NEW YORK, NY May 04, 2008 —The first-ever New York City Wildflower Week has begun. It's a celebration of plants native to the region.

At Union Square, volunteers are handing out free seedlings. Marielle Anzelone is among the organizers. She says one of the inspirations for Wildflower Week is a former first lady.

ANZELONE: Lady Bird Johnson has this great quote that Texas should look like Texas and Vermont should look like Vermont. And New York City should look like New York City. There are plants have grown here for thousands of years, so if you want to attract butterflies and you want to attract birds the best way to do it is through native plants.

REPORTER: Union Square has a native plant garden, the only one of its kind in the city. One of the odder green things that grows there is a rare prickly pear cactus:

ANZELONE: It's a New York City rare plant and it's rare because there's not a lot of habitat left for it. If you think of like a desert, a desert in our area would be the outer coastal plain, which is like a lot of sand. I've seen them in Dubose Point in Queens, in the Rockaways and in the south shore of Staten Island...growing wild!

New York City Wildflower week continues through May tenth with nature walks, plant talks, and other events.