the fragrant ones), pink, yellow, orange, red, and many shades in between. Plus, the bloom times can vary from spring through late summer.

It is best to find a reputable independent garden center that has a native plant section and hopefully someone there to help. It is easy to do a little research yourself. Like all landscape plantings, finding the right plants for the right space is the best rule of thumb.

(Check out Carolina Native Nursery’s “Azalea Cheat Sheet” for more info.)

Beginner Tip

Bill Jones’ Advice for Planting Native Azaleas

Native azaleas, like rhododendrons, mountain laurels, and other ericaceous plants, are shallow-rooting. And they do not like clay or heavy soils.

We recommend folks dig very shallow holes and leave the plant high and well mulched. Planting deep is the kiss of death. Like all newly planted landscape plants, they need to be watched through the first year for dry times and water deeply as needed. Never daily.

Can you walk us through what it takes to grow thousands of native azaleas—from seed to stunning shrub?

There is a 3-year process to grow a native azalea from seed to well-rooted 3-gallon plants.

Seed collection usually starts in September and runs through December depending on the species, the location, the weather and more. We go to locations all over N.C., plus we have friends and associations send us seed. The Jenkins Arboretum, the North Carolina Arboretum, the Azalea Society of America, the American Rhododendron Society, and others provide seed, too.

Azalea seed does not require stratification. We dry the seed pods, crush them lightly, and run it all through a sieve to get the seed. We start setting seed in community flats the week after Thanksgiving on heated tables in our propagation house. Most flats can contain 200-500 seedlings.

Maintaining a temperature around 60, we expect germination in a few weeks. We begin a care regiment of fertilization and fungal treatments weekly until we move them up to Rootmaker flats of 18 cells in late April. They root in by the end of the summer.

It’s eye-opening to realize that each native azalea is a three-year investment before it even finds a home.

Let’s dig into how we can get more people planting natives. Many homeowners assume a lawn is the easiest option—how would you challenge that idea?

Many of us grow up mowing the grass. It is what we know. So it seems easy. Plus the smell of cut grass makes us feel good. Finally, most of us are afraid of change as it is.

It takes the brave few to make the change. As more and more folks accept the challenge and lead the way, the easier it will be for their neighbors to jump on board. It seems that the pioneers initially sparing with uninformed HOA’s and local restrictions eventually win out and lead the way. All it takes is some education, persistence, and resisting old norms.

It takes the brave few to make the change. As more and more folks accept the challenge and lead the way, the easier it will be for their neighbors to jump on board.

Native plants for beginners

Bill Jones’ Picks

Living in the Southeast? Bill recommends these natives:

Carolina Native Nursery has faced some major challenges in recent years, including the loss of thousands of plants to Hurricane Helene. Looking ahead, what’s next? Any exciting projects, expansions, or goals on the horizon?

Our first goal is to completely recover from the disaster that was, and still is, Hurricane Helene. In the recent flood, we lost over 250,000 plants.

While we are in the process of that, we are also improving our nursery footprint. We will be able to completely reorganize our plant locations and spacing for more consistency in plant care and efficiencies. We run a very clean operation and this will help. We are making some strategic additions to our team with expansion starting in the fall.

The demand for our native plants was on an incredible increase over the last five years so we are looking forward to trying to match demand. Ultimately, our goal is to increase by 25% annually. We do not like to sell out but that seems to happen every spring.

I’m so sorry to hear about the hurricane’s impact, but it’s inspiring to see Carolina Native Nursery bouncing back. Before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share?

The outreach and support Carolina Native received from our native plant family and our friends in horticulture after the ‘big rain’ we experienced is both overwhelming and humbling. Initially, it kept us going. We had help coming from more directions than we knew existed. And it is still happening.

We cannot express enough heartfelt thank yous to everyone that had a part in that. Cheers!

Bill, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your story, expertise, and all the incredible work you’re doing to grow and advocate for native plants. Your dedication—especially to native azaleas—is beyond inspiring, and it’s clear Carolina Native Nursery is making a huge impact.

I can’t wait to see what’s next for you and your team. Thanks again for such a great conversation!