Lately, I have seen many opportunities around the city to add native plants. My biggest challenge is having enough plants to share with people and to add to various sites that need natives. I hope to have enough strong starts this autumn to meet the need.
On the Fourth of July, used the holiday time to transplant a few hundred native seedlings. I ended up with trays full of Douglas aster, Large-leaved avens, and fringecup! About 72 seedlings of each!
It is not ideal timing to transplant natives in the heat of summer. I will keep these babies in a shady site and keep them well-watered and well-fed.
In addition to the most recently transplanted seedlings, the earlier Lupine seedlings are growing well and are ready to plant out as soon as the weather cools and rains come.
The Douglas aster cuttings that I took early in the spring have done extremely well and are also ready to plant out.
There are more large-leaved avens left to transplant and also some native violets that I will tackle in the coming weeks. And it is softwood cutting season for the red-flowered currants and other shrubs–so many potential local food web plants!
Moths have been showing up for several months at the porch light. However, the larger, showier moths have been missing. Lately, with warmer weather, I am seeing more and more. Here is a favorite, a small magpie moth.
Here are some flowers from the native garden in June.
Above are checkermallows, fireweed, large-flowered collomia, native roses, Oregon sunshine, and a ladybird beetle and aphid on a Lupine.
My favorite June photo is of a native bee, the orange-rumped bumblebee I spotted in the raspberry patch.
The guardian of the native plant garden is Rafa, our dachshund/wire-haired terrier mix. He is on a constant vigil looking for squirrels, rabbits, and rats! My friend Dean took this amazing portrait–thanks, Dean!
