Pacific nine bark (Physocarpus capitatus) with fall color in the nursery With the lowering of the sun’s angle, and the yellow school buses on the roads, we have signs that fall will soon be here. This is a great to time to plant natives, especially in the “golden” period from mid-September to late October. The soil […]
Milkweed for Central Washington
Milkweeds (Asclepias sp.) have been in the news in recent years, mostly because of their critical importance to the monarch butterfly. The larvae of this iconic butterfly must feed on milkweed to develop so the adults seek milkweeds for each generation. There are over eighty species of milkweed found in North America. In Washington we have only three native […]
Penstemon Time
I get excited about this time every year when the penstemons start to bloom, both in the nursery and in the wild. The colors and diverse forms of the penstemon species found in the West are amazing. In Washington we have at least 28 species found in nature. Many charming and lovely plants are among these […]
It’s cooling down – time to plant!
Bumblebee on cutleaf penstemon (Penstemon richardsonii) What a hot summer! It’s been hard on people, wildlife (especially fish) and plants. Even with diligent watering in the nursery there were a number of species that had new growth becoming crispy (I’m looking at you, vine maple!) The change to cooler weather over the past few weeks […]
Native Plants for Native Bees
Anthophora bee on phlox A few weeks back I attended a talk by Don Rolfs, who spoke about the over 700 species (!) of native bees we have in this state. Don, who has done fine work and photography on our local butterflies, is now intensely focused on documenting and photographing the native bees in our […]
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