Plants, like clothing styles, come in and out of fashion — and currently native plants are having their 15 minutes of fame.

John Gibson runs a native plant nursery in Ridgeway, between Hobart and Mount Wellington, and said edible natives were the current must-have item in backyards across the state.

"[The] big ones at the moment are bush tucker plants; plants that can be used for some sort of food," he said.

Mr Gibson's nursery grows about 600 different varieties of natives for sale and conservation.

The nursery propagates Tasmanian native plants on site. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Carol Rääbus )

In the edible section, you'll find some fairly familiar things such as pigface and correa alba, as well as a plant that looks almost exactly like celery.

"It's closely related to garden celery," Mr Gibson said of the plant.

This celery is found in the Furneaux island group and is closely related to the celery you find in the supermarket. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Carol Rääbus )

"But it actually grows naturally up on the islands of the Furneaux group, so Flinders Island and up to Deal Island.

"It doesn't grow on the mainland of Tasmania and it doesn't grow on the mainland of Australia, only in the middle of Bass Strait."

Native main stayers

Trends aside, there are some Tasmanian natives that hold steady in their appeal — like the iconic Huon pine.

"They are very popular, especially with tourists," Mr Gibson said.

"A lot of people come from the mainland to the nursery who have always wanted to own one, so we sell a lot of small ones."

Huon pines are not as slow-growing and difficult to keep alive as commonly though, according to Mr Gibson.

But there are other hardy Tasmanian plants that do take a very long time to take root.

These fagus cuttings are about two years old and won't be ready for sale for another three to four years. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Carol Rääbus )

"Fagus are difficult to grow for a couple of reasons," Mr Gibson said.

"One is the seed doesn't germinate particularly well, they're very difficult to grow from cuttings, and once you do get them going, they're slow for quite a few years until they get some growth on them.

"Every time they lose their leaves for winter, we've got to hold our breath and hope we're not just keeping sticks in the nursery."

Rare and wonderful plants

Mr Gibson said one of the pleasures of working with native plans was propagating his own stock.

Lomatia tasmanica is one of the rarest plants in the world. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Carol Rääbus )

"One of the plants we're keeping here that has been a bit of a breakthrough plant is lomatia tasmanica, which is one of the rarest plants in the world," he said.

"[It's] only known from one site down in southern Tasmania where all the plants are genetically identical.

"A number of years ago we were lucky to get some small samples of the plant from another grower and we're now producing a number of offspring."

A rewarding gardening experience

Mr Gibson said attitudes towards native plants were slowly changing, but many gardeners remained wary.

Sage cushion plants are found in alpine regions of Tasmania, and in some native plant nurseries. ( ABC Radio Hobart: Carol Rääbus )

"People still think that native plants are something that shouldn't be mixed in with other plants in the garden or are difficult to grow," he said.

"The reality is that there are some that are difficult and some that are very easy.

"A truly native garden can be very rewarding, especially in terms of wildlife.

"And in this day and age where there's a lot more clearing and destruction, building up conditions where these animals can survive can't be a bad thing."