What Is the North Carolina Native Plant Society Website?

Updated

ncwildflower.org is the official website of the North Carolina Native Plant Society (NCNPS), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the enjoyment and conservation of North Carolina's native plants and their habitats through education, protection, cultivation, and advocacy. If you want to garden with native plants, identify a plant you found in the wild, apply for a grant or scholarship, or get involved in native-plant advocacy in North Carolina, this site is built for exactly those tasks.

What the organization does

The stated mission covers four activities: education, protection, cultivation, and advocacy. In practice the site organizes its work around helping people enjoy and conserve native plants and the habitats they depend on. The site frames native plants as "the cornerstone for North Carolina's biological diversity," and describes choosing them for your garden as the best way to provide food and shelter for native animals and insects.

Main sections of the site

Garden with native plants

This section is aimed at home gardeners and covers:

  • Plants and trees the Society recommends
  • Landscaping tips
  • Printable handouts
  • Habitat certification
  • How to collect wild seeds
  • Finding a nursery
  • Additional resources
  • A video about native plants in the garden and in the wild

Identify native & non-native plants

The site treats identification as the first step: "Identifying both native & non-native plants is the first step to moving in the right direction." Tools here include:

  • A native plant and tree gallery with detailed photos and search tools
  • A searchable native plant and tree gallery
  • A list of invasive, non-native species
  • Book recommendations about native plants
  • A category for species that don't yet have pictures

Apply for grants & scholarships

To support projects that advance its mission, the Society offers four funding sources. The site names these as the Shinn Scholarship Fund, the BW Wells Grant, and the Alice Zawadzki Land Conser[vancy] fund (the excerpt is cut off at this point), with a "Learn about grants & scholarships" link for details.

Advocate for native plants

Advocacy is one of the four mission pillars and appears as a top-level section of the site.

Other things you'll find

The site also documents the Society's history and community activity. A 75th Anniversary celebration is featured with photos, chapter celebrations, a plant ID challenge, and a list of participating nurseries and tables — including Ray's Native Plants, Above the Briery Nursery, Carolina Habitats, Knotty by Nature Nursery, The Good Plant Co Nursery, Bluestem Conservation Cemetery, Izel Native Plants, and several chapter tables. A pollinator garden tour with Debbie Roos is also shown.

Who this site is for

  • Home gardeners who want recommended native plants, landscaping guidance, seed-collecting instructions, or a nursery to buy from
  • Naturalists and beginners who need photo-based plant identification or a list of invasive species to avoid
  • Students and project organizers looking for scholarships or grants tied to native-plant work
  • Advocates who want to support native-plant protection in North Carolina

The site does not publish pricing information in the material available, so treat membership or event costs as something to confirm directly on the site rather than assuming anything is free.