Bloom Box is a garden-in-a-box; 12-54 live perennials plants ready to add to your garden. We include plant cards introducing you to each species, a how-to guide to get you started, a sample layout based on you garden size and shape, and many more educational pieces.

Each year we select from a list of over 100 species of native and well adapted plants. We curate lists for gardens based on the sun and moisture they receive as well as their location in the state and soil type. We do not release a plant list as that is what you are asking us to create and because we often make last minute changes. We sometimes find a source for cool, hard to find plants or need to adjust for species that just aren’t ready yet.

For gardeners who have a vision in mind but want the structure of a Bloom Box design, we suggest taking a look at our Build-Your-Own Bloom Box digital store.

We take pride in our shipping system! We use recycled, shredded paper from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln mail office to make sure your plants travel in comfort. We water before shipping and use UPS which delivers within 2 days for most of our customers. Plants are hardier than you think and they often travel longer than that to get from growers to us!

Shipping is getting more expensive though and, because plants are so heavy and we want them to arrive on time, we don’t have a lot of options when it comes to cost. This is why we try to offer plenty of pickup options for the Lincoln and Omaha areas as well as a few other meeting times across the state where you can pick up your plants from us.

Our horticulture program is confident in its plants and we do our best to ensure that we select only quality plants when each Bloom Box is packed. We pack them carefully in shredded paper and keep shipping times short. If you believe that you have received a plant in poor health please contact us with a picture before planting.

We do not offer guarantees in part because of our confidence that we provided you with healthy, living plants but also to keep costs low so that replacement is affordable.

There are always unforeseen circumstances when a plant may be damaged during shipping or delivery so please let us know immediately if anything seems off with your plants and we will make it right.

We grow about half of our inventory from seeds we collect ourselves!

The other half we source from nurseries dedicated to growing native species including Bluebird Nursery (Clarkson NE), Taylor Creek Nursery (Baldwin City KS), Hoffman Nursery (Rougemont NC) and New Moon Nursery (Woodstown NJ).

We order from these nurseries when we aren’t able to collect quality seed, when a species requires special propagation methods that we are not set up for).

Often when first time Bloom Box gardeners pick up their first order there is a moment of hesitation because 24, 3” plants does not look like a 100 sq ft garden when they are all gathered in one small box. But I rarely have to answer the question myself, often a returning gardener quickly steps in to say “that’s what I though too but just wait till you see how fast they grow”!

It is important to follow the spacing recommendation in your sample design (even if you put your own spin on the layout). Each plant looks tiny now but will quickly fill a 2-3 foot diameter circle.

Nope!

Our sample layouts are designed to help you understand how your plants can fit together in a garden and how much space each one needs.

You can follow the design to a T or toss it and design your own space.

Just ask!

Send us an email at: arboretum@unl.edu

Subscribe to our PlantNebraska Podcast and call in with questions.

Call us at 402.472.2971

Yes, Bloom Box is just one way we sell plants. We host regular open houses at our greenhouse on UNL’s East Campus in Lincoln as well as traveling plant sales in Omaha, Bellevue, Scottsbluff, and wherever else we get invited.

Find our sales on our event calendar.