In 2016, a group of passionate gardeners and naturalists returned home from a talk by Dr. Doug Tallamy in Baton Rouge committed to do something about the lack of native plants and education about them. So began a process by which a thoughtful group did all the legwork to get ANPP established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Among those involved early in the process were Janice Eaton, Heather Warner-Finley, Heather  Baldwin,  Sarah Schoeffler, Bill Fontenot and others. They established bylaws, initiated demonstration gardens and began offering monthly presentations. 

 

One of the most consequential decisions they made was to label the organization a "project", not a club, society or association. That conveyed the importance of doing something, not just talking about it. They quickly realized that no matter how good their outreach efforts were, their efforts to improve habitat and biodiversity would be hampered without a supply of local native plants. The first spring, they began propagating natives under experienced horticulturist June Walker at her greenhouse in Sunset, LA. Their goal was to make $1000 in sales at Festival des Fleurs in April 2017, which they achieved. June passed away a few months later, and her family bequeathed her commercial greenhouse to us. Our search for a new location led us to a partnership with NUNU Arts and Culture Collective, who held a lease with the St. Martin Parish School Board for two acres in Arnaudville. A team of volunteers moved June's greenhouse to the site in early 2018, and we have been propagating there ever since.  

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