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Go Native With Your Gardening

13-93-CWS | January 14, 2013

BILOXI, Miss. – On Saturday, January 19 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve will host its monthly Adventure Quencher activity.  Entitled “Benefits of Gardening and Landscaping with Natives”, January’s adventure will demonstrate why it is beneficial to include native plants in your gardening and landscaping designs. Additionally, plants native to southern Miss. and Ala. that may do well in your coastal yard will be highlighted.  Not only does gardening with native plants help the environment, it also helps save you time and money on maintenance and upkeep of your property.

 

After the presentation, participants will move outdoors to tour the grounds of the facility to see how the Reserve has used native plants in its landscaping design.  An optional tour of the Grand Bay Reserve’s green building will also be offered.  Also, if you have ever wanted to know how to get involved in a local garden club, members of the Grand Bay Garden Club will be on hand to speak with you and show you how you can join their club or a club in your own community. Light refreshments will be served. Garden club members from the region are encouraged to attend.  This is a family-friendly event.
 
The event will be held at the Reserve’s Grand Bay Coastal Resources Center, which is located at 6005 Bayou Heron Road near Moss Point, Miss. For directions to the Center and more information on these events, please visit our website at www.grandbaynerr.org.  
 
The Grand Bay NERR is located in southeast Jackson County, Mississippi and includes wetlands and waterways from Bang’s Lake to the Alabama state line. A major goal of the Reserve is to provide for research coordination and dissemination of scientific data to the community and local decision-makers to provide sound information on which to base management decisions.

 

The 18,000-acre reserve is home to several rare or endangered plant and animal species and serves as an essential nursery habitat for numerous important commercial and recreational fish species. The Reserve is managed through state-federal partnership between the DMR and its local partners—Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mississippi State University and the Nature Conservancy—and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 

The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is dedicated to enhancing, protecting and conserving marine interests of the state by managing all marine life, public trust wetlands, adjacent uplands and waterfront areas to provide for the optimal commercial, recreational, educational and economic uses of these resources consistent with environmental concerns and social changes. Visit the DMR online at www.dmr.ms.gov.

 

PHOTO CREDIT:
Photo Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Marine Resources

 

Photo caption 1:  The native Scarlet Hibiscus makes a wonderful addition to your coastal garden. Photo by Jennifer Buchanan

 

Contact: Syneathia Lett
Phone: 228-523-4101

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