The Native Plant Faire, “Celebrating Nature in the Ozarks,” from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at the Eureka Springs Community Center, will include native plant vendors outdoors – Ozark Soul and Ozark Native Plants – and 20-minute educational talks in the Highlander room.
“This is a huge movement that is only growing and Eureka can be a zenith of native plant garden creativity and momentum,” sponsor Faith Shah said. “The native plant movement is changing the way people garden. The big picture is that we’re planting food that insects have co-evolved with. Birds feed their babies insects, not seeds. If we want to sustain a healthy bird population, we have to plant for the insects. If there are not enough insects, birds fail to reproduce.”
The event kicks off with Chris Fischer discussing programs that promote use of native plants in the landscape and removing invasive non-native plants.
Second on the lineup will be Jennifer Ogle, coordinator of the Arkansas Native Seed Program. The purpose of this initiative, led by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission in collaboration with the Arkansas Game & Fish, is to develop commercial sources of locally sourced native plant materials to be used in habitat restoration throughout the state.
Ogle’s talk will be followed by a presentation from native plant expert Joe Woolbright of Ozark Ecological Restoration discussing how to restore our prairies to pre-European settlement condition.
Next there is a presentation from a representative from Hobbs State Park followed by a speaker from the Ozark Natural Science Center. The talks will wrap up with a talk by Steven Foster, who is author or co-author of 18 plant books, including being senior author of three Peterson Field Guides.
There will be tables of exhibits with information from various environmental organizations active in Northwest Arkansas, and good healthy food available from Rebiejo’s Fresh Eats Food Truck.
Overflow parking is available at Equity Bank.