Native Plants & Gardening

We were created to help our community live more sustainably by helping homeowners make their homes more energy efficient.

We love humans, but we also care about nature and our ecosystem.

The ecosystem naturally developed to host all creatures great and small. Humans do some amazing things with our space, but often this has meant destroying native habitat in favor of concrete parks or exotic plants that look pretty.

All plants are good, but planting native plants in gardens and landscapes truly supports the ecosystem.

Learn more about native plants from the Department of Natural Resources.

• Supports birds and butterflies

• Supports native microbes that enrich the soil

• Prevents soil erosion with deep roots

• Prevents nutrient leaching

• Actually enriches the soil, making accompanying food plants more nutritious

• Retains water and evolved to prevent drought

• Creates oxygen for us to breathe

• Creates food for animals (and humans, depending on the plant!)

Humans have needed the space, but as we often do, we made decisions that only considered us. Wisconsin was once rich in marshland and forest, producing life-sustaining oxygen and rich soil and a web of life that includes microbes that grow our food.

We can prevent another Dust Bowl. Soil and nutrient erosion was largely the cause of the 1930s devastating Dust Bowl. When drought hit, the soil was bare and was swept away by the wind - all across the country, and the land was unusable for farming, creating famine. If you would like more about that grizzly tale, here's a good breakdown.

Wisconsin is largely a clay basin. When the topsoil is gone, it takes decades and a lot of resources to regenerate.

What can you do?

• Plant native plants in your yard, garden, or planter boxes

• Encourage friends and neighbors to plant natives and remove invasives

• Call your city or municipality and tell them you support native plantings

• Join your local chapter of the non-profit Wild Ones for support and resources

Native gardens don't need to look unkempt. Native plants have deep roots, but otherwise they behave just like other perennials and can make for beautiful, manicured gardens.

• Columbine - a favorite among hummingbirds

• Whorled Milkweed - supports Monarch butterflies

• Lupine - the only host plant to the endangered Karner Blue butterfly

• Wild Petunia - loved by hummingbirds as well as Common Buckeye butterfly and White Peacock butterfly

• Butterfly flower - as the name implies, this native plant is loved by many species of butterfly

• Prairie Smoke - enriches the soil and provides groundcover to prevent drought

• Cream Indigo - host plant to many butterflies, including: Black-Spotted Prominent, Wild Indigo Duskywing, Hoary Edge, and Frosted Elfin

What's in these boxes?

Benefits of Native Plants

Easy Ways To Help