Don’t miss Rojo’s native plant sale this Saturday, May 6

Don’t miss native plant sales at Rojo in Highland Park. (Grace Howard/ Bham Now)

Spring is in full swing, and it’s as good a time as ever to spruce up your garden with some native plants.

Rojo is joining the Native Plant movement that is vital to the pollinators that help our ecosystem with a native plant sale.

The event, hosted by Homegrown Habitat’s Highland Park Goldenrod Chapter, will take place this Saturday, May 6, 11AM-1PM.

Recreative Natives at Rojo

Recreative Natives is a small nursery based in Cropwell, Alabama that specializes in propagating plants native to our state. In addition to offering a plethora of beautiful local plants at their nursery location, they do various pop-ups around the Birmingham area. Rojo will be hosting them every first Saturday of the month from May until October 11AM-1PM.

Get a sneak peek of what they’ll be selling on their Facebook page here.

Want to go ahead and secure your favorite plant? Your can email them at recreativenatives@gmail.com or message them on Facebook to place your order and they’ll bring it for you to pick up at Rojo.

Homegrown Habitat

Native plants located outside of Rojo. (Grace Howard/ Bham Now)

The sale is hosted by Homegrown Habitat’s Highland Park Goldenrod Chapter, a Birmingham-area group that encourages people to grow native plants in their yards. Their goal is to get native plants growing on half of all private property in the US by 2030 ensure that the ecosystem is sustained and keep our local flora and fauna happy and healthy, starting with our own neighborhood.

They will have a plant-a-thon pledge sheet at the May 6 event for people to sign up to help reach this planting goal, as well as information about the organization.

Homegrown Habitat also has a plant-swap shelf outside of Rojo through June where people can share native plants, as well as edible and indoor plants.

Importance of native plants

Native plants are plants which grow naturally and evolve in a particular region, providing a habitat for native insects, birds and other critters. The ecosystem around them, as a result, heavily depends on them for survival. Unfortunately, a majority of plants sold in nurseries are species from other countries that can disrupt the habitat of native insects and birds.

“Everything in our ecology begins with insects. Most gardeners immediately get out the sprays and homemade concoctions if there is an insect on their plants or in their personal environment. But all trophic levels, like the food web, depend on insects. Everything from birds to bears to us, humans. So, the easiest way for the homeowner to protect our ecology is to plant native plants. Insects have evolved with these native plants and depend on them to complete their lifestyles. Everyone loves the iconic Monarch and knows to plant milkweed for them but there are 1,000’s of other insects and pollinators that also require particular native plant species. “

Over 3,100 kinds of native plants have been identified in Alabama from trees, shrubs, flowers and vines. They are everywhere– in open spaces, in our gardens, and filling forests and meadows.

“Planting native plants in your garden spaces and doing away with harmful pesticides allows people to make the simplest and cheapest environmental decision and actually see instant results. I love to see my garden grow. But what really brings me joy is to see my backyard wildlife thriving because of the plant choices I made.”

For more information on native plants in Alabama, visit some of our past stories:

• What are native plants and why do they matter here in Birmingham?
• Pollinator Trails: Putting native plants back into our landscapes by creating “Homegrown National Parks”
• Who’s bringing back native plants to the landscape of Alabama? Take a look and see.
• 5 scenic parks to find native Alabama flowers across the state

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