If you’ve been following our plant propagation activities at the USGS Bee Lab, you may be wondering when and where our locally grown native plants will be available for adoption. Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay will be distributing FREE native plants at several of our upcoming events, including:
- 9/27 10 am – 2 pm Monarchs and Milkweed @ Merkle
- 9/28 12 pm – 2 pm Native Plant and Seed Share @ North Beach Nature Center
- 10/4 10 am – 12 pm Native Plant and Seed Swap and Share @ Leonardtown Public Library
- 10/28 10 am – 12 pm Make a Difference Day @ Earleigh Heights Ranger Station
Species will vary at each of the above events and will be available in limited quantities on a first-come, first-served basis. Plant size is plugs unless otherwise noted.
Herbaceous
- Chelone glabra, White Turtlehead (4″ pots)
- Boehmeria cylindrica, Bog Hemp, False Nettle
- Conoclinium coelestinum, Blue Mistflower
- Eryngium yuccifolium, Rattlesnake Master
- Helenium flexuosum, Purple-headed Sneezeweed
- Heliopsis helianthoides, Oxeye Sunflower
- Heuchera americana, American Alumroot
- Liatris lingulistylis, Meadow Blazing Star
- Lobelia cardinalis, Cardinal Flower
- Lobelia siphilitica, Great Blue
- Monarda punctata, Spotted Beebalm
- Penstemon digitalis, Foxglove Beardtongue
- Rudbeckia hirta, Black-eyed Susan
- Senna marilandica, Maryland Senna
- Solidago caesia, Blue-stemmed Goldenrod
- Solidago juncea, Early Goldenrod (4″ pots)
Shrubs
- Myrica pensylvanica, Northern Bayberry
Vines
- Clematis virginiana, Virgin’s bower
Grasses
- Eragrostis spectabilis, Purple Love Grass
- Juncus canadensis, Canada Rush
- Juncus tenuis, Path Rush
- Muhlenbergia capillaris, Pink Muhly Grass
- Panicum virgatum, Switchgrass
- Schizachyrium scoparium, Little Bluestem
- Sporobolus heterolepis, Prairie Dropseed
But wait…There’s more!
Anne Arundel Watershed Stewards Academy and the Bowie Green Team/Patuxent Research Refuge are also distributing plants, so if you can’t make it to our giveaways, check out these additional opportunities.
Anne Arundel Watershed Stewards Academy (WSA)
WSA, in partnership with UMD Extension Master Gardeners, and the USGS Bee Lab, is offering plants through their RePollinate Anne Arundel Program for Anne Arundel County residents to install at their homes or in their communities as part of their efforts to restore habitat, support pollinators, and reduce erosion and runoff into our waterways.
- PICK UP YOUR PLANTS
- Thursdays (2pm-5pm) & Saturdays (10am-2pm) UNTIL SEPTEMBER 27 (except Saturday, 9/20)
- Laurel, MD (email [email protected] for location details)
- Suggested donations ranging from $25-$50, proportionate to the number of plants you receive
- First come, first serve – species availability is not guaranteed
- Please come prepared – know your site conditions to choose the best plants for your space
Bowie Green Team/Patuxent Research Refuge Volunteers
Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay member Elmer Dengler will be hosting several events in September and October where he will provide participants with free native plants.
9/20 10:30 – 12:00
Stormwater and Pollinator Showcase @ Midwood Lane Stormwater Pond
And don’t miss Elmer’s presentations, “Gardening Together: Planting Pollinator Gardens”, where he will provide participants with free native plants and a detailed explanation of how to get started. You’ll learn about the vital role pollinator gardens play in supporting birds, butterflies, and many other pollinators that are essential to our ecosystem – from food production to maintaining clean air.
9/27 2:00 – 3:30 pm Bowie Branch Library
10/11 2:00 – 3:30 pm South Bowie Library
10/18 2:00 – 3:30 pm Laurel Library
Transplanting
Watching hands transplanting,
Turning and tamping,
Lifting the young plants with two fingers,
Sifting in a palm-full of fresh loam,--
One swift movement,--
Then plumping in the bunched roots,
A single twist of the thumbs, a tamping and turning,
All in one,
Quick on the wooden bench,
A shaking down, while the stem stays straight,
Once, twice, and a faint third thump,--
Into the flat-box it goes,
Ready for the long days under the sloped glass:
The sun warming the fine loam,
The young horns winding and unwinding,
Creaking their thin spines,
The underleaves, the smallest buds
Breaking into nakedness,
The blossoms extending
Out into the sweet air,
The whole flower extending outward,
Stretching and reaching.
- Theodore Roethke