Advice on native plants available at sale by Kalamazoo Conservation District

If you've been wanting to learn more about native plants that will grow in your yard, the Kalamazoo Conservation District has that information.

 

Those interested in adding native plants to their landscape are invited to learn more at a free workshop titled "Native Plants in Your Landscape” offered on 6:30 to 8:30 pm in the Austin Lake Room at the Portage District Library, Wednesday, May 8.

 

More information will be available at the Kalamazoo Conservation District's first Native Plant Sale, taking place Saturday, May 11, at the Kalamazoo Farmers Market on Bank Street. Locally grown wildflowers and grasses will be offered, along with a few hard-to-find trees and shrubs like Pagoda dogwood and Maple-leaf viburnum. 

 

Order forms and additional information about all of the species offered are available at www.kalamazooconservation.org. You can also call the Kalamazoo Conservation District at (269) 327-1258 and request the information be mailed to you. Or visit their website. 

 

The Conservation District previously has offered trees and shrub seedlings. This year it has added the sale of wildflowers and grasses. “We want to promote biodiversity at all levels,” says Conservation District Executive Director Kathy Buckham. 

 

The wildflowers and grasses are sold in pots and are best planted after new growth begins.

 

“We can all work together to improve the water quality in our lakes and streams by incorporating simple landscape features designed to collect and treat run-off water, like rain gardens and buffers,” says Buckham.