Native Plant Center for the Chesapeake Bay Region

A new online Native Plant Center for the Chesapeake Bay Region allows for the identification and selection of native plant species for habitat restoration in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The guide is intended to help property owners replace portions of lawn areas and typical landscapes with native plants that suit local conditions, reducing or eliminating the need for fertilizers and pesticides which wash into streams, rivers and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay.

Users to the portal, www.nativeplantcenter.net, can search for native plants by name, plant type, sun exposure, soil texture and moisture, and even find native plants with the same shape, color, size or other characteristics as some of their favorite non-native plants. The portal also includes a geo-locator feature to identify plants suited to a user’s specific location. An online network for interacting with other Chesapeake Bay stewards is planned.

The portal uses the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service’s native plant database, associated with the publication entitled Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping: Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

To reach more citizens and organizations, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, with support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, contracted with Image Matters LLC to create an online version of the guide, the Native Plants Center, Chesapeake Region.