Seeds of Change: Southern Native Plantings

Seeds of Change

In 2020, we lost an important member of our community. Karen Smith not only made an important contribution because she was a vibrant and generous person in her own right, but she also was the founder and driving force behind Southern Native Plantings (SNP) at Longwood Plantation - an important source of native plants and organic starts for farmers, gardeners and pollinator-lovers from Augusta to Savannah.

Her passing hit many of us hard. Even though she and I were not close friends, I had interviewed her a number of times for Southern Soil and I was a fairly frequent shopper at the nursery. And there was just something about Karen that sparkled … if you met her, you know what I mean.

But the other aspect of losing Karen, meant that we also lost access to the plants that many of us had come to love - in part because of the passion she herself had for them!

So, I was delighted when I learned that life is springing forward once again at the nursery as new management is taking what Karen planted with zeal and enthusiasm and carrying it into the future; ensuring that her legacy of plants, especially natives, will continue.

Landon Hall, having become passionate about growing food for himself and his family, started his own company, Forage, in 2020, to help supply others with the know-how, right ingredients and initial labor to help them get off to a good start growing their own food.

One of the “right ingredients” Landon used came from Longwood Plantation, LLC (the site of SNP and owned by Karen’s widower, Mike Smith). When his usual supplier quit carrying it, Landon went straight to the source and began getting to know Mike, and through their conversations, Karen as well.

Landon needed room to grow his business which was currently being managed from his yard and the greenhouse and the many plants in the surroundingnursery were in need of some care - a match madein heaven!

Shortly after Landon agreed to lease the space, Amara DeReinzo, an edible landscaping enthusiast with greenhouse experience, called SNP (not realizing it had not been operational) looking for a greenhouse job.

Another serendipitous match and things started coming together.

“We’re working on that (reviving the nursery) and trying to balance a slightly new direction we want to go in with raised beds, vegetable gardens, edible landscaping and things like that while honoring the natives because that’s such a niche and I’m really excited to fill that,” Amara explained.

Reopening the nursery under the name Southern Native Plantings is temporary as the nursery is being folded into Landon’s existing business, Forage. The two concepts will merge into a bigger picture of sustainable landscaping and gardening with both native plants and plants for food taking center stage together.

“My business was originally built around raised beds and I try to keep it very simple,” Landon explained. “What we’re doing now is pivoting a little bit - we’re still doing that - but we’re trying to envision the yard as a whole foodscape. We’ll have raised beds, but we’re also going to incorporate

“And Amara has been really instrumental in helping out with that side of things,” he continued. “She’s very knowledgeable when it comes to that. It’s definitely something I’m going to incorporate more of going forward.”

While bringing in more fruit and vegetable plants, they will also continue to grow and sell native varieties. Though it is admittedly something they are both still learning more about.

It’s true that I didn’t know Karen very well beyond our professional interactions, but I think she would approve. I think she would be the first to admit that she didn’t know everything there was to know about native plants either, but that didn’t stop her from sharing what she did know and spreading her love and appreciation for the role of natives in our ecosystems and in food production too.

Amara and Landon did not have the opportunity to meet Karen herself, but both expressed a deep respect for her work and a growing sense of connection to her not only through the plants she left behind but also through the stories that have been shared with them throughout this process.

“I am more and more amazed by Karen every week,” Landon expressed as he discussed the journals they’ve found and many places on the property with an unexpected grove of pawpaws or other native plantings.

“Working in the industry, I remember that when Karen died - it was a big deal,” Amara stated. “I didn’t know anything about her, but I remember my boss saying it was such a huge loss and wondering who would fill that gap. And when I started working here, I realized … oh, that’s where I am. So that was a little surreal.”

“I see her everywhere,” she continued, “her geniusshines through. There’s a lot of love there. Justcontinuing that dedication is a privilege.”

Amara and Landon are both committed to helping other people learn to garden and are especially excited to be able to help beginners. They are looking forward to getting back into some of the market spaces where SNP had a presence in the past. And are eager to do their part to help get a garden in every yard that will not only help provide food for the people who live there, but for the native wildlife as well.