May is Native Plant Month in New Hampshire, according to a proclamation from Gov. Kelly Ayotte.
Ayotte’s proclamation encourages people to observe the month by removing invasive plants, planting native trees and shrubs, and educating others about native plants’ importance.
Betsy Cochran, the conservation chair for the Garden Club of Dublin, petitioned the governor to make the proclamation. She said she hopes the move will help people plan their gardens more carefully.
“It's something where people, when they're thinking about what plants they're going to purchase for this growing season or grow for this growing season, can think about incorporating native plants into their plans,” she said.
Native plants – the plants that naturally occur in New Hampshire without human introduction – help support ecosystems. They’ve co-evolved with wildlife over time. They provide food and create habitat for wildlife. They’re threatened by climate change, according to New Hampshire’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. But they also help protect ecosystems from the challenges of a warming atmosphere.
And, Cochran says, they’re beautiful.
“I love the black-eyed Susan and the New England aster. And I also really love butterfly weed. Those provide a lot of color throughout the growing season,” she said.
Lowbush blueberries, bittersweet, little bluestem grass, and winterberry holly are some of her other favorite native plants.
“Native plants are not just wildflowers. They're perennials and wildflowers, grasses, vines, shrubs, trees,” she said. “There's a wide range of species that you can plant in your own garden.”
The movement to designate April or May as Native Plant Month has grown throughout the U.S. in recent years, through efforts by the Garden Club of America to boost knowledge of native plants.
Peggy Mayfield, a co-chair of the Native Plant Month Initiative Committee at the Garden Club of America, said she’s hoping that having a month dedicated to native plants will get people interested in learning more.
“What can I do as an individual landowner or just an apartment dweller who has a little window box? What small thing can I do that's going to improve the world around me?” she said. “There are really, really easy steps that each of us can take.”
