PRISM SIGNS & LABELS, STORY & TIMELINE
1) Inspired by Doug Tallamy
Like so many others, Suzanna Banwell, PRISM's creator, first realized the power of native plants after hearing Entomologist Doug Tallamy, Founder of the Homegrown National Park movement, articulate the essential connection between native plants, the caterpillars that are "specialized" to them (i.e. have to eat them) and baby birds that must eat caterpillars to survive. Without native plants, we don't have caterpillars (or moths and butterflies) and without caterpillars, we lose our birds.
2) Grown out of WHP
Determined to do something, in 2019 Suzanna became a certified Maryland Master Naturalist and, immediately upon finishing her certification, joined the then fledgling Prince George's Audubon Society's Wildlife Habitat Program (WHP). as a Habitat Advisor. Founded and directed by Kathy Shollenberger and Barry Stahl, WHP Habitat Advisors visit homeowners to share information about native plants' powerful role in saving the ecosystem, and empower homeowners to "re-wild" some of their own land.
3) Sharing the Message More widely
To spread the word about the key role native plants perform in a healthy ecosystem to more people, faster, in the end of 2021 Suzanna proposed that WHP create a public, community-based wildlife garden (now known as a PRISM garden) at Joe's Movement Emporium in Mount Rainier, MD. Suzanna, Kathy and Barry pitched the idea to Brooke Kidd, Joe's Executive Director, who embraced it. Soon, with help from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and a lot of WHP volunteers, the PRISM garden at Joe's took root.
4) Unique plant labels—prototypes
A storyteller at heart, one of Suzanna's main goals for PRISM gardens was to create unique plant labels (the first ever, we think) that show human visitors key relationships between native plants—starting with those at Joe's and moving on from there— and the animal kingdom.
5) Joe's first 31 species plant labels
The next step was to take the label idea to local artist Torie Partridge, who rendered 31 beautiful, unique plant labels, one for each native species in Joe's Garden.
6) And Large Bi-Lingual Signs
In addition to the plant labels, the PRISM team created large format signs that share more detail about the critical relationship between native plants and the animal kingdom. These signs distill the essence of WHP homeowner's visits. The artist for these gorgeous signs is Marcella Kriebel.
7) Expanding the PRISM Label Library
8) As of 2025, the PRISM Label Library has more than 100 unique labels
8) As of 2025, the PRISM Label Library has more than 100 unique labels
Artist Tessla Thompson continued this work, creating more than 75 stunning labels. Drafts of many of them are seen in the banner below.
8) As of 2025, the PRISM Label Library has more than 100 unique labels
8) As of 2025, the PRISM Label Library has more than 100 unique labels
8) As of 2025, the PRISM Label Library has more than 100 unique labels
Suzanna, Kathy and Barry, together with these amazing local artists have, as of 2025, created more than 100 unique species labels that are now housed in the PRISM Label Library-one for each of the species on the PRISM plant list, curated by Barry Stahl. These labels are available at cost to PRISM partners.
Samples of PRISM plant species labels
