The Wild Seed Project is a nonprofit in Maine working to reintroduce native plants into the landscape. Native plants are key to supporting pollinators, as the native pollinators co-evolve with native plants. One could say that native plants and native pollinators are quite simply meant for each other.
Many ornamental plants are bred for characteristics that are pleasing to people, not pollinators. For example, some ornamental plants do not produce pollen or nectar. In addition many garden center plants are treated with pesticides that can kill pollinators.
This is why it is important, according to Heather McCargo, director of The Wild Seed Project, that we restore native plants to our human landscape.
To achieve this, Heather must first solve a startling problem.
“You cannot buy seeds from Maine native plants in Maine,” Heather shared with a recent West End Neighborhood Association meeting.
That is changing, thanks to The Wild Seed Project. The organization is collecting and selling native seeds through their website, wildseedproject.net.
Also on the website, find important propagation and germination information.
Luckily, native plants have evolved to grow in Maine and will propagate with the slightest attention and love.
“You need to think of yourself as a midwife. The seed knows what to do,” said Heather
The organization strives to make it easy for gardeners, whether novice or experienced, rural or urban, to discover native plants for their gardens, patios, streetscapes and lawns.
