Natural Resources Conservation Service

Plant Materials Program

United States Department of Agriculture

Plant Materials Centers in the Southeast are gathering data on different types of cover crops that landowners can use during the summer months.

Banner image of Cover Crops Take the Heat iron and clay cowpea plot in Americus, GA

Filling the Void of Adapted Plant Releases for the Southeastern U.S.

Regionally adapted native plants are critical to the success of conservation plantings. The USDA NRCS Plant Materials Program and it's partners are working to develop conservation plant releases specifically adapted to the southeastern United States for use in restoration.

This is an image of the understory at the Winston Tree Farm in Nacogdoches, Texas in a young stand of longleaf pine showing diversity of grasses, forbs, and legumes.

Finding the Right Pollinator Mix

With landowners increasingly interested in creating or enhancing pollinator habitat on their property, PMCs in Idaho, Oregon, and California set out to evaluate commercially available wildflower mixes to see how well they established, persisted, and provided blooms for bees.

How Seeding Rates Can Affect Species Composition in Pollinator Plantings

The Missouri PMC used demonstration plantings to compare 9 species pollinator mixtures at 2 different rates and determine if there is a difference in species composition.

Banner image of a painted lady butterfly feeds on the flower of a New England Aster plant

Plant Materials Centers Support Service Center Staff

Service Center staff are the main customers of the Plant Materials Centers, who coordinate with technical staff to provide training on conservation technologies. The Southwestern PMCs have held trainings and Field Days to transfer information about their studies on vegetative solutions.