Landscaping with Natives: 
New Initiatives 

By Bill Daniels 
Have you ever thought about growing your 
own native plants from seed? Well, if you 
have, the INPS Landscaping with Natives team 
strongly supports this. Growing your own can 
be an enjoyable and rewarding experience, and 
potentially provide more plants for your property 
at a much lower cost, requiring mostly your time, 
effort, and patience. 
For many, the foremost benefit of growing 
your own plants from seed is the joy you receive 
from forming an intimate relationship with the 
plant, being able to see the plant at every stage 
of its development — from seed, to seedling, to 
developing plant, to flower. 
If “growing your own’ is an interest of yours, 
check out the new information and resources 
provided by our Landscaping with Natives 
team found on the INPS website! (www. 
indiananativeplants.org/growing-native-plants- 
from-seed/). There you will find a wealth of 
information on where and how to acquire seeds, 
including responsibly collecting your own, how 
to sow them, recommended books, and videos 
(several by our own INPS members) providing 
step-by-step help in propagating seeds at home. 
Staying on topic, our team wants to make 
you aware of another pilot project, Native Seed 
Communities. Native Seed was rolled out last 
month by the South Central Chapter. 
The Communities’ mission is to “Increase 
available programs, resources, and support, 
designed to create communities of knowledgeable 
volunteers and professional growers to 
responsibly collect, prepare and propagate local 
provenance, native seeds.” 
Native Seed Communities will expand access 
to native plants as it pursues the following 
program objectives: 
¢ Demystify growing native plants from seed 
by providing programs, resources, and 
support, thus encouraging more people to 
sow Indiana native seeds. 
¢ Develop communities of trained volunteers 
working together to collect and propagate 
Indiana native seeds and plants, especially 
those of local provenance. 
¢ Promote and participate in special programs, 
including Pollinator Partnership and Indiana 
Plant Conservation Alliance. 

¢ Assist businesses that are members of 
Indiana Native Plant Society’s Buy Native 
Plants directory with developing plant stock 
using Native Seed’s local provenance seed. 
¢ Seed-grown plants not used by members 
in their personal properties to be shared 
with friends, sold for fundraisers, donated to 
public gardens, preservation projects, etc. 
If growing local provenance, native plants from 
seed is an interest of yours, especially those of 
our South Central Chapter’s region, check out the 
new Native Seed Communities website, www. 
indiananativeplants. org/a-pilot-project-indiana- 
native-seed-communities/. In addition, we invite 
you to be a part of our new Facebook Group, 
www.facebook.com/groups/525266728469540/, 
which is open to all. Happy Seed Growing! 
Bill Daniels, a retired horticulturst and health and 
safety professional, is a member of the INPS 
South Central Chapter and the Landscaping with 
Natives team. 

Seedling Quiz: 
Can you identify the two native seedlings below? 
A - an annual dicot found in damp, shaded 
habitat that reaches 3 feet in height. 
Sym: Muorele|t-lalemanle)alelee)m iam ial-m-lk0 Aamir lanliiyA 
See answers on page 5. 
Summer 2021 « Indiana Native Plant Society - 9 
