Maryland Native Plant Society

06/03/2026

Get ready for Pollinator Week!

Pollinator Partnership is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and the largest in the world dedicated exclusively to the protection and promotion of ...

05/30/2026

Buyer Beware: Straw Blanket contains a Plastic Mesh that is still present from landscaping done at New Germany nearly 4 years ago. The straw may degrade, but the mesh blanket is NOT BIODEGRADABLE!!!

05/30/2026

Did you know that today is National Alligator Day? Alligators are a very important species, referred to as a keystone species, and you can find them in the Keys. Not just here, but they are also found in all 67 counties of Florida! Where have you seen an alligator?

Photo Credit: Anna Marlow

05/26/2026

Native grapes are wonderful! Sadly, Montgomery County DOT seems not to understand this. Protect native grape vines 💞

A guide to the native grape vines of Maryland, DC, and Virginia.

05/24/2026

Celebrating Key Wins in the 2026 Maryland General Assembly

Three more bills we helped pass:

HB1267 - Protecting Patuxent Research Refuge and Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC)
This bill uses county zoning and restrictions on development to preserve the natural areas of the Patuxent Research Refuge and BARC in the event that the federal government decides to sell off either of these properties.

While both sites are still at risk from irresponsible federal management, this bill has added one new layer of protection against permanent destruction by developers.

HB0578/SB0431 - Establishing Existing Federal Endangered Species Protections in Maryland Law
This bill enshrines the protections found in the federal Endangered Species Act in Maryland law. While this will have no immediate impact, it safeguards Maryland fauna and flora in the event of a change to those federal protections.

HB255/SB164 - Altering the Tree-Mendous Maryland Program
The state’s existing Pamela J. Kelly Tree-Mendous Maryland Program provides funding for tree planting, but not tree maintenance. This simple amendment ensures that money can also be spent to maintain trees, as that is just as important for the long-term restoration of our tree canopy.

Thank you so much for your support this legislative season! If you called, wrote, or simply spread the word, you helped make things happen and kept the momentum going. We look forward to new efforts in the next legislative session.

You can also follow the Maryland Native Plant Coalition on substack for updates, MNPS is a member of the coalition and supports all of the actions posted there.

https://mdnativeplantcoalition.substack.com/about

Thank you for supporting native plants and their habitats!

The MNPS Advocacy Committee

We are a coalition of organizations dedicated to promoting and protecting native plants, primarily at the state and local levels of Maryland government. Click to read Maryland Native Plant Coalition, by Jimmy Rogers 🌱, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

05/23/2026

Celebrating Key Wins in the 2026 Maryland General Assembly

Another win for Maryland!

HB701/SB523 - Protection of Vernal Pools
Vernal pools are seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals. Unlike other wetland ecosystems, vernal pools are not a federally protected category.

During the session the bill was pared down to only identify vernal pools, add them to a list, and train the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to continue identifying vernal pools in the future. While this will not afford vernal pools the full protections applied to other wetlands, it will begin collecting valuable data and normalizing the recognition of these unique habitats. We hope that protections will be applied in a future session.



Maryland Native Plant Coalition | Jimmy Rogers 🌱 | Substack https://share.google/Qk6jSy1kJlRW7Csov

05/23/2026

In the next few posts, we'll be celebrating Key Wins in the 2026 Maryland General Assembly!

The Maryland Native Plant Society (MNPS) is a Maryland Native Plant Coalition member. Each year during the Maryland General Assembly, the MNPS advocacy committee works with the Coalition in choosing a list of bills to support or oppose, generally either writing testimony or speaking at legislative hearings.

This year, we worked hard to energize Marylanders about a number of bills that put native plants first. Here’s how those efforts turned out in the 2026 session.

We enjoyed some wins this year, with new laws that largely either improve or clarify the management of plants and outdoor spaces.

First Bill to Celebrate:

HB35/SB266 - Regulation of Tree of Heaven and Invasive Trees
This bill, sponsored by Del. Foley and Sen. Brooks, enables counties and municipalities to regulate the sale, planting and control of tree of heaven and other trees onMaryland’s Prohibited Invasive Plant List. It also enables counties and municipalities to create bounty or native tree replacement programs.

We hope that Maryland counties and municipalities will take advantage of the new language to speed the passage of their own regulations against invasive trees.

Great work Maryland!!!

05/19/2026

Welcome to our inaugural newsletter! Click the link in our previous post or down below to see the newsletter in whole, receive MBP information monthly, keep up with upcoming events, and other contributions. What would you like to see from us? We're taking suggestions and want this to be a great communication tool for our members.

Take a look and join here:
https://conta.cc/4dfHNdS