Edible Natives to Grow at Home

Join Andy Brand, the Gardens’ Director of Horticulture, on a walk to identify a variety of edible native plants living in their natural habitats, then learn how to incorporate these edibles into your home garden. Rather than foraging, this class focuses on the opportunity to grow these native plants sustainably at home, leaving the foraging to the wildlife who need them for survival.

Andy Brand is the Director of Horticulture at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Prior to joining the staff in 2018, he was the nursery manager at Broken Arrow Nursery for over 20 years, where he and his colleagues specialized in growing rare and unusual plants. Andy is an avid naturalist and has focused on the interaction of the insects and native plants of New England. He is a cofounder and past President of the Connecticut Butterfly Association and is also past President of the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association.  He speaks to groups throughout the Northeast on a range of topics including native plants, new and unusual ornamentals, butterfly gardening, and butterflies of Connecticut and their life histories.