About
Pretty Wild is the collaboration of Burton and Dallas, a couple with deep-rooted passion for plants. We moved to Riverwest in 2012 because of its garden culture and have been really happy to be part of the community ever since.
Dallas is interested in all things design and loves the process of translating the ideas in her head into real life through a very hands-on approach to building and creating spaces. Pair that with Burton, who is an observant student of nature - always learning, always growing - and you have a really thoughtful perspective to garden design, cultivating spaces that balance beauty and function.
We're a small, urban backyard nursery that specializes in straight species plants native to southern Wisconsin, all grown from seeds that originated in the Midwest. We’re peat-free, use no herbicides, pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. Instead our potting soil is made from local compost and rice hulls or coconut husks which are both byproducts of other industries, giving new life to materials that would otherwise go to waste.
We propagate everything from seed ourselves here in Milwaukee, so our plants are already adapted to the same local conditions as your garden. The big nurseries truck in their native plant seedlings every year, from places like Texas or Oregon, and once you get them planted, they can often take an entire growing season to adjust before they start being able to focus on putting on growth.
Beyond just environmental acclimation, Pretty Wild prioritizes regionally adapted genetics. Many large nurseries use the same seed stock no matter where the plant will be sold and grown. Plants that have been grown from seed in the Midwest have naturally developed traits over centuries that improve their survival, such as deeper root systems for drought resistance or better cold tolerance for our unpredictable spring freezes. Research shows that even within the same species, regionally adapted seeds often have higher survival rates, faster growth and greater resistance to local pests and diseases than non-local stock.
You can read more here about why we're passionate to grow what we do:
Have any questions? Not from southeastern Wisconsin and wondering if the plants you want to purchase are native to your specific ecoregion? We're happy to help! Are you looking for a plant species we don't carry or is frequently out of stock? We'd love to know!