Gardening with native plants focus of April 5 meeting

	The ins and outs of gardening with native plants will be the focus 
of a public meeting Wednesday, April 5 at 7 p.m. at the Lions Club on 
Airport Road in West Ocean City. All Eastern Shore residents are invited.
	There, Master Gardener Joyce Ponsell will help locals learn which 
plants are native to the shore, what they look like, where native plants 
can grow, and when to plant them. The plant guru will also have order forms 
for participants to buy native plants of their choice. Ponsell’s 45-minute 
slide show will let attendees view which plants they like and understand 
which will grow best on their property.
	The Coastal Bays Program has supported the planting of native 
plants, trees and shrubs over turf grass. Such plants do a much better job 
of filtering runoff and providing habitat for local wildlife. Butterflies 
and humming birds are particularly fond of local flowers. The program has 
had numerous tree, flower and shrub planting events throughout all parts of 
the county and has a free "Native Plants of Worcester County" guide to 
supplement its celebrated "Homeowners Guide the Coastal Bays." Both will be 
available free at the meeting.
	Ponsell will field questions and reveal her experiences with which 
plants have worked best and which require the least maintenance.
	Afterwards, Coastal Bays staff will talk about coming events, one 
of which will be a tree planting for Earth Day on April 22. Upcoming events 
also include the Delmarva Birding Weekend April 28-30, Great Worcester Herp 
Search on May 13 and the Coastal Bays 10-year anniversary celebration 
taking place all summer long and culminating in a grand ceremony in 
October. The program is planning a fishing tournament for September.
	The meeting is one in a series that will help property owners do 
their part to protect the coastal bays and wildlife of the watershed. The 
next meeting will be May 3 at the Snow Hill library to discuss land 
conservation and easements for interested property owners.
	 For information on the meeting call 410-213-2297 or go to 
www.mdcoastalbays.org.
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