Recent news
Martha Bishop Ferguson spreading the love of indigenous species with her Riverview Native Nursery
Fort Wayne News-Sentinel
,Lisa M Esquivel Long June 17, 2018
Purples, reds, blues and yellows fill tables in Martha Bishop Ferguson’s yard in Spencerville. Ragwort is blossoming while photo cards show what many of the other green plants nearby will look like during their bloom time.
Native and invasive plants featured at Earthfest event
Emeline Rodenas, The Auburn Star, April 25, 2017
The Callery pear tree is an extremely invasive species that has taken over large parts of the forest in southern Indiana as well as many public areas in the northeast part of the state. Other cultivars of this tree were released after the 1800s, which led to it smothering many native species of trees.
Event gives monarchs thrones
Plants will help butterflies lay eggs
Steve Warden, The Journal Gazette, May 31, 2016
Thanks to the partnership between the city and a local nursery, nature got an assist Saturday at Salomon Farm Park.
While visitors purchased various plants, shrubs and grasses from Riverview Nursery at the City Utilities’ native plant sale, a monarch butterfly way station was also being installed at the park.
Monarch butterflies event's star
1,200 people visit Eagle March to celebrate iconic insect
Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette
Jamie Duffy, September 14, 2015
Some point to the disappearing milkweed plant as the major problem.
“Milkweed is the only larval host” of monarch butterflies, said Martha Ferguson, owner of Riverview Nursery in Spencerville, who was on hand to sell milkweed and other plants and bushes native to this area.
One of those native plants was the lowly paw paw tree, a common sight a few decades ago. The paw paw lives in wet soils, like the banks of the St. Joseph River, and is a favorite of the zebra swallowtail and paw paw sphinx moths, Ferguson said, who has been selling native plants for 25 years.
That folks need to buy native plants is an indication of where the environment has gone. One of an invasive species marketed as a sure thing to help attract pollinators is butterfly bush. But Ferguson said butterfly bush is an invasive species.
“No native butterfly of any kind will lay their eggs on it,” Ferguson said.
Sustainable landscaping saves work, resources
Fort Wayne News-Sentinel
Kevin Kilbane, February 27, 2015
It can start with you.We read and hear a lot about pollution and shrinking resources. But a relatively new program encourages homeowners and neighborhoods to take a first step toward addressing those and other problems by shifting to a sustainable approach to landscaping.
Nursery has native plants for habitat friendly landscaping
KPC News
Amy Oberlin March 21, 2014
A master gardener who rehabilitated Gene Stratton Porter’s gardens in Rome City sells homegrown landscaping plants through Riverview Nursery. Martha Bishop Ferguson started the business last year, and offers a variety of plants native to the area.
Eighty-five percent of the plants are local genotypes, “meaning it is local to northeast Indiana,” said Ferguson, an advanced master gardener and master naturalist. The plants are adapted genetically to the weather, soil and wildlife and are all perennial, meaning they come up year after year..
Keeping native: Area plant life acclimated to climate, grow best
The Journal Gazette
Rosa Salter Rodriguez June 9, 2013
Martha Bishop Ferguson is standing next to a potting bench in a grow shed outside her home near Spencerville, talking about her plants.There’s blue flag iris, which “doesn’t mind getting its feet wet,” she says, and will grow even in standing water in area ponds and lakes. Nearby stand several pots of Helenium autumnale, usually called sneezeweed. “It’s unfortunately named,” she laments.
Blooming where they're planted: Native plants work because they belong here
Fort Wayne Monthly
Nancy Crowe July 23, 2013
If someone gets lost on a street that changes directions and/or names every couple of miles, chances are good that person is not a native of Fort Wayne. That’s because the weather, terrain, quirks and characteristics of any environment leave their imprint on the living things that originate there.
We humans can move from Maine to Florida and adjust without skipping a beat (or in any case, we think we can). The same is not necessarily true in the plant world. Even the hardiest plants have particular soil, light and temperature needs. So the concept of growing plants native to the area you’re in makes sense.
What exactly constitutes a native plant? “Well, that’s a huge question,” said Martha Bishop Ferguson, owner of Riverview Nursery in Spencerville.
Riverview Nursery - Locally Made Monday
WFFT
Andrew Logsdon May 20, 2013
One area nursery is taking 'natural' to the extreme. WFFT's Andrew Logsdon shows us how in this week's 'Locally Made Monday.'
Imagine filling your yard entirely with plants that are native to our region. The woman behind the Riverview Nursery says it might be one of the most 'natural' things you can do. Martha Bishop Ferguson has a different take on local landscaping- through her business, Riverview Nursery.
Riverview Nursery, Inc.
Focusing In On the Fort
May 7, 2013
Martha Bishop Ferguson can provide you with native plants for landscapes and rain, bird, butterfly and prairie gardens. Her booth was filled with plants that are native to our area, and they were absolutely beautiful.