Our People

Mike McConnell

President

My road to native plants started 2 hours away from our present day Maryland nursery, in the pines of southern New Jersey “just” 50+ years ago. We (my Mom, sister and I) lived in an 1890’s shingle-sided house in a nearly deserted hamlet called White’s Bog. All around us were cranberry bogs, woods and fields. The woods croaked with a million amphibious voices, migrating birds flocked in blue fall skies and panzer-shelled snappers glared at us from the sandy roadsides. Squirrels and raccoons nested in mysterious, beckoning, ramshackle buildings. It was a paradise for kids to explore, even if my Mom, who had almost no chance for adult conversations, remembers the place less fondly.

It only lasted a year or so before my Dad came back from his military assignment and we moved to more urban settings. The connection to nature has endured for me and looking back explains many subsequent events and choices.

As for White’s Bog? It is a state park now. It is dedicated to a largely forgotten 19th century horticulturist, Elizabeth White, who cultivated the native blueberry, behind the house next door to our old place.

Stefan German

Head Grower & Operations Manager

I have been with American Native Plants for 18 years, cultivating quality native plants. I oversee herbaceous and woody section growers and maintain a production database. I am in my 26th year of being involved in native plant cultivation and restoration. Steeped in experience restoring the Chesapeake Bay Region, I have worked with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and others in developing proprietary products to enhance restoration efforts. With every seed sown, my knowledge grows.