What we do
Offer educational workshops and programs both in the classroom and in the field on native plants’ characteristics and their aesthetic and ecological value
Cultivate and make native plants available at our plant sales [Over 4,000 native plants were sold at our 2018 Spring sales.]
Offer walks in a variety of natural settings to enjoy, observe, and learn about native plants and invasives that challenge them
Publish WildfloraRI, a newsletter for members, which includes feature articles, cultivation notes, book reviews, and self-guided walking tours
Organize Native Plant Symposium on best stewardship practices
Partner with organizations to preserve and protect native plants
What you can do
In your daily life
- Enjoy the great outdoors, and learn about the plants you see
- Grow plants native to RI’s ecoregions as the centerpiece of your garden and to replace your non-native lawn with native perennial ground covers
- Minimize your use of fertilizers and pesticides, which pollute water and kill pollinators
- Use leaf mulch rather than commercial mulch which contain dyes and chemicals that kill native insects
- Identify and control non-native invasive plants on your property
In your community
- Urge your local garden centers to sell our ecoregion’s native plants grown from seed
- Advocate for your schools, environmental centers, and scout troops to teach botany and ecology
- Encourage local farms to use low-impact or organic methods, without the use of pesticides that harm pollinators
- Talk with town officials about the value of using native plants in public projects and along roadsides
- Get involved in your town’s planning process to advocate for ecologically sensitive development
At the state and national level
- Advocate for funding for land protection, management, and restoration
- Support strengthening laws that protect wetlands and other sensitive habitats from unwise development or use
- Advocate for laws that protect endangered species
- Support legislation to reduce greenhouse gases and pollutant emissions
Adapted from State of New England’s Native Plants, Native Plant Trust.