I had never spent much time thinking about trees until recently. I’ve always been drawn to the less charismatic, mosses, ferns, grasses, and other flora under the canopy. Like any nature lover, I’ve always appreciated trees, but as a part of the larger forest rather than a community in and of themselves. I knew very […]
Maine Native Plants
Support Maine Native Plants
Welcome to the 2026 growing season! This year is a big one for Maine Audubon and for all our Maine native plants enthusiasts. In May, we will open the brand new Ann and Jim Hancock Native Plants Education Center (NPEC) at Gilsland Farm in Falmouth. This new building and space has been years in the making, […]
Red Maple Swamp Plant Community
The Red Maple Swamp is a lush, wooded wetland that occurs in low-elevation areas in southern parts of Maine. It occurs in basins, often near streams or on floodplains, and the soil stays saturated all year long after seasonal flooding in spring. It contains mineral soils, sometimes with a layer of well-decomposed organic matter on […]
March Is Here: It’s Time to Get Excited for Spring Programs at Maine Audubon
It may not look or feel like spring outside this year yet, but March 1 always marks the beginning of our busy spring programs season at Maine Audubon. In 2026, we are thrilled to announce a robust slate of events and programs for people of all ages all around the state. Our offerings feature the […]
Small Wonders: Winter Tree Bingo
Winter is an invitation to look closer. It’s also a season of working with what you’ve got, and what we’ve got right now in Maine is a whole lot of “bare” trees! Start squinting at them and you’ll notice that they’re bursting with signs of life. Written on bark, branches, and buds are the stories […]
Winter Seed Sowing: why and how to do it
As winter settles across Maine, the landscape may look dormant, but it’s a vital and active season for native plants. Many Maine native species rely on cold, moist winter conditions to break seed dormancy and prepare for spring growth. By sowing seeds in winter, we’re working with nature’s timing — just as these plants have […]
Back to School on the Narraguagus River
Whether you are a student, teacher, restoration professional, or a family member of one of those, you are well aware of how busy fall can be. Across the state, classrooms fill and settle back into school year routines while stewardship and restoration professionals scramble to finish fieldwork without interns and seasonal staff. Given our mission […]
Students, Native Plants, Art, Community: Beauty emerges in Bangor
A few more exciting stages in the Maine Audubon Mural adventure took place in October! On Thursday, October 16, Bangor Beautiful and Maine Audubon hosted seven classrooms (about 140 students!) from Fairmount School in Bangor for a chilly, all-day planting spree (photo above) along the mural’s upper shelf facing York Street. These aren’t just any […]
Building a Maritime Shrubland at IDEXX
This fall, Maine Audubon partnered with IDEXX (a Maine Audubon Corporate Partner) to design and install a Maritime Shrubland demonstration landscape at the company’s global headquarters in Westbrook. This project transforms a previously conventional planting area into a thriving native ecosystem modeled after Maine’s resilient coastal shrublands, plant communities found on windswept dunes and rocky […]