Two native plant sales this weekend offer you a chance to help birds, pollinating insects

Joseph Dits, South Bend Tribune
·1 min read
Wildflowers bloom along the trail No. 2 boardwalk at Indiana Dunes State Park during the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival in 2022.
Wildflowers bloom along the trail No. 2 boardwalk at Indiana Dunes State Park during the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival in 2022.

Native plant sales are coming up this weekend — your chance to help reverse or contain the loss of habitat that has led bird populations to decline over the decades. Native plants also foster and feed pollinating insects, many of whom are also struggling, while we need them to support healthy ecosystems.

You can’t always find these plants among the exotics sold at local garden centers. Club members will be there to offer guidance.

∎ At Pinhook Park: The Wild Ones South Bend Chapter will host its native plant sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 18 at Pinhook Park, 2801 Riverside Drive, South Bend. Blue Fox Nursery, Botany Shop, Naturally Native Nursery and Oak Valley Greenhouses will offer several species of plants, trees and shrubs that are native to St. Joseph County. Local ecology groups will be there, too.

Outdoor Adventures: Indiana Dunes is hot spot for birding this weekend with fest. Including a new 'Bird Town.'

∎ In the dunes: The Dunes-Calumet Audubon Society will host a native plant sale during the “Migration Marketplace” of the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival on May 18 and 19 at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 N. Indiana 49, Porter. Club members will be there to offer advice on what the plants are and how best to plant them. The plants may include milkweed, wild columbine and black-eyed Susan.

Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Native plant sales come with how to help for birds pollinating insects