South Dakota State University hosts native plant initiative expo in Spearfish

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – South Dakota State University Native Plant initiative travels to different parts of the state once a year to sell native plants and educate people about the importance of these plants.

It all began in 2020 when the group started a tiny sale of native plants in Brookings. Three years later, it has grown. Beautify Spearfish reached out to the group to be a part of the expo. According to the president of Beautfy Spearfish, western South Dakota doesn’t have a place to get specific species of native plants.

”And SDSU native plant initiative grows all those plants from seed. And so I thought, what better way to bring it over here than to partner with them and have them come over and get some speakers to teach about native pollinators, pollination or prairie birds,” said Beautify Spearfish founder Kelly Harnett.

According to gardenia.com, South Dakota native plants are adapted to soil, moisture, and weather better than other plants, and the plants provide nectar for pollinators and shelter for mammals.

”These are the plants that want to grow here, and they’re really diverse. There’s a lot of really cool and different plants; you don’t see normal landscaping. So the more of that we can get out there, the better for our wildlife, more diversity we have in our lawns, better for our ecosystem,” said South Dakota State University Associate Professor for the Department of Natural Resource Management, Lora Perkins.

The group will travel to Sioux Falls and end the expo in Brookings.

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