The NICE program is a voluntary collaboration between individual chapters of the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) and select local nurseries, called Native Plant Partners (NPP). The goal of the NICE program is to promote and expand the availability and use of native plants in residential and commercial landscapes that are appropriate to the local ecoregion. Native plants are defined as those plants that were growing naturally in the ecoregion before European colonization.

Native plants are beautiful and durable landscape alternatives to non-native plants. Native plants thrive and survive the extremes of Central Texas weather. Native plants also appeal to the environmental sensibilities of today’s consumer requiring little or no soil amendment, no chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and little supplemental water once established. More importantly, native plants support wildlife and provide ecological services such as capturing runoff and infiltrating water into the soil, preventing soil erosion, and cleaning our air by releasing oxygen and removing carbon which is then stored in the soil.

In the San Antonio area, the large variety of native plants provides multiple options that work well in various light and soil conditions and any type of garden design. The San Antonio chapter works with our Native Plant Partners each season to highlight and promote select native plants with seasonal interest (blooms, fruit and/or leaf color).

Our Native Plant Partners are committed to protecting our local ecosystem and do not stock or sell problematic plant species listed in the database of TexasInvasives.org. 

For more information on this topic and to find native alternatives for the San Antonio area, click here.

Call or visit one of our Native Plant Partner nurseries listed below.

If your business desires to participate in the NICE program as a Native Plant Partner of the San Antonio Chapter, please contact us for more information at sanantonio@npsot.org.