My days in the office are starting to get quite busy now, with two big events on the horizon. Our “Native Planting 101” workshop is officially less than a month away, and will be followed soon after by the 2012 Native Plant Sale. Both these projects have taken a lot of planning and coordination, but it’s been a great experience!
“Native Planting 101” Workshop
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| Julie Sanderson discusses all things weeds at last year's "Native Planting 101"workshop. |
I’ve really enjoyed meeting and working with the local plant and natural resource experts who will be speaking at “Native Planting 101,” a free workshop about successfully incorporating native plants into your landscape.
I’ve just started to learn the different noxious weeds plaguing Chelan County’s fields, stream banks, forests, and parking lots, and am interested to hear what Julie Sanderson (of the Chelan County Noxious Weed Control Board) has to say about the different (chemical and non-chemical) weed management methods.
I had some practice last fall planting trees and shrubs and re-vegetating with willow and red-osier dogwood cuttings at several restoration sites along the Entiat River, and am looking forward to learning more about restoration techniques from Ted Alway, owner of Derby Canyon Natives.
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| Thoughtfully-placed natives along a country road. An example of a "yardscaping" project. |
I didn’t know the term “yardscaping” until I started planning for the workshop, but have wanted for several years to creatively/artistically garden using native plants. Connie Mehmel, a biologist with the Wenatchee-Okanogan Forest Service, will be discussing this topic, new to our workshop this year. I think it would be so much fun to try, especially on this side of the Cascades where the plants (from woodland to high desert species), are so diverse, showy, and colorful!
And Amy Hendershot, a Resource Conservationist at our local Natural Resource Conservation Service's office, will further explore an important facet of landscape design- pollinator gardening- choosing plants with native bees and other beneficial insects in mind. From our conversations, she is a wealth of information-and is very enthusiastic- about this topic, and I think it’s another excellent addition to the workshop line-up!
“Native Planting 101”
Saturday, February 4th
12:30pm- 4:30pm
Chelan County PUD Auditorium
Please RSVP, space is limited!
2012 Native Plant Sale
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| Vine Maple (Acer circinatum) |
I’m a bit of a natural history nerd, so as a fairly recent transplant to this side of the Cascades, I’m excited that I’ve discovered a few new (tome) species- like russet buffaloberry and golden currant- during the plant sale planning process. Probably my favorite part so far has been researching and getting to know our native plants a bit better. For example:
· Blue Elderberry stems are hollow and are great materials to create mason bee boxes, and apparently squirt guns (see the “Blue Elderberry” blog for more on this species).
Native tribes used vine maple stems in making baskets for everyday tasks like carrying fish or harvesting wood, and red-osier dogwood branches for more decorative weaving and basketry projects (See last week’s “Red-osier Dogwood” blog for more on this species).
Serviceberry, reproduces most commonly from the root crown and rhizomes (an underground stem that grows out horizontally from the parent plant and then sprouts roots and shoots). This surprised me as we harvested a lot of serviceberry berries last year, and I was very impressed by the quantity of berries produced by a single plant! I just assumed a plant that put SO much energy into producing SO much fruit be primarily successful reproducing by seed, not by cloning itself. Hmmm…
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| Terry Spivey, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) |
Anyways, the plant sale and workshop have gotten me thinking, and I am looking forward to incorporating some of these species into a few garden-able areas around my house this spring. I’ve already formulated plans incorporating golden currant, kinnikinnick, maybe some Wood’s rose and mock orange…
2012 Native Plant Sale
Please send in your order by February 15th.
On your order form, please indicate your plant pick-up date:
March 31st, 10am to 1pm
April 14th, 10am to 1pm
Interested in volunteering?
Take a look at our Plant Sale
Finally, I’m looking forward to working with volunteers for these events and meeting people who are making an effort this year to keep our area healthy, beautiful, and natural!
I urge you to consider participating in either or both of these events; I hope they will be a great learning experience and will generate some new ideas for working with and living amongst our native plant and animal communities!
If you would like more information about
these events, please go to our website,
contact our office at 509.664.9370,
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