Native plants are critical to support our struggling pollinators and songbird populations. While you may see bees buzzing around your non-native plants, many of the more than 400 species of native bees in Ontario are specialists that need specific native plants for food.  

Similarly, many butterflies and moths need specific native host plants to lay their eggs and rear their young. They have co-evolved over time to need each other for survival. 

Native plants protect biodiversity, and are also much more resilient to pests and inclement weather than exotic nursery plants. And they are beautiful!  Many people have the misconception that native plants are straggly and overbearing. Most of the roadside flowers that you see are, in fact, not native and are deemed invasive plants that don’t belong here. 

Very few native plants are aggressive, and there are dozens of species to choose from to suit your garden site, whether wet, dry, sunny or shady.