Local chains LaRosa's and Graeter's Ice Cream are celebrating Earth Day with a special giveaway.
In partnership with the Cincinnati Nature Center, all LaRosa's and Graeter's locations will be giving away free seed packets filled with an assortment of milkweed, coneflower and black-eyed Susan on April 22. The goal is to encourage people to plant native pollinator gardens to help the birds, bees and butterflies.
“Every year, we look forward to partnering with Cincinnati Nature Center,” said Graeter's Chip Graeter in a release. “Our stores will have plenty of seeds and we’re excited to help give them away. What a fantastic cause.”
The Cincinnati Nature Center says not only are native plants easier to grow and maintain, but they are extremely important to the natural ecosystem.
"Take the monarch butterfly, for example. The female butterflies only lay their eggs on milkweed plants and monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed, which they need for their growth and development into a butterfly," the center says in the release. "Without enough milkweed, the monarch’s future is in jeopardy.
To learn more about native plants and their importance, visit cincynature.org.
