Mississippi is well known for its natural beauty. But over the years, the amount of native wildflowers has dwindled because of the common threats of habitat loss and invasive plants.

To address the loss of wildflowers, Keep America Beautiful state affiliate Keep Mississippi Beautiful (KMB) took action to transform its public spaces into beautiful places by launching the Wildflower Trails of Mississippi project during Keep America Beautiful’s 2015 Great American Cleanup.

After a year of working with many community partners and volunteers, the project is blooming, planting the seeds to ensure Mississippi residents and visitors to the Magnolia state — as well as pollinators — will appreciate the sights and smells of wildflowers. The project complements other KMB beautification initiatives throughout the state.

Keep Mississippi Beautiful got the Wildflowers Trails of Mississippi project started after receiving a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to purchase wildflower seeds. Keep Mississippi Beautiful worked closely with the Mississippi State University Extension Service to develop a seed mix that features a variety of colorful blooms and foliage, thrives in Mississippi and is easy to maintain.

The project brought together a variety of partners, including the Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission, Mississippi Department of Transportation, The Garden Clubs of Mississippi, and Mississippi State University’s Extension Service. And, after a year, the Wildflower Trails of Mississippi’s flowers are showing off their colors.

Keep America Beautiful conducts its National Planting Day on the first Saturday after Labor Day each September with community-based activities happening throughout the month.

National Planting Day celebrates the critical nature of native plants and trees in enhancing biodiversity and rebuilding ecosystems. Keep America Beautiful is asking National Planting Day participants to celebrate the theme of “Keep America Bee-utiful” by focusing their efforts on planting pollinators, in addition to native species. Register your 2016 National Planting Day event today!