By Andrea Thunem reporting for Native Plant News
Many people know the scientific benefits and healing powers of native plant stewardship. Those in the know include those at nurseries, homeowners, and hospitals, schools, places of worship, and apartment dwellers, municipalities, and for almost 75 years, the North Carolina Native Plant Society.
At NCNPS, we are grateful to be part of this larger community of like-minded people, all native plants advocates. More groups than ever before want to protect the natural environment. In keeping with the Native Plant Society’s mission, part of our focus in this issue is on the birds and the bees and their reliance on native plants. Without native plants, we lose the insects and native bees, and then the birds, which lose their preferred food.
Some of these native plant proponents have articles in this Fall 2024 issue of Native Plant News. Advocating for native plants is now a strong movement taking center stage, one that has been succinctly described by Doug Tallamy in Bringing Nature Home as “an important part of a paradigm shift in our shaky relationship with the planet that sustains us.” We welcome our unified focus! Join us!


Andrea Thunem is editor of the North Carolina Native Plant Society’s Native Plant News and a member of the NCNPS Southern Piedmont Chapter. A retired journalist and landscape designer with a passion for native plants and environmental sustainability, she loves working with people to present their stories about the holistic nature of plants, people, earth, and connections. Email her at newsletter@ncwildflower.org