Spreading native seeds throughout Northeast Ohio

This winter, the West Creek Conservancy teamed up with Holden Forest & Gardens to expand their Native Seed Libraries. Together, the nonprofits are distributing 12,000 packets of 12 species of native wildflower seeds at nine locations in Cuyahoga and Lake counties. 

The Native Seed Libraries were put in place in January and will remain through the first week of March. Seed Library patrons receive up to three packets of seeds for free and are asked to fill out a checkout slip.

Native plants ‌are adapted to the conditions in their bioregion, including moisture levels, soil conditions and overall climate. Plants that are native to a specific area grow naturally in that climate, and are not brought in artificially. All the wildflowers in the Native Seeds Library are native to Northeast Ohio. This means they grow well in this bioregion (or USDA Hardiness Zone) and don’t need as much watering, pesticides or fertilizer as plants that grow naturally in other parts of the world. 

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Native plants are also ideal for feeding local wildlife and pollinators, such as bees and butterflies. Additionally, many of these plants have deep roots, which can help stormwater soak into the soil when it rains to reduce flooding and pollution to waterways.

“Our goal is to make growing native plants simple and accessible for everyone. By empowering residents to add native habitat to their yards, we’re helping strengthen pollinator communities and improve stormwater health. When whole communities join in, the collective impact becomes both powerful and measurable,” said Danielle Dejak, stewardship and outreach coordinator at West Creek Conservancy. 

The plant varieties that are included in Native Seed Libraries this year are Black-eyed Susan, Blunt Mountain Mint, Foxglove Beardtongue, Evening Primrose, Tall Ironweed, Grey Headed Coneflower, Hollow Joe Pie Weed, Swamp Milkweed, Marsh Hibiscus, New England Aster, Wingstem, and a pack of mixed wildflowers with that include Obedient Plant, Great Blue Lobelia, Virginia Mountain Mint, Tall Blazing Star and Eastern Bluestar. 

The Native Seed Libraries have distribution points at the Cleveland Metroparks Watershed Stewardship Center, Lake Metroparks Farmpark, Lake Metroparks Penitentiary Glen Reservation Nature Center, Parma Heights Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma Powers Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma Snow Cuyahoga County Public Library, Holden Arboretum, Cleveland Botanical Garden and The Book Nook at the West Side Market through the Cleveland Public Library.

Dejak said this is the third year that the West Creek Conservancy has distributed native seeds. However, this is the first year the Conservancy has had so many locations and partners. In the past, they only distributed to the Watershed Stewardship Center and Lake County Metroparks locations. This year, the nonprofit also got grants from both the Ohio EPA and Cox Communications to support its efforts. 

Seeds were mostly collected from either West Creek Conservancy or the Holden Arboretum. Volunteers helped clean and process seeds at the Creekside Collaborative Properties (a project of the West Creek Conservancy, which grows native plants) and at the Holden Arboretum Seed Bank. 

This year, there will be 12,000 seed packs distributed compared to only 800 packs the first year and 3,000 seed packs last year. 

All of the seeds in the library are meant to spend time in the cold and moisture before germinating. Now is the perfect time to plant them. The West Creek Conservancy has a demonstration video on their website (at the bottom of the page) from one of their many native seed planting workshops conducted this winter. 

Dejak said the Black-eyed Susan, Swamp Milkweed and Marsh Hibiscus are the most popular seeds in the libraries, as reported anecdotally by the distribution sites. Each distribution location was given 100 seed packs of each variety. As of this writing, only the Powers Library and Parma Snow Library are out of some varieties.