Northwest Arkansas’ climate is changing, with temperatures warming and storms and dry spells intensifying now and into the future. Native plants in gardens, parks and open spaces are a powerful part of climate adaptation.  

Ozark Roots Natives Plants, Seeds & Foods is one of many plant nurseries and garden centers in NWA offering native species, but they are unique in their focus on both climate resilience and the Ozarks region.  Their website reads: “The weather is changing.  Ozark Roots sells plants that are ready.”

Ozark Roots grows locally sourced wild flowers, grasses, shrubs and trees that are: native to the Ozarks region; natural, wild-type varieties; and adapted for climate change with drought tolerance, flood tolerance or other resilient characteristics. They can weather the changes that have already begun, and they can repair some of the damage that’s causing these changes in the first place.

This month, Ozark Roots founder Dan Holtmeyer will be speaking about native plants and climate adaptation on Thursday, September 28, from 6-7 pm, in the Walker Community Room of the Fayetteville Public Library. All are welcome, especially gardeners, landscapers, and outdoor enthusiasts.  The talk will focus on the basics of climate change and how these disruptions will affect the region’s people and its native trees, grasses and wildflowers.

Native plants are vulnerable to the impact of the changing climate – extreme heat and cold, storms, Climate change is a huge, complicated subject, and much of what we see in the headlines is continental or global in scope. Holtmeyer focuses on climate change in our local experiences and daily lives. At this event, he will not only bring it down to the scale of our local region but also talk about some of the things we can do about it right here in the context of native plants. 

Some native plants move into other spaces more suitable for them like higher elevations or higher latitudes with cooler temperatures. But many of these plant species are also highly adapted to the tough conditions on the way, thanks to deep roots and other adaptations. They are also part of a larger ecosystem of pollinators, birds and air and water pollution. 

Dan Holtmeyer completed a master’s degree in geography from the University of Arkansas with a focus on climate change and green infrastructure and founded Ozark Roots. He has written about climate and related issues for newspapers in Arkansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri and Minnesota.

https://www.instagram.com/ozarkrootsnativeplants/

Oxeye sunflower or daisy (pictured on left) is a beautiful drought-tolerant and non-picky native flower that grows throughout the middle and eastern U.S. Like a lot of coneflowers and sunflowers, what you might think is a single flower is actually dozens of little ones, all surrounded by a crown of bigger petals. Hardy, drought-tolerant, happy even in crappy or clay soil, it’s a fantastic late-summer blossom for sunny NWA sites. 

Young prairie dropseeds (pictured bottom middle), left completely on their own with little supplemental water in the first few weeks to get them established, withstood both 100-degree heat waves this summer, dry spells, and several severe storms — thanks to roots that could be five feet deep and other adaptations. 

Swamp milkweed or marsh milkweed with pink flowers (pictured top middle) is a pollinator superstar and beautiful wetland species that needs consistent moisture but it also tolerates poor drainage and temporary flooding.  So, in the right place, this plant can withstand the heavy and more intense storms expected between dry spells.

The partridge pea (pictured on right) is drought-tolerant and helps with erosion.  Its bright yellow flowers look beautiful, support pollinators, and turn into pods that explode when they’re ready, flinging seeds several feet away. 

Butterfly milkweed (left): It has bright orange flowers, wants full sun, gets a couple of feet tall, and is very drought tolerant. 

Bur oak (top right): Also likes full sun and is a big, shady tree with a lot of ecological benefits. 

Ozark witch hazel (bottom right): A nice local shrub that can be in pretty shady spots and can tolerate both drought and flooding

The “big four” native prairie grasses (from left to right): big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass and Indian/yellow grass. Love the sun and can help absorb pollution and prevent erosion.