Author: admin

I decided to highlight a critter every day from my yard to highlight the organisms that bless me with their presence since I started planting native flora. I realize this will be a significant undertaking, and I am already behind schedule. I am really looking forward to it!

I’m kicking off with birds that are my constant companions in the garden now, dark-eyed juncos (Junco hymenalis).

The dark-eyed junco is a variable species that is widely distributed in the mainland U.S., Alaska, and Canada. They can be 5″ to 7″ long. Around my house, the females resemble the bird above, and the males resemble the one below.

The birds appear completely different in other areas of their range, with 14 to 15 subspecies described, including morphs in the following groups: slate-colored, white-winged, brown-backed, pink-sided, gray-headed, and red-backed. Isn’t evolution amazing!

These juncos forage on the ground, and in winter can be seen foraging in groups. Their diet is made up of seeds and insects, with insects dominating during the breeding season and as the diet for young birds. Berries are also occasionally on the menu.

While they normally nest in a 4″ diameter cup-like nest on the ground, the nests can be found low in trees, or in various out-of-the-way places (and sometimes very in-the-way places) around homes and yards, like in window boxes and hanging baskets. The eggs can vary in appearance, but the local ones appear mostly white with some dark speckles. They hatch in 12-13 days. Baby birds fledge in less than two weeks. Pairs will produce multiple broods each year. I had a pair I named June and Pete (my parents’ names) that bred in our yard last spring/summer and had at least three broods.

The reason I wanted to honor these birds as my first Critter-A-Day post is that they are doing so well in my yard lately. I see them all the time and often have multiple pairs nesting around the property during the spring/summer. Several times, they’ve made nests in my greenhouse in hanging baskets and in the neighbor’s window boxes. They also nested right on the ground in the native plant garden last year. They bring a lot of interest and cheer to the garden, always busy and always watching. They are handsome birds, too, dressed in Seattle colors, but making them somehow very showy.

Some juncos migrate south, or down mountains, and some do not. It depends on the weather and can vary from year to year. I’m grateful they seem to stick around my yard pretty much all the time!

The impacts of urbanization have been studied in a population of dark-eyed juncos in California, and the results are fascinating. The urban populations, over what appears to have been just 20-30 generations, have developed a higher tolerance for heavy metals. Heavy metals are a dangerous obstacle for city birds, so this genetic tolerance allows the birds to overcome this danger.

In addition, this group of juncos has a gene that supports higher-pitched calls. This trait is beneficial in city environments with low-frequency urban noises that drown out lower-pitched bird calls.

I hope you all will look around for these unassuming little birds that are adapting to our neighborhoods and succeeding in our gardens. Plant some native shrubs for them to perch in, and some small trees from which they can launch their trilling songs. And most of all, leave the garden debris on the ground because the insects they need are hiding there, and watching these efficient little hunters find them is an unmatched joy.

The tradition of sowing native plant seeds between Christmas and New Year’s is alive and well here at the Peterson pseudo-nursery. Since late summer, I have collected seeds, placed them with moist soil in plastic bags, and stashed them in a refrigerator drawer, just waiting for this week. And I was particularly good at collecting this year! Look at this bunch of seeds waiting for sowing!

I prepped some soil, adding fir needles from the garden and some soil from under the Douglas fir that should have lots of mycelium in it!

Here are a few of the planted seed pots in their fancy gift bag covers.

The seeds include locally collected osoberry, Oregon grape, snowberry, native roses, Douglas asters, Puget gumweed, fleabane, dogwood, madrona, western columbine, western bleeding heart, vine maple, red alder, western red cedar, and others.

I love this tradition, as it celebrates native plants and gives me something to look forward to as the days start to lengthen. Some of the refrigerated seeds were already sprouting, including the Collinsia and Lupine seeds. They are so hardy, the refrigerator feels like spring to them!

If there are decent germination rates, I will be potting on seedlings madly for the rest of my days! I hope! That is my retirement dream!

I encourage anyone reading this to plant some native plants this week between Christmas and New Year’s to celebrate! Planting native seeds holds the promise of spring and the promise of healthy local ecosystems! Happy 2026!

Summers seem so hot and dry here in Seattle now that the long-awaited break in the weather is cause for celebration. It is also a trigger for lots of work!

Based on the weather, it is safe to plant out native seedlings/starts now for the fall planting season. I clawed back some of the Leymus grass in our native plant garden and planted the recovered ground with yarrows, monkey flowers, blue-eyed grass, Oregon sunshine, and lupines.

While I was digging, I found this gorgeous little guy. Caterpillars are like platinum when it comes to food webs–they are incredibly valuable! So excited to see this one!

I set about 20 seedlings out on my free plant wall of blue-eyed grass, yarrow, columbines, and lupines. It took a few days, but the neighbors took them all. One woman caught me gardening later and thanked me for them. She was excited to get a new western columbine, as she had one that perished. She was excited to try the blue-eyed grass, too. It was nice to hear her enthusiasm.

I am excited to start even more native plants in 2026. I have been gathering seeds from nearby natives and have ordered a bunch of seeds from Etsy and other sources, as well. I will be trying multiple stratification methods this year, along with my usual holiday week seed planting event to ensure I get lots and lots of seedlings to plant and give away. I didn’t count all the plants I gave away this year, but I would guess it was close to 100 total…I will hope to more than double that next year. Little by little, my free native nursery will make a difference!

My recent interest in photography now includes using a macro lens to get closer to flowers and the little things that run the world (insects).

This week, on a Douglas aster bloom, I saw a cute little bee and got some photos. It wasn’t until I was reviewing the captures that I realized how amazing the little guy was! He is a male metallic green bee, from what I can tell, and it looks like he’s been dusted in gold.

People do not realize that bees have five eyes, but you can see the three eyespots on top of this guy’s head.

Native plants bring in amazing bees like this!

I found many other pollinators around the garden. It is a fun time to wander the garden with a macro lens.

Getting organized enough to propagate all the native plants I want to increase seems like a bigger challenge every year. I asked ChatGPT to create a calendar for me, and this is what was produced. I plan to follow the advice here and start collecting seeds in my own yard and in plantings around the area. Stratifying seeds in sand in the refrigerator seems like a great option to try and increase success, so I’ll try that this year as well.

King County Native Seed Calendar (Full Cycle) 

Plant	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr
Madrone			Collect seed	Start stratification	Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification			Sow after stratification
Osoberry			Collect seed	Start stratification	Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification			Sow after stratification
Western dogwood				Start stratification	Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification
Oceanspray	Collect seed	Collect seed;		Start stratification	Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification		Sow after stratification
Ninebark	Collect seed	Collect seed		Start stratification	Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification		Sow after stratification
Douglas aster	Collect seed	Collect seed	Direct sow		Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification	Sow indoors	Pot up seedlings
Western columbine	Collect seed	Collect seed	Direct sow		Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification	Sow indoors	; Pot up seedlings
Puget gumweed			Direct sow		Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification	Sow indoors	Start in pots or direct sow
Red alder	Collect seed	Collect seed;		Start stratification	Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification		Sow after stratification	Pot up seedlings
Oregon grape			Collect seed	Start stratification	Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification		Sow after stratification
Red osier dogwood			Collect seed	Start stratification	Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification			Sow after stratification
Fringecup	Collect seed	Collect seed	Direct sow	Start stratification	Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification	Sow indoors	Pot up seedlings	Sow after stratification
Geum macrophyllum	Collect seed	Collect seed	Direct sow	Start stratification	Maintain stratification	Maintain stratification	Sow indoors	Pot up seedlings	Sow after stratification

The seed collecting began last month when I started harvesting seeds from geum, western columbine, and Douglas aster in our yard. I can be more focused with a tool like this! I’m eager to see how it enhances germination.

ChatGPT might help with a vegetative propagation calendar. I will check on that next!

Spring may be the season that comes to mind when we think of renewals, but late summer is a very close second in my native propagation efforts. Late summer is the time when cuttings are striking, and seeds are germinating. It is the season when I dedicate my time and energy to individually potting cuttings and seedlings, hoping they will grow into strong transplants that can be planted in the garden this fall.

I might have been a bit premature in potting the red-flowered currant cuttings on. Some of them had numerous roots, while others had none at all. I chose to pot them all on to 4″ pots, knowing that even those that are slower will get roots any day. Sometimes I make choices based on capacity. Would I have time to get back to these cuttings and pot them on later? Maybe not. So I took a chance.

The redder red-flowered currant cuttings that I took a week later did not get potted on. I will work on them in mid-September. The other native cuttings are on hold, as well, until their roots are fully formed, including salmon berry, philadelphus, and osoberry. The cuttings are still showing strong signs of life (big leaf buds), so I remain hopeful they will strike in the next few weeks.

Regarding seedlings, the Mahonia (Berberis) aquifolium seedlings are strong, and I thought it made sense to move them to individual or small group pots so they can be transplant-ready next spring.

Regarding favorite native perennials, I would be hard-pressed not to choose Douglas aster or Puget gumweed. Oh sure, Western trilliums are striking, and fringecups put on an elegant show, but the asters and gumweeds put on an amazing late summer spectacle for months that pleases human eyes and meets pollinator needs.

May to early July is the best timing for softwood cuttings of shrubs. I left it a bit late this year, but I’m hoping that a few days will not render my efforts worthless.

This morning, I prepped some larger six packs with potting soil. I clipped 4″ to 6″ branch tips from red-flowered currants, Lewis’ mock orange, salmon berry, and osoberry.

Immediately, I removed any lower leaves, dipped about an inch-and-a-half in rooting gel, poked holes in the six packs, and poked the cuttings in. I tapped the pots on the potting bench and made sure each cutting was secure.

In my experience, keeping the cuttings shaded and moist is critical to their success. Given the high temperatures this time of year, I elected not to put them in the greenhouse. Instead, I placed them in trays with about half an inch of water and set them on the ground in the yard in a quiet, shady spot. The trays will get refilled every time I water the potted plants, usually twice a week.

I would expect these cuttings to have strong roots within a month. I will pot them into 4″ pots at that time and ultimately, they can be set out in the garden in the autumn.

I have had success with red-flowered currant and salmon berry in the past. The osoberry and mock orange are experimental. I will update once the rooting is obvious!

There are about 4,000 species of native bees in the US. When you mention bees to most folks, they picture honey bees or black and yellow bumblebees. In late summer and fall, yellowjackets are top of mind for anyone trying to eat outside. Imagine, there are 3,997 other kinds of bees of every shape and size in this country!

I want to get close up and familiar with the native bees around Seattle. That is one benefit to planting native, for sure. But bees can often make a living on non-native ornamentals, or at least they hang out around them. I took some photos today of just a few of the bees and flies in my ornamental memory garden. There are some amazing creatures around!

Along with the beautiful bees, butterflies have begun to appear around the garden. Aside from cabbage whites, butterflies are uncommon around the neighborhood. As I’ve posted before, skipper butterflies are one of the target species for my native plant activities. Other butterflies are exciting and welcome, too!

I saw the below Lorquin’s admiral in our garden yesterday. It had some bird damage to its wing, but it was beautiful nonetheless, and was aggressively defending its territory.

The most amazing butterfly appeared on my dog walk today at Ingraham High School, just a block from our house. In 30 years in this neighborhood, I have never seen a blue butterfly! And here was an echo azure.

I am going to research larval food for this species and target them, now, too!

We focus so much on flowers when we think of plants, but seed structures can be incredible, too.

One of the biggest lessons my ‘If You Plant It’ journey has taught me is the importance of patience. I am familiar with growing ornamental plants from seed, and they tend to be quick and easy. Growing native plants from seed can be more exacting and much slower. But wow! The effort and wait are truly worth it.

These Erigeron speciosus plants are three years old from seed. They were big enough to bloom last year, but they threw blind stems (stems that appear exactly like flower stems but end up with no buds or flowers).

They are spectacular this year! Amazing! So very worth the wait.

Here are some other native plant images from around the garden. It is a boisterous time of year!

Native plants around the area are lovely this year. I have been taking photos of them as they grow and bloom. Below is a photo dump of some of my favorite images from my garden and beyond.

I believe the dark-eyed juncos that were nesting in the native plant garden started their second nest/brood in my greenhouse. There is a junco nest there with attentive parents and babies that have just hatched. Here is the mother. I call her June.

This is the hanging basket that June chose for her nest.

There is a pair of black-capped chickadees nesting in our old raccoon bird box in the orchard garden. They are busy all day finding food for their brood.