Our story
Hi there! We're a native plant nursery in Cleveland's North Collinwood neighborhood.
Meadow City founders Julie, Alyssa, and Dave met in graduate school at Ohio State's School of Environment and Natural Resources. In Cleveland, we saw an opportunity to sell native plants in the city - where everyone can find them. We had our first pop-up sales in fall 2022, and Basia joined the team when we opened our retail location in 2023. After a successful first year, we are closed for the season and preparing to reopen in May!
Here is some recent press about our work in The Plain Dealer, The Land, Cleveland Magazine, and Spectrum News.
As director of Meadow City, Julie Slater does our wild seed collection, marketing, and sales. She has a master's in ecological restoration from Ohio State. Julie gained her love of native plants working in the mountains of Virginia and the bogs of Ohio. Prior to Meadow City, she spent a season learning all about native plant production from Gale Martin at Natives in Harmony near Columbus.
Dave Tomashefski grew up birdwatching in Lakewood. His gift is finding the perfect plant for everyone! Prior to Meadow City, Dave worked at the Soil, Water and Environmental Lab at Ohio State, where he also earned his master's degree. As our education specialist, Dave is responsible for the nursery’s educational programs and materials.
Alyssa Zearley brings essential growing expertise to the nursery. She has a bachelor’s in plant health management from Ohio State and did her master’s research on soil contaminants. Before Meadow City, Alyssa worked at Holden Forests and Gardens where she managed the nursery’s pest program. She is our plant production manager.
As Meadow City's nursery technician, Basia Morris-Bruton assists with plant production and care, garden maintenance, data collection, customer service, and the odd construction project. Basia is pursuing her associate's in Plant Science and Landscape Technology at Tri-C. She has been curious about gardening from a young age, and she gets her love of nature from her grandmother and great-grandmother.
Big thanks to our friend Ashley Keesling, who took most of our plant photos. Thanks to Roy Larick for letting us start the nursery in his yard. Thank you to our seed collection volunteers, especially M Onion and Kali Mattingly. We are also grateful to the many folks who have helped us with everything from accessing wild seed to potting up plants. We wouldn't be here without you!