WHY NATIVE PLANTs?

BY SARA CANTEES

After receiving an email that inquired about whether Ohio should have a dedicated week or month to celebrate native plants like a few other states, Nancy Linz, a member of The Garden Club of Cincinnati, was intrigued. The inquiry came from former First Lady of Ohio, Hope Taft. As someone with a passion for horticulture and education, Nancy was excited about the possibility of educating others about the benefits of native plants, so she got to work.

One year later after that initial email on July 18, 2019, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 59 of the 133 General Assembly into law designating the month of April as Ohio Native Plant Month. This legislation made Ohio the first state in the country to have an entire month dedicated to our native plants.

Ohio House Bill 59 States:

“The month of April is designated as ‘Ohio Native Plant Month’ to increase public awareness of Ohio’s native plants and the many benefits they provide to pollinators, Ohio’s economy, and the health of Ohio’s environment.”

Ohio Representative Scott Wiggam (District 1) was the Lead Sponsor of HB 59.

Ohio Native Plant Month is an annual celebration that raises awareness about Ohio’s diverse native plant species and their importance in supporting local ecosystems. By promoting education and conservation efforts, this event encourages individuals, organizations, and communities to appreciate the beauty and significance of Ohio’s native plants. Native plants play a crucial role in maintaining healthy ecosystems and supporting biodiversity. They provide food, shelter, and habitat for native wildlife, help prevent soil erosion, and filter pollutants. Incorporating native plants in landscaping can reduce water usage and the need for harmful fertilizers and pesticides. By celebrating Ohio Native Plant Month and supporting the use of native plants, we can help to promote sustainable landscaping practices and protect Ohio’s natural environment for future generations.

Linz maintains the Ohio Native Plant Month website and updates it regularly. “On that website there is a lot of information such as where to go to buy native plants,” says Linz. “That list includes everything from mom-andpop growers to large scale businesses that sell these plants.” If you are a native plant supplier, you can visit ohionativeplants.com and submit a form to be listed.

Ohio has close to 2,000 native plants. Many of those are not grown in the nursery trade and are just not taken advantage of. However, she is seeing a boom with local growers and native plants. There seems to be an increasing interest for learning about these plants and installing them in residential landscapes. “Even though we have almost 2,000 native plants in Ohio, not all of them would be good landscape plants,” says Linz. “Some require very specific growing conditions to survive and are quite difficult to grow and maintain.” Taking such a large list and narrowing it down to a subset of plants that will be easy for the nursery industry to grow as well as home gardeners to plant is the key to. “When we tell homeowners to put in a pollinator garden or to install a native plant habitat, we need to ensure that we are giving them plants that they will be successful with.”

Over time the definition of normal has evolved into “yard perfection”. Landscapes with perfectly manicured lawns and mulched beds, no leaves out of place, and no weeds in sight. Relaxing this urge to have lawns look flawless is okay. Working to establish a new normal of having pollinator-friendly habitats in suburbs filled with native plants is important for saving water, reducing fertilizer and pesticide use, and improving the health and sustainability of our planet. Even some non-native plants in your landscapes are perfectly fine. “As far as nonnative plants, the only line of distinction I would draw is if they are invasive,” says Linz. Nonnative invasive plants are harmful to not only the environment, but to the wildlife as well.

In 2020 before the COVID-19 shutdown, Linz contacted Senator Rob Portman’s office to ask his staff if there would be anything that could be done on a national level for Native Plant Month. In 2021, Portman’s office reached back out to say that he loved the idea.

Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) are the founding cosponsors of a bipartisan Senate Resolution to designate April 2021 and April 2022 as National Native Plant Month.

With the retirement of Senator Portman, Senator Mike Braun (R-Indiana) and Senator Mazie Hirono have agreed to co-sponsor the renewal of the Senate Resolution to make April 2023, National Native Plant Month.

Linz is currently working with thousands of garden club members across the country in an effort to make the month of April Native Plant Month in every state in 2023. As of late February, there are about a dozen proclamations from states to make April their Native Plant Month. The goal is to get a proclamation from every state in the country, except for the handful of states that already have native plant proclamations in place.

So why are native plants important?

Native plants are needed because they provide food for native wildlife and help the environment. Incorporating so many non-native plants into our landscapes has caused a sharp decline in pollinators and wildlife species, because of destruction of habitat, and the lack of food. To help reverse this trend, many more native plants need to be planted across the country, including a wide variety of native plants with flowers that have different blooming times, flower colors, and flower shapes.

Special thanks to Nancy Linz

OhioNativePlantMonth.org

NationalNativePlantMonth.org midwestGREEN presented by the Ohio Green Industry Association is now accepting proposals for speaker presentations and exhibitor inquiries. The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2023.

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Plant Health Care Newsletter

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Contributor Ronald E. Rothhaas Jr. is an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist and is the Principal Owner and Manager of Arbor Doctor, LLC, specializing in sustainable plant health care, tree preservation, and landscaping. He got his start in horticulture by joining his community tree board while in high school.

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