What are native plants?

Native plants are species that are indigenous to a particular area. For millions of years, native plants have been co-evolving with native mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, microbes, and other plants found in their ecosystem. This means that native plants are absolutely essential for the health of our communities. Without them, thousands of species of local wildlife wouldn’t be able to find the food and shelter they need to survive.

Unfortunately, most ornamental plants in our gardens are non-native species from other parts of the world. This means that they provide little or no utility to our local ecosystem. In fact, many of these species are invasive and can easily spread beyond the confines of our gardens, crowding out native plants and putting local ecosystems in jeopardy.