GrowFest 2026: Navigating Nativars
April 14, 2026 @ 6:00PM — 7:30PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Add to Calendar
The Civic Garden Center: 2715 Reading Rd Cincinnati, OH 45206 Get Directions
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When does it make sense to use cultivars in your native plant garden?
What exactly is a nativar? The word is a mash-up of “native plant” and “cultivar,” and it refers to a plant variety that has been selected for a particular set of traits.
Are nativars bad or good? That all depends on who you ask! Nativars are a hot topic in the gardening world, and we’re ready to dive in and decode exactly what makes these plants helpful or problematic.
In this class, we’ll cover the current science on nativars’ impact on pollinators and some of our favorite varieties—as well as a few we recommend avoiding. Then we’ll take a tour around Hauck Botanic Garden to see some nativars growing in the landscape. You’ll leave with a better understanding of what these plants are and how you can make them work in your native plant garden.
INSTRUCTOR: Julie Dennewitz (CGC Horticulturist)
Check out the rest of the GrowFest lineup here.
Active CGC volunteers can take this class for $15!
Our standard refund & cancellation policy applies to this event.