Nancy Bissett

Nancy Bissett

The Natives
Restoration Ecologist, Botanist & Native Plant Horticulturist

Restoration Ecologist, Botanist and Horticulturist, Co-Owner, Vice President of The Natives

37 years of professional experience growing and planting native plants throughout Florida

The Natives Inc. is a multidisciplinary firm offering a wide range of services including consulting, restoration design, restoration implementation, landscape architecture and a wholesale nursery growing only Florida native plants since 1982.

Nancy is renowned for developing successful techniques for site preparation, planting, direct seeding of native groundcovers and weed control to restore scrub, sandhill, and flatwoods native plant communities. She has developed and enacted direct seeding projects for state and local agencies, water management districts, mitigation banks, mined lands, developers, and corporations.

As the developer of The Natives plant nursery, one of Florida’s earliest native plant nurseries, Nancy has experimented with the propagation and growth of many native plants, including native grasses, wildflowers, and rare species. The Natives grows over 200 different species of plants. As a botanist, Nancy has assisted with monitoring research projects for The Nature Conservancy, Florida Institute of Phosphate Research, and other organizations. She has performed various rare plant and vegetation surveys and helped federal, state, and local authorities find and evaluate rare plant communities.

Nancy’s work has has been published in a variety of scientific journals and magazines, presented at numerous conferences, and has received awards from The Nature Conservancy and other environmental organizations. Nancy has for decades provided educational programs for FANN, Florida Chapter ASLA, the Florida Native Plant Society, the Florida Wildflower Foundation and other organizations. She is a founding member of FANN and has served on the board of directors for FANN, FNPS, the Florida Wildflower Foundation and Green Horizon Land Trust.

B.S. in horticulture and botany, Florida Southern College.