Native Plant Appreciation Month
April is Native Plant Appreciation Month (NPAM) in Oregon. NPAM brings together individuals, organizations, native plant enthusiasts, gardeners, educators, and others who value Oregon’s native flora. It provides opportunities for people throughout Oregon to appreciate, enjoy, learn about, grow, conserve, and restore native plants and their habitats. Keep reading to learn more.
Allotropa virgata, sugarstick by Pepper Trail
Celebrate with us!
→Join a hike, workshop, presentation, plant sale, or other NPAM activity. View events in April.
→Special 2027 NPAM state events.
→Enter the Annual Poster Photo Contest. Share your favorite photo of an Oregon native plant. Contest rules.
→Show your appreciation. Celebrate with NPAM merchandise.
Get your organization involved!
Organizations throughout Oregon can help spread the word about Native Plant Appreciation Month by hosting or promoting events and sharing the importance of Oregon’s native plants. Find out how.
About Native Plant Appreciation Month
History
The Native Plant Society of Oregon began celebrating Native Plant Appreciation in 2005 with a weeklong event around the state. In 2022 NPSO expanded the celebration to a month. In 2025 the Legislature passed and our Governor signed a bill to permanently make April Native Plant Appreciation Month in Oregon.
Why Celebrate NPAM
Oregon is home to more than 3,400 native vascular plants, found across all 36 counties. About 120 species are endemic to Oregon and grow nowhere else.
Native plants are important to all Oregonians. They:
Berberis aquilfolium, tall Oregon-grape
by Judi Sanders
Calochortus eurycarpus, bigpod mariposa
by Mark Egger
- Beautify our state and enrich the places where we live, work, and play.
- Support our economy through horticulture, construction, timber, and other industries.
- Sustain healthy ecosystems by providing food and habitat for wildlife, supporting biodiversity, and protecting soil and watersheds.
- Benefit the environment by storing carbon, reducing runoff and erosion, and often requiring less water and fewer pesticides and fertilizers than non-native plants.
- Connect us to Oregon’s culture and heritage. For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples have relied on native plants for food, medicine, shelter, tools, and ceremonies. Native plants are also represented by Oregon’s state flower, Oregon Grape, and state tree, Douglas Fir.
Our Native Plants Need Our Care
Native plants face growing threats from invasive species, habitat loss, and other pressures. The Oregon Biodiversity Information Center ranks 649 native vascular plant species as vulnerable, imperiled, or critically imperiled in Oregon, with another 48 considered species of concern.
Delphinium pavonaceum, peacock larkspur,
by Tom Kaye
Thelypodium howellii ssp. spectabilis, spectacular thelypody,
by Danielle Marshall
Kalmiopsis leachiana, Siskiyou kalmiopsis,
by Justin Rohde
Castilleja schizotricha,split hair paintbrush
by Pepper Trail
Native Plant Appreciation Month is an opportunity to appreciate, learn about, enjoy, and help conserve Oregon’s remarkable native plant diversity.