Green Living in Germantown

It's Time to Add Native Plants to Your Garden

Patch columnist Julie Bloss Kelsey shares her experiences learning about native Maryland plants.

Every year when I plan my flower garden, I vow to add native plants.  And every year, I wind up with a shopping cart stacked full of the cheapest, gaudiest plants that the home improvement store has to offer.  This year, I decided, things would be different. I spoke with Denise Gibbs, park naturalist at Black Hill Regional Park in Boyds, and asked her about the benefits of going native. "Native plants are adapted to our soils and our climate so they often perform better than cultivated varieties," said Gibbs.  She added that native plants are better for the environment because they provide habitat and food for local wildlife. Planting native species is a way for people to put something back into their neighborhoods to make up for habitat …

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