Today was a great day for adding natives to the yard. I planted about 50 seedlings/starts today, mostly large-leaved avens, fringecups, and a few red-flowered currants. Some were planted in the woodland garden, some in front of the orchard garden, and some in the native plant garden.
The seeds that I planted over the winter are still sprouting; some are looking strong, particularly the columbine and monkey flower plants.
It looked like the Douglas asters were ready to be propagated by cuttings today so I took about 24 cuttings placed in 4″ pots. They wilted almost immediately, however, so I may not have the timing exactly right. I will try again next weekend if it appears they may not make it. There are hundreds of plants to propagate from in the native plant garden.
I took three Viola adunca seedlings to Stuart, a neighbor two doors down, who is working hard to landscape his yard with native plants. He has made a lot of progress but also experienced a lot of challenges and learning. It is inspiring to see how hard he is trying and how happy he is with his successes. He has a lot more natives than I do, including lots of grasses, sedges, Oregon sunshine, lupines, and more. Our native plant community of two yards feels powerful. He says he already is seeing more caterpillars in his garden after less than two years.