"The Big List" - a consulting tool for hire

I’m delighted to announce the latest edition of “The Big List”, an unparalleled resource in the state of Washington. The Big List is a consulting product that I offer in the form of an ongoing record of all of the WA-native plants that are commercially available, heavily categorized for use by home gardeners and industry professionals alike. This month I have surveyed the online inventories of forty nurseries and seed companies in WA and OR, finding roughly over five thousand individual listings of nearly 800 species and subspecies of WA-native plants.

Included are companies that have native flora as their primary mission, regularly posting their current inventory.  Excluded are companies about which I'm aware of credible concerns about labor or ecological impact.

- the scientific name, common scientific synonyms, and a common name 

- a clickable link to the species profile published on “The Burke” website

- categories of form (tree, shrub, aquatic, grass-like, etc) and general size

- floral traits: months of blooming, primary and secondary colors, and pollinators

- occurrence on the east, west, or both sides of the Cascade crest

- known ethnobotanical uses, such as food, dye, fiber, tools, and some medicinal

- other miscellaneous notes

- full shade

    - wet

    - dry

- part shade 

    - wet

    - mid

    - dry

- full sun 

    - wetland 

    - rocky

    - coastline 

    - meadow / prairie / garden 

        - with shrubs

        - without shrubs

- list of the WA/OR companies that had the species available:

     - Fall 2025

     - Spring 2025 

     - Fall 2024

     - Spring 2024 

- whether Nobody Nursery has seed available for grow-to-order, and the length of seed dormancy

I’ve made it easy to buy and receive The Big List. Simply go to the nursery’s online store and select the package you would like, ranging from $200-600. Additionally, I offer a bare-bones “The Buyer’s List” for just $300, which is pared down to information relevant to commercial availability for all WA habitats.

Within five business days I’ll send a link to a Google Doc, which you can copy into your own Google Drive or download in whatever form you like. If you’d like the file emailed to you directly or printed out and mailed, that can be arranged. I would love to make this all publicly free should there be a grant available, but in the mean time I the ask you on the honor system not to share it to third parties.