Native plants are wild. Some of the hybrids have had some of the wild breed out of them and are not nearly as tough. So something with a species name is usually tougher than one without. In other words Salvia mellifera repens is more drought tolerant the Salvia 'Dara Choice', but 'Dara's Choice is more garden tolerant. So next to a lawn, 'Dara's Choice', on dry slope, Salvia mellifera repens.
The nursery should be growing them as they want to be planted out, sun loving plants in sun, shade plants in shade. A plant grown in 70% usually fails when planted in full sun. Sometimes they 'melt', sometimes they just die.
The plants should be hardened off, not fat and succulent, unless of course they are succulents...They should have leathery leaves with a few spots and maybe a few spots here and there from being exposed to the real world. Pre-stressed is what one of the architects calls them. Native plants should not look like lettuce. Even Miners Lettuce looks tough as we go into spring.
