Albany, NY – On Wednesday, April 2, the New York State Assembly celebrated a resolution recognizing April as Native Plant Month, marking the third year of New York State’s participation in the Garden Club of America’s (GCA) National Native Plant Month Initiative. The initiative is intended to amplify the importance of native plants and biodiversity, a key component of environmental health and sustainability.

The resolution, adopted on March 4, was sponsored by Assemblymember Dana Levenberg, who represents New York’s 95th Assembly District. “I am so pleased to once again sponsor this resolution to designate April as Native Plant Month in the State of New York,” said Levenberg. “Native plants play a vital role in maintaining biodiversity and supporting environmental sustainability, and I am proud to promote efforts to encourage their use in home and community gardens as well as open spaces and roadsides throughout the state.”

Levenberg is in her second term in the state legislature. Prior to her election to the Assembly, she served for seven years as Ossining Town Supervisor and spearheaded numerous efforts to improve the Town’s environmental sustainability, including making it more pollinator-friendly. Under her leadership, Ossining began planting native species in its parks to help revive dwindling local populations of bees, birds and butterflies, and started a Habitat Stewards program in which volunteers were trained to identify and remove invasive plants in local parks and open spaces and replace them with native plants. Levenberg currently serves as a member of the Environmental Conservation committee in the Assembly and has supported a number of pieces of legislation aimed at promoting the well-being of pollinators, including 2023’s Birds and Bees Protection Act.

This year’s Native Plant Month resolution was accompanied by an exhibition at the Capitol. Volunteers from local affiliates of the GCA hosted a table at which legislators and visitors were invited to learn more about New York’s native plants and take away seeds for home use. The group also recorded a video with Assemblymember Levenberg in which they answered common questions about the importance of native plants and how to get started planting them in one’s home garden.

Philipstown resident Carol McPeek is responsible for bringing the National Native Plant Month Initiative to Levenberg’s attention. McPeek is Conservation Chair of the Philipstown Garden Club and one of the New York State Co-Coordinators for the initiative, which aims to have a Native Plant Month recognized in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia. In 2024, 48 states participated in the initiative. In her remarks Wednesday, Levenberg recognized McPeek for her role in the effort.

"Propagating and planting native plants in our landscapes and gardens is a small action each of us can take - yet is powerful when taken as a whole. It is so important to send the message that each of us can make a difference right here at home,” said McPeek. “Thank you, Assemblymember Levenberg, for once again championing this GCA initiative. This will help us to educate, raise awareness, and bring focus on the importance of native plants in building healthy and productive ecosystems for the benefit of all New Yorkers.”

In its position paper on native plants, the GCA notes that native plants are particularly important because “they have evolved over thousands of years alongside native bees, birds, and wildlife. Their complex relationship with fauna is extremely specialized and it cannot be substituted with exotic, non-native plants.” The GCA joins a growing movement of environmentalists who are concerned about native wildlife being put at risk of extinction because they cannot eat non-native plants, on top of the risks posed by habitat loss, the use of invasive species, climate change, and pesticide use. They argue that “it is vital that existing laws and regulations protecting native plant species be strengthened and administered using current peer-reviewed science.”

Photos from the day’s events can be found here.