Friday webinar will discuss the important connection between native plants and birds Worcester Magazine While spring has not necessarily sprung, it’s certainly crouched in wait around the corner. Now is the time for local gardeners to begin planning their plot and buying seeds. However, even if it’s behind a neat picket fence or steps from your front porch, every garden is a part of the local ecosystem, affecting different plants and animals. It follows then, that the best fit would be native plants because they are evolved to fill a specific niche in our ecosystem. At first that might sound like it limits aesthetic choices, such as color, shape or composition, not to mention being difficult for the casual gardener to find out where each of their plants come from. But focusing on native plants doesn’t have to mean sacrificing any of those things — there are resources available to balance form and function.