Why plant native?

So many Reasons!

Native plants are plants found naturally in your area.

They have been growing “wild” for hundreds or thousands of years!


  • Because native plants evolved with Indiana weather and its insects and ​animals, they are...
    • Easy on water: once established, they require little (if any) watering.
    • Not dependent on fertilizers: no chemicals are needed to help them ​grow.
    • Great for wildlife: native insects, birds, mammals, and other creatures all ​benefit from and prefer native plantings.
    • Often perennial: many native species last for years, weathering Indiana’s ​hot summers and cold winters.
    • Better for the environment: conserving water, preventing pollution from ​chemical runoff, and supporting biodiversity all add up to responsible ​stewardship of the land.



  • Where non-native lawns and gardens fail, native plants support Dr. ​Doug Tallamy’s Four Landscape Ecological Goals by:
    • Supporting pollinators of all kinds throughout the entire growing season
    • Providing energy for the local food web
    • Managing the area watershed
    • Removing and sequestering carbon from the atmosphere

Plant the Big Three: It’s a G-A-S

Species from these three families offer a bounty of benefits!

G: Goldenrods

(Seen here: Stiff Goldenrod, Oligoneuron rigidum)

prairiemoon.com

A: Asters

(Seen here: New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)


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S: Sunflowers

(Seen here: Tall Sunflower,

Helianthus giganteus)

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Goldenrods, Asters, and Sunflowers, oh my! Every Hoosier garden should include these keystone species as they ​provide key ecosystem services, including pollination, clean air and water, and carbon storage. Several species bloom ​late into the fall, offering pollinators a much-needed late-season source of nutrition, and many are host plants for dozens ​of species of butterflies and moths in central Indiana. With different goldenrods, asters, and sunflowers suited for ​various sun and soil conditions, you’ll be sure to find the right fit for your garden!

Boost Birds, Bees, and Butterflies

Love birds? Plant native! Aside from offering forage and shelter for a ​wide variety of birds, native plants host insects like caterpillars, essential ​for a baby bird’s diet.


Certain native plants offer forage considered superfoods to bees and ​pollinators, including the endangered Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee! ​Especially beneficial are goldenrods, giant hyssops, prairie clovers, ​coneflowers, joe pye weeds, wild bergamot (bee balm), New England ​aster, and lead plant. For more information, visit the Xerces Society for ​Invertebrate Conservation.


Milkweed and monarchs: you can’t have the latter without the former. ​Due to millennia of coevolution, monarch butterflies have come to rely on ​milkweed as their sole larval food source. However, habitat loss has ​drastically reduced the number of milkweed in the wild, putting monarchs ​at risk. Luckily, you can help by including it in your garden. No matter ​your site requirements, you can find a species of milkweed suited for ​different sun and soil conditions. Save the monarchs: plant more ​milkweed!

For your native planting to be successful, you need to be realistic about three key elements:

Soil, Water, Sun

Indiana has some pretty stellar soils thanks to its ​geology and climate--it’s why farming is so big here!--​but you might run into clayey soils in your garden. ​Never fear: native plants can grow in all sorts of ​soils! Just keep in mind that soils high in clay drain ​slowest, so they stay wetter longer. Know your site’s ​soil, and think about how a plant’s moisture ​preferences might play out.

Although native plants thrive in a wide variety of ​conditions, water can make or break your native ​planting. Marsh/Dense Blazing Star (Liatris spicata) ​won’t grow in bone-dry soil, and Dwarf Blazing Star ​(Liatris cylindracea) won’t make it in flooded soil. Take ​note of a plant’s moisture requirements and be willing ​to consider an alternative if it’s a poor match. Many ​types (like Liatris) offer options from dry to wet!

Sun--or perhaps a lack of it!--is the third important ​element to consider in your native planting. If you have ​a backyard like the one above (full shade in summer), ​a prairie or savannah planting just isn’t practical. ​However, don’t think you’re stuck with non-native ​hostas! So many wonderful woodland native plants like ​Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) offer color, ​texture, and character to shady spots.

Keep scrolling for a look at a front yard native planting with high clay soils, featuring plants grown by Indy Urban Acres and Sister Sedge!

from fallow to fertile: a front yard native planting, two years on

5.22.2022

5.22.2022

8.26.2022

5.14.2023

6.18.2023

5.7.2024

Hope Amidst Crisis:

Doing Your Part

Climate change. The biodiversity crisis. Wetlands stripped of ​federal protections. It’s no wonder that climate “doomers” are ​replacing “deniers” when we’re faced with bleak projections at ​every turn.


BUT--don’t lose hope! As you’ve learned, native plants benefit the ​environment in a myriad of ways, and filling your garden beds ​with native plants is a wonderful way to do your part to fight ​these crises. Don’t have a garden? They’ll grow in containers, ​too. The planter pictured here contains Virginia wild rye and wild ​bergamot (bee balm) planted back in May 2022, and it’s still ​going strong. As a bonus, you can harvest the seeds and spread ​them elsewhere in the landscape. Take a few tips from Dr. Doug ​Tallamy and get started today!

A little more about...

Indy Urban Acres

You may have discovered this website thanks to the Indy Urban ​Acres Plant Sale. Did you know that IUA is a non-profit ​organization whose mission is to grow and distribute FREE, fresh ​organic produce to Indianapolis families in need? The Plant Sale ​is IUA’s largest fundraiser of the year, and every dollar you ​spend at the sale directly supports its charitable cause.

Rare native species + profits to charity = happy planting!

And welcome, visitors from word-of-mouth and further afield!

and a few words about...

Sister Sedge

My name is Mary Margaret, a.k.a. Sister Sedge, and my favorite hobby is ​spreading the good word of native plants! I first volunteered with IUA thanks to ​Dr. Owen Dwyer’s Conservation class at IUPUI (now Indiana University ​Indianapolis). By day, I work with the National Environmental Policy Act and ​work hard to help protect Indiana’s precious natural resources. I also volunteer ​as an Advanced Indiana Master Naturalist. By night, I study Soil, Water, and ​Ecosystem Science online at the University of Florida (Go Gators!). If you’d like ​to support my efforts, buy me a coffee :)

If you shopped the IUA sale or INPS sale, I hope you enjoyed my ​native plant signs and found something special!

Thank you for visiting, and plant native!