Plant by Plant: Growing a Native Plant Movement

By Karen Kahle, CGC Executive Director

Native plants are having a moment.

Homeowners are replacing lawns with pollinator gardens. Cities are restoring parks with native landscapes. Schools are planting habitat gardens. And gardeners across Greater Cincinnati are discovering the beauty and resilience of plants that have called southwest Ohio home for thousands of years.

Long before native plants became a mainstream movement, however, the CGC recognized their potential to transform our communities. Since 2018, we've been growing native plants, teaching about their ecological value, and helping hundreds of residents replace conventional landscapes with habitats that support both people and wildlife.

Our commitment began with a simple belief: healthy communities depend on healthy ecosystems. Native plants are uniquely adapted to our region's soils, rainfall, seasons, and wildlife. They require less water and maintenance than many ornamental species while providing critical food and shelter for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Their deep root systems improve soil health, reduce stormwater runoff, and help create more resilient urban landscapes. This philosophy has become woven into nearly every aspect of our work.

One of the most visible expressions of that commitment is our annual Fall Native Plant Festival (September 12 this year). What began in 2021 as a modest opportunity to offer native plants generously donated by Indigenous Landscapes has grown into one of our region's premier native plant events. Each fall, more than 1,000 people at all points in their native plant journeys visit the CGC to shop from an exceptional selection of locally grown native plants, learn from regional experts, and discover practical ways to support biodiversity in their own backyards.

The Fall Native Plant Festival has become much more than a plant sale. It brings people together to celebrate Greater Cincinnati's growing commitment to environmental stewardship and reminds us that every yard, school, congregation, business, and neighborhood can become part of a healthier ecosystem.

Behind the scenes,ReRooted, our native plant propagation program, keeps that momentum growing. Each year, our horticulture staff and dedicated volunteers propagate thousands of native plants from seed, carefully selecting species that thrive in our region. Many begin their journey in our hoop house before finding permanent homes in neighborhoods throughout Hamilton County and beyond.

And yet, as popular as both initiatives have been, as our work expanded, we realized that growing and selling native plants alone wouldn't create lasting change. Some of the barriers were simply about plant availability, but people also needed knowledge, inspiration, hands-on experience, and opportunities to see successful native landscapes in their own communities. So we built a comprehensive native plant initiative that connects propagation, education, restoration, and community engagement.

Today, we offer educational programs that help homeowners, schools, businesses, and community organizations understand both the ecological and practical benefits of native plants. At the same time, we're demonstrating their impact through restoration projects across Greater Cincinnati.

• At our CUF Restoration Project, native grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, and trees are transforming formerly underutilized land into thriving public greenspace and productive market gardens. These plantings stabilize soils, absorb stormwater, provide critical pollinator habitat, and create beautiful places where people and nature can flourish together.

• Through our Pollinator Garden Partnerships, we're bringing native plants directly into Cincinnati neighborhoods. Working alongside community partners and an incredible network of volunteers, we're creating beautiful, educational gardens in places where they can have the greatest impact. Every new planting strengthens a growing network of habitat that reconnects fragmented landscapes across our urban environment.

Together, these efforts reinforce one another. Every plant we grow supports our educational mission. Every class inspires new and experienced gardeners alike. Every festival introduces hundreds of people to the power of native plants. Every restoration project becomes a living classroom that demonstrates what’s possible when communities choose to work with nature instead of against it. The result is something so much larger than a collection of gardens.

Over the past several years, the Civic Garden Center has helped cultivate a regional movement. By combining propagation, education, restoration, and community partnerships, we've helped make native plants more accessible, more visible, and more widely embraced throughout Greater Cincinnati.

This work has never been more important. As our region experiences more intense storms, hotter summers, invasive species, and ongoing habitat loss, native plants offer one of the most practical, hopeful, accessible solutions for building resilient communities.

Every seed we sow, every gardener we teach, every volunteer we inspire, and every landscape we restore helps create a healthier future—one where people, pollinators, wildlife, and native plants thrive together for generations to come.

This is how the real work happens: plant by plant, neighbor by neighbor, greenspace by greenspace.