July may not be the ideal time to transplant native seedlings. My gardening calendar is imperfect, for sure, and often focuses more on when I have time rather than when the plants need attention. So, the last few days I have been potting some native seedlings on, including Puget gumweed, sticky cinquefoil, yarrow, Douglas aster, and Cornus sericea. There are many more to go, but most can wait for cooler, wetter weather. These particular seedlings seemed to be stalled out and desperate. I hope I haven’t done them any harm.
These are some seedlings I potted on weeks ago, including Osoberry and Ocean Spray. They appear to be settling into their new pots well and should be ready for a give-away event in the autumn.
My favorite little seedlings are the Pacific madrone tree seedlings, Arbutus menziesii.
And a lovely reminder of why we plant these landed in front of me while I watered some pots today–a single-dotted wave moth!
Probably the showiest native flower blooming in July is the fireweed clump in the native plant garden–just spectacular with the sun behind it. The stems are six feet tall or more.
This clump was started from a division my brother provided a few years ago. It seemed like it might be dying out, but then it spread nicely last year and has about ten stems now with loads of flowers.