Sue Day, OLCP: Earth Stewardship and Design: May 2014

So, to fill in the time, learn a few things, and make a little extra cash while I start up my business, I've been working right here on the island at a little nursery called Queens's Cup Nursery. Pat Parks, the capable proprietor, has made it her mission to bring these beautiful native flowers to everyone's home garden. She's only been growing for seven years, but seems to have a sixth sense about what her plants need and how to give it to them. Pat's plants are gorgeous! Here's a sampling of what's in bloom at Queen's Cup these days (see below). Not all of these plants are available for sale at the moment, and she's growing many more than these few. Feel free to email me for Pat's number if you'd like more information.

And before I let you go to peruse the beautiful flowers, I'd like to elaborate a little about why native plants are so very important. First of all, they are beautiful. It takes very little design effort to make them look as if they belong, because they do! If you have them planted in the right place, natives are easy. They are supremely adapted for life in the Northwest. Most natives prefer a wet winter and spring followed by a dry summer and fall. You won't find natives around here that need more heat in the summer or more cold in the winter. Their needs mirror nature's cycles, so you don't need to water them as much when it's dry or protect them from frost when it's cold. They tend to be happy here, so pest and disease problems are few and far between. They have also evolved to prefer our native soils, so you need not fertilize. All this means low maintenance and low overall cost.

Aside from their beauty and ease in the garden, there are a a few other reasons that the natives make good choices. Attracting and assisting native wildlife is one of the best reasons to grow natives in your yard. The native wildlife in the area is best adapted to the food and cover provided by our native species. Native landscapes on private properties do far more than just attract a few birds and butterflies. Native landscapes help offset habitat loss and fragmentation due to development. If you can get your neighbors to go along with it and they can get their neighbors to go native as well, then you can even create supremely beneficial wildlife corridors that connect habitat to habitat! More on wildlife corridors in a future post.

What's not to love about a beautiful, thriving garden that looks like it belongs right where it is, takes little effort to maintain, attracts native wildlife, and increases the health of the ecosystem surrounding you!