Constant Gardener

Be brave! Plant natives!

Using Native Plants As Infrastructure In this video we dive into a tiny forest that was created in one of the hottest climates in the US (South Texas) using the Miyawaki tiny forest method. This ...

Paris just transformed one of its busiest squares into an urban forest! Would you like to see your city turn concrete into forest too?

A recent trend in American Landscaping is referred to as "Lazy Xeriscaping", which consists of throwing trash and rocks on the ground after wrapping the soil in a layer of polyester w**d fabric, which leads to dead, compacted soil. Aside from looking like trash (because the ground is literally wrapped in plastic trash) and releasing plastic microfibers into the soil as the w**d fabric shreds and fractures over time, this leads to soil that is essentially lifeless since plant roots are the scaffolding which support beneficial microbes and lead to nutrient exchange and soil cycling. W**d fabric sucks. Please stop doing this. A layer of mowed w**ds is better than wrapping the ground in polyester fabric and covering it with rocks.

The month of July, I hiked along the Pacific Crest Trail. I started at Hwy 36, near Chester, CA. Today, that part of the trail is closed due to the Park Fire. It's hard to accept the fires. One after another. But life does return. It's a cycle. The amount of flowers and pollinators found in the Dixie fire scar were glorious! This beautiful native of the California Floristic Provence is called Penstemon rydbergii, Rydberg's Penstemon. I couldn't find it available for purchase anywhere. There were miles of it along the trail. All those seeds! It would be a gorgeous plant in a garden. I'll add gathering its seed to my list.
The juxtaposition of the charcoal black trunks, the blue sky, and the purple flowers is breathtaking.

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It's the last day to round up at the Support the with your change.
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"Romneya coulteri is one of the largest and showiest California poppies. Large white petals with a crinkled texture surround yellow stamens, giving this poppy a bright, cheerful appearance. Its flowers, which can be as large as 7 inches across, are attractive to bees and butterflies.

This plant can be challenging to establish, as it can suffer from both too much and too little water. Once established, however, it readily spreads by rhizomes and can soon outgrow its intended area. (Pulling shoots usually suffices to control it.) Plant in full sun in well-draining, sandy soil. Matilija Poppy is a low-water plant that does not need supplemental summer irrigation once established."
- Thanks Calscape.org for the great description 👍

The western serviceberry is in bloom at 2,400' on Roxy Anne. This one is dancing with an Oregon White Oak. I love it when plants dance; we get to imagine what their roots are doing in the soil, beneath our feet.

Serviceberry is a lovely shrub or small tree. The flowers are pure white and graceful. The shrub is upright and rounded, requiring 15-20' to spread out. Western Serviceberry can get tall, up to 35' if one wanted to enjoy it as a small tree. I prefer it as a shrub.

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It's April! It's Earth Month! We are celebrating all month long with our partnership with Long Walk Vineyard and Earth Day Oregon!

Purchase a new Wine Club Membership during the month of April and Long Walk Vineyard will make a donation to PPRV! Celebrate Earth Month and enjoy this lovely location and their excellent wine all year long! http://www.longwalkvineyard.com/club

PPRV is partnering with Long Walk Vineyard (LWV) thanks to Earth Day Oregon, a state-wide nonprofit that brings businesses and nonprofits together. With Earth Day Oregon, we are highlighting this amazing business and their sustainable business practices across the state.

Long Walk is one of the few organically certified vineyards in our area, meaning they don't use synthetic pesticides like Roundup or neonicotinoids, which are harmful to pollinators and the environment. In addition to making excellent and award-winning red wines, Long Walk has installed extensive plantings of a wide variety of native plants on this beautiful property over the last 4 years. Thank you, Kathy and Tim, for supporting our work - and the native pollinators!

Click here to learn more https://www.pollinatorprojectroguevalley.org/events/pprvearthmonth
Watch our short video here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KejNfmNZM6Y
Learn more about Long Walk Vineyard here http://www.longwalkvineyard.com

"Monardella villosa ssp. franciscana 'Russian River', Coyote Mint, Shrub, [Monardella franciscana]. (n.d.). Www.smgrowers.com. Retrieved October 18, 2023, from https://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=4554 Bornstein, C., Fross, D., & O’Brien, B. (2005). California Native Plants for the Garden." - calscape.org

Thanks to everyone who came out yesterday; your pizza purchases will help us at the and help more folks who lived through the Almeda Fire plant native pollinator gardens.
Thank you 🦋

We love designing gardens with 100% native plants. Rob and Louise will love hosting, feeding, and observing native pollinators, and we are so happy for them!