No matter where you look outdoors, spring seems to bring with it lots of wildflowers, which provides us with nice colors and sweet smells.
Joel Sartore, a photographer and an environmentalist, has made a point of planting native (本地的) wildflowers at home and at his office. He also encourages his neighbours to start their own gardens of native plants. Why? Wildflowers need our help. In the U.S., Great Plains alone, over 33 million acres of wildflowers and grasslands have been lost since 2009, according to WWF.
You've probably heard that wildflowers support insects like butterflies and bees, which play a huge role in pollinating crops (庄稼授粉) that we depend on for food. That's just one of many ways wildflowers and other native plants are important to our earth. Native flowers are part of a living network. They lock carbon(碳)within soil, an important part of mitigating (减缓) changes in weather. They store water and nutrients, which are good for forests. And, of course, they look beautiful, making them an attraction in any places.
"If we hope to encourage children to grow up fighting to save the planet, wildflowers are a perfect fit; they get kids thinking about nature with a sense of wonder," Sartore says. "These places serve as outdoor classrooms, plus they clean our air, soil, and water."
But what can we do? You don't have to be an eager gardener or have lots of land to put your effort into. If you live in a city, you can just plant flowers in a window box or on your rooftop.
Another way to get involved beyond your own space at home is to find out how public green spaces near you are managed. You can also volunteer at a local nature center, or community garden that is planting native plants. If you aren't sure what types of plants are native to your area, ask at a nearby garden center or search online.
"I believe that people want to help make the planet a better place, but they just don't know where to start," Sartore says. "Planting wildflowers and other plants is a great way."
