MARY PHILLIPS BIO
For eight years, Mary has led Garden for Wildlife™ and Certified Wildlife Habitat® as an ambassador for native plants with the National Wildlife Federation. Her work ensures all habitat programs and resources are rooted in sustainable practices and the latest science.
Mary’s love for wildflowers comes naturally. As a child, she discovered trillium, dogtooth violets, spring beauties, bluebells and the wildlife around them near her family’s Ohio home. Years later, she introduced her children to these same native plants along the Sligo Creek trail in Maryland. Recently, she has seen many of these essential early spring ephemerals squeezed out by invasive, non-native plants. This personal experience fuels the passion for her work.
Mary’s strategic leadership aligns the Garden for Wildlife mission across National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) internal teams, habitat initiatives, partner networks and external messaging. She collaborates with leading entomologists, pollinator conservationists, federal agencies, NWF’s naturalists and trend researchers to provide substantive content, such as, keystone native plant lists for NWF’s Native Plant Finder™, Garden for Wildlife content, and Spanish language resources. This cross functional strategy has fostered public participation among millions of wildlife gardeners, more than doubled certifications, increased science and civic partnerships and created a Garden for Wildlife state network.
Under her leadership, in coordination with the White House Office of Science and Policy, NWF coordinated the National Pollinator Garden Network in 2015 to launch the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge which created over a million pollinator gardens in three years. This partnership involved over fifty national organizations with a third from the commercial garden trade, such as growers and independent garden centers.
In 2021, inspired by the work native plants do to restore habitat, and based on research conducted with the National Gardening Research survey and five hundred native plant growers nationwide, Mary helped create the Garden for Wildlife Native Plants Collection™. The goal of this social enterprise is to increase the native plant supply, reduce carbon impacts, and secure survival of iconic species, such as the monarch butterfly, native bees and songbirds. Mary works to ensure Garden for Wildlife, Inc. maintains its sustainability commitments: to engage everyday people in solutions for critical wildlife loss and climate impact and, connect local native plant growers to consumers through ecommerce. The pilot launch in spring of 2021, resulted in over 4,000 native plant collections sold in five months, for a total of 237,000 sq ft. of new garden habitat.
Prior to joining NWF, Mary was principal at The Abundant Backyard, a sustainable native plant landscaping service and one of the first Certified Green Businesses in Montgomery County, MD. As a Maryland Master Naturalist, Mary maintains her Certified Wildlife Habitat® with her family and enjoys hiking and exploring the Chesapeake Bay natural history and heritage.
You can find more about Mary Phillips on LinkedIn.
SHOW NOTES
Mary’s early start with plants and gardening with her grandparents and wildflowers
Her focus on communications in college at Arizona State University
Core aspects she would teach others for understanding the audience and their motivations
The importance of sharing plant stories and benefits
Mary’s role at The Abundant Backyard and creating community gardens and curriculum
Lessons learned as part of the Maryland Master Naturalist program about the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly
Advice for installing and managing community gardens
Developing curriculum for kids to engage with the gardens
Mary’s work with the National Wildlife Federation multiplying the effect of small gardens
Doug Tallamy and Jarrod Fowler and the creation of keystone plant lists
Dealing with challenges of growing natives in production
Favorite collections with the Garden for Wildlife Native Plants Collection™
Helping connect people to plants through animals
Misconceptions about native plants
Plants that provide food, water, cover, and places to live for animals
Incentives and supporting laws that support native plant landscapes
Study about a portion of lawn converting to native plants doubling
Increasing woody plant options
Efforts shifting policy and legislation
Small things everyone can do to plant for wildlife
Having wilder landscapes in urban areas and HOA’s
Finding inspiration from Doug Tallamy’s books and Beatrix Potter’s books
Practices that help Mary be more productive including gardening with others in the community and sitting quietly and watching the wildlife
Staying current with online groups and industry groups like AmericanHort, Perennial Plant Association, and partner organizations
The myth that native gardens are messy, attract rodents, and that finding them is hard
Encouraging gardeners to enjoy time in the garden more and reducing chemical use
Favorite animals including Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Northern Cardinals, Northern Flicker, and Chipmunks
The board game Wingspan
Propagting horticulturists by working with communities and helping people understand native plants and career opportunities. Diversifying story and shift way we tell stories
Learn more about Mary by visiting nwf.org/garden and by visiting her on LinkedIn
