by Katie Garvey ✎
This legislative session, Maryland law makers will be considering the designation of May as Native Plant Month. Public support will help determine whether that happens. Native plants are essential to healthy ecosystems, clean water, and resilient communities. However, this effort depends on Maryland residents making their voices heard. Take a moment to add your name to the petition and share it with others. Your involvement can directly influence whether native plants receive the recognition and support they need.
All over Maryland, Wild Ones members and friends understand the importance of native gardens. Many are already doing the work by replacing invasive ornamentals, reducing turf lawns, planting for pollinators, and piecing together habitat across neighborhood yards. This work means that our waterways are cleaner, wildlife can return to historical ranges, and communities can prosper.
But these efforts can be more. Through legislative support, this statewide movement can become stronger, receive needed support, and reach Marylanders everywhere. We of Wild Ones Greater Baltimore, alongside every Wild Ones chapter across Maryland, other organizations, and individuals from every corner of the state, are asking the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation that would require May to be designated as Native Plant Month. This is a no-cost action that would create a focus for educational and volunteer events, nursery participation, school programming, and public awareness. More than 45 states already recognize a Native Plant Month, many of which have made that recognition permanent through statute. It is time for Maryland to join that movement.
What Native Plants Do for Maryland
Native plants stabilize soil, increase water absorption, reduce flooding, support pollinators and other insect life, and act as the foundation for much of Maryland’s economy.
- Farming is the State’s largest commercial industry, and at least one-third of food crops depend on pollinators. Native gardens support those pollinators by serving as host plants, shelter, and food sources.
- Blue crab and fish populations struggle in polluted water. Native plants filter runoff, stabilize soil, and increase rainwater infiltration, all of which improve water quality.
- Greenspaces increase property values and improve community wellness. Native gardens in particular often require less maintenance, fertilizer and pesticides, maximizing the benefits that greenspaces offer.
- Native plants increase climate resilience, reducing the amount that taxpayers will ultimately need to pay to strengthen infrastructure.
- Habitats planted with native species increase wildlife biodiversity. In turn, this improves Maryland’s ability to attract ecotourism.
Designating May as Native Plant Month would give residents, educators, schools, organizations, and communities a common theme to center around and put efforts towards. By requiring that designation through statute, our State can send a clear signal to residents, businesses, and investors that we will protect our natural resources, safeguarding environmental and economic interests well into the future.
Join the Movement
Wild Ones Greater Baltimore is joining our sister Maryland Wild Ones chapters and other partners statewide in asking residents to show support. If you live in Maryland, please add your name to the petition that will be presented to members of the Maryland General Assembly. Legislators respond to visible, widespread constituent engagement, so every signature matters.
Please add your name to the petition here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf36qNK1efEq7V8bEzzY9zcE2Z2cCXU35Sorf6KybTeSr9ejg/viewform
Share the Movement
You can also help by sharing the message. Talk about the importance of native gardens and the impact that a Native Plant Month would have in Maryland. Share the link with your friends, neighborhood listservs, school groups, garden clubs, and social media. Here is a copy-and-paste share text for you to use:
Maryland friends: There’s a statewide effort to officially require that May is designated as Native Plant Month in Maryland. Native plants support pollinators, clean water, birds, local agriculture, the economy, and climate resilience. Best of all, it will cost the state, and taxpayers, nothing to implement.
Legislators need to see widespread support. If you live in Maryland, please add your name and share.
Sign here.
Thank You
To everyone who signs the petition, and to every organization supporting this important movement: thank you. Your voice amplifies this work and helps ensure that native plants, pollinators, wildlife, and healthy landscapes have the backing they need to receive annual recognition in Annapolis and across the state.
To become a Wild Ones member, or give the gift of membership, visit our national site, WildOnes.org. You can also make a donation to Wild Ones Greater Baltimore here. ❀
Header image: Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton) – Photo by meaningful_name via iNaturalist (CC0)