Summer in the Native Garden: When and How to Water

A view from local hiking spot McBee Grade in mid July. Many of the wildflowers and grasses have set seed and gone into dormancy for the summer while fall bloomers like Gray Rabbitbrush (seen in photo) are just beginning to wake up. These plants have adapted the strategy of summer dormancy to withstand the hot, dry summers here in Eastern WA.

Drip irrigation like that seen below gets water directly to the plant while reducing loss to evaporation and runoff. You could reduce your water bill drastically by switching to drip! Riparian species and those that require more than our average 7” annual precipitation benefit from drip irrigation. Unsure of the water needs of your plant? Check out what we grow for the water needs of each species!

Late Winter in the Native Garden

Now’s the time to get some deep watering done! Give your plants a deep, long drink to help them maximize their root growth before they produce blooms and buds.

Winter Watering- Why?

Intro to Gardening with Natives: Where to Start

Here’s a brief summary of where to start when gardening with natives as well as some amazing additional resources. In our experience, planning and site preparation are the most important steps to ensure a successful planting.

Unsure of your site and what to plant? We offer consulting services! Contact us to learn more.

Further Resources

If you’re located in Benton, Franklin or Yakima County, check out the Heritage Garden Program for free site evaluations and plant lists.

Want to draw specific birds and pollinators to your garden? Check out National Wildlife Federations and Pollinator Partnership’s Planting Guides for information on which native plants attract specific pollinator species!

Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard is an inspiring book that highlights the relationships between native plants, pollinators, birds and humans and how we can thrive together by creating welcoming habitats in our backyards.

Intro to Gardening with Natives: How to Plant

Here’s a handy guide for planting! Remember that planting in fall or early spring is best for natives. If we’re experiencing a particularly dry winter, hand water once every 7-10 days to help your plantings establish. Enjoy watching your garden grow!

Intro to Gardening with Natives: What to Expect?

Drip irrigation and rock mulch around Oregon Sunshine (spring after fall planting year 2)

Further Reading/Resources

On Weeds: Check out your local noxious weed board for information on dealing with specific noxious weeds.

On Mulch: Mulching Basics from the California Native Plant Society

On Watering: Drip irrigation basics and a video on how to convert a sprinkler to drip irrigation.

Once Established: Maintaining a Native Garden

Here’s a brief overview of what to expect as maintenance in your native garden. Enjoy watching your garden grow!

Further Reading

Tree of Life Nursery in California has an in depth maintenance guide well worth the read.

Fall Foliage in the Desert- Inspiration for All seasons

Fall in the desert, is there anything more beautiful? As the air chills, some of our local flora are at their finest. Grey Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa), a rounded shrub, with cheery yellow flowers and soft grey stalks offer shelter and sustenance for pollinators. Snow Buckwheat (Eriogonum niveum), a low growing perennial, blankets the hillsides with showy snowlike blossoms that turn rusty as the weather cools. Hoary Aster’s (Dieteria canescens) purple flowers make a final appearance before turning into tiny white seed puffs that disperse in the wind. Green Rabbitbush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus), a low growing green shrub, boasts silver-grey seed heads that catch the winter sun in a most becoming way. Big Basin Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) towers over the others with it’s featherlike fragrant leaves. One of the largest in our shrub-steppe, this slow growing shrub can stand upwards of 9 ft tall and reach over 100 years old! All these plants work together to create habitat and shelter for pollinators and critters facing a long winter ahead.

Don’t forget, now’s the time to plant! We’re entering our rainy season which means native starts and seeds will need to get in the ground. That way, they’ll stay warm and hydrated while they build strong, deep root systems that will help them withstand the dry summer heat. Email us for available inventory if you feel inspired to add these drought tolerant fall bloomers to your garden.

Hand Painted Western Native Plant Notecards & Envelopes

We have charming hand-painted watercolor note cards featuring western native plants for sale! These colorful cards are 3x3 and blank inside. They were created by local artist, Amelia Fuhrman, who studies environmental science at Western Washington University.

1 for $5.00

3 for $12.00

Feel free to contact us for more information!

Interested in collecting your own seed?

We were happy to present what we’ve learned about collecting and germinating native seed at the Fall 2019 Heritage Garden Workshop! We covered where and how to collect, how to make sure your seed is ripe and worth collecting, the basics of pre-treatment for germination, and our germination soil recipe. Click the picture below to view!

Can’t make it out to collect? Check out our new seed packs! Currently available we have Native Blanket Flower, Lewis’ Blue Flax, Munro’s Globemallow, and Rocky Mountain Penstemon.

Have any questions? Please reach out to us!