Go Native!
Help Pollinators Thrive Right in Your Backyard

Planting native plants in your home garden is one of the most impactful ways you can support pollinators and contribute to the health of our local ecosystem.

Due to climate change, urban development, invasive species, and other threats, natural habitats for birds, bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects are disappearing. But when you plant natives in your garden—and your neighbors do too—you help create a patchwork of connected, life-sustaining habitat. Together, we can rebuild what’s been lost.

Why It Matters

Pollinators are the unsung heroes of our environment. They’re responsible for the reproduction of over 80% of flowering plants and play a critical role in the food we eat. But they need safe, pesticide-free spaces filled with the native plants they’ve evolved alongside.

Planting native isn’t just gardening—it’s an act of conservation.

Get Informed: Learn More About Native Plants & Their Impact

Articles

• How and Why to Use Native Plants (need link)
  
  
• Choosing the Right Native Plants (need link)
  

Webinars

• Adventures with Oddities: Strange and Noteworthy Natives
  (Ecological Landscape Alliance, with Dan Jaffe – formerly of Native Plant Trust)
  
  
• Landscaping with a Purpose: What’s Diversity Got to Do with It?
  (with Dr. Randi Eckel) need link
  
  
• Ecological Landscape Alliance Webinars
  

Websites

• Native Plant Trust
  
  
• Grow Native Massachusetts
  
  
• Ecological Landscape Alliance
  
  
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (Search native plants by state)
  
  

Put Your Yard on the Map: Join the Movement!

Homegrown National Park®, co-founded by renowned entomologist Doug Tallamy, is a grassroots call-to-action to restore biodiversity by planting native species where we live and work. “Our national parks, no matter how grand, are too small and isolated to sustain the species we rely on. That’s why we need to extend these parks to our own yards and communities.”

The goal? 20 million acres of native habitat across the U.S.

🌱 Add your garden to the Homegrown National Park map!
🎥 Watch a short video by Doug Tallamy explaining why your garden matters. 

How to Get Started?

Start with keystone species—plants that support the greatest number of pollinators and wildlife.

Learn about keystone native plants in your region.

Plant Spotlight: Annual Fleabane (Erigeron annuus)

Often overlooked, this hardy native wildflower is a pollinator powerhouse: A nectar and pollen source for small native bees, flies, and other beneficial insects Host plant for 20 species of native caterpillars Fast-growing and competitive with invasive weeds It's a great example of how even a "humble" native can make a huge difference.