Balance. It's a central theme of the conversation as Emily Dutra walks through her Butterfly Effect Farm on Drift Road one recent morning, giving a visitor a tour of her new native plants nursery.

Around her, the sound of birds and the wind is muted only slightly by the occasional car passing on Route 88 to the west. Native tall grasses wave in a rolling meadow and the breeze cuts through an open-walled greenhouse, where flowers and seedlings flourish. As she walks the grounds, Dutra's assistant, Hope Millham, gets ready for the day ahead.

Dutra opened the nursery about three weeks ago and is full of enthusiasm. After working as a gardener and landscape designer on Nantucket for many years, she finally has a nursery that she hopes and believes will help restore her corner of the world, even if in tiny increments. That's why she named the place after a tenet of Chaos Theory, which posits that a small localized change in a complex system can have huge results elsewhere.

Butterfly Effect was founded on that principle, she said. Dutra believes modern horticulture relies too heavily on species that have no business being here. Non-native grasses, flowers, shrubs and all manner of other plants have been here for hundreds of years and can be found at every roadside nursery. While many may be beautiful, they can be harmful in unseen ways, upsetting local balance by choking out native species relied on by pollinators and all other manner of wildlife. While many of these non-natives weren't first imported here with any knowledge that they would have unintended and negative impacts, they have, she said.

It's a truth that has led to a huge movement in recent years to restore balance by favoring native species in landscape architecture. The benefits to us, to insects, to the earth and countless species, she said, are endless.

In starting the farm, Dutra and husband Chris Leonard, Westport's Director of Marine Services,  weren't "falling in to what was trendy." Instead, they were just trying to improve the 33 acres they own just across from Masquesatch Road.

"One of the inspirations for this nursery was to restore the property properly, and to do that, you're going to need a lot of plants. You can't just pull up (non-natives) and not plant anything in their place — they're going to grow back."

And so, a seed that had been in her brain for years was germinated.

What she already knew was that very few nurseries specialize in local "functional" species, meaning they play a positive, crucial and fundamental role in the local ecosystem. What she didn't know, but thought was true, was that there would be a huge interest from the public into this new way of sculpting landscapes responsibly.

"When I realized the popularity that was being gained in natives, and the research that was coming out ... the pulse was so hot, and you couldn't find natives. There aren't many nurseries that carry them, and those that do can't keep up with the demand because of the education that's coming out."

The last year has been spent putting the pieces together. Sourcing and growing seeds and seedlings organically on site, building a large greenhouse, tent and another timber structure, laying out the grounds and stocking has taken much of her time. But it's good, rewarding work, she said.

Butterfly Effect carries more than 100 species of plants, from the mighty oak to delicate flowers and hearty vines, and everything between. So far, she said, she's thrilled at the response — "people are really interested and I've had a lot of support from the community. People want to know what they can do and how to do it better."

The nature of the farm's offerings is such that stock will constantly change and evolve with the seasons, and she is looking forward to the summer, the fall, the winter and the seasons beyond.

Dutra is happy to talk to and guide visitors, and she said that while making the farm self-supportive is important, she has loftier ambitions as well.

"I want my children to have a good work ethic and go out and change the world. I want to share this land and this knowledge. I want to educate. And I don't want to sit at a desk."