This autumn, more than any other, I am getting the message to "leave the leaves." It's almost as if the invertebrates who overwinter in organic debris have gotten a new publicist.   Our friends at the Xerces Society put the case in plain terms: "Where do insects and other invertebrates go in the winter? The vast majority 'overwinter,' or spend winter, right where they spent all summer—just less active and more hidden." I've never been an especially tidy gardener, so this exhortation to "lea ..read more

The following is a summary of my Master's thesis at Western Washington University, which has been partially funded by a research grant from the Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS). My work endeavors to identify a rare ice age refugium in the North Cascades of Washington state. Ice age refugia were ecologically stable areas that remained ice free during the Pleistocene glaciations. As a result, they offered a level of suitable conditions to host arctic species associated with the climate of th ..read more

As an avid grower of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and native plants, I have an ample supply of gardening books. In my experience, an introductory gardening book includes just enough information to inspire and motivate and then focuses on the plants and how to grow them. This new book, The Pacific Northwest Native Plant Primer: 225 Plants for an Earth-Friendly Garden by Kristin Currin and Andress Merritt, is authored by the owners of Humble Roots Native Plant Nursery in Mosier, OR. It is the perfec ..read more

Twentieth century philosopher Ronald Jager says "Picking wild berries is the sweetest and best of our vagrant summer pleasures." For those who agree, we have ample opportunity to engage in such distraction during our rambles in the lowlands of the Olympic Peninsula.   This can be practiced as trailside foraging without breaking stride or we can launch a full-scale assault with bucket, brush-beater, and armor. Part One commemorates the art, dangers, and rewards of blackberry foraging in ..read more

Don Schaechtel purchased his property in Leavenworth during the winter of 2008. All winter he eagerly awaited a bonanza of native plants blooming in the spring. Instead, the former pasture and orchard sprouted weeds. Thus began Don's journey in creating a native plant garden, which is now over an acre in size.   When asked why native plants, Don responded, "With a garden full of native plants, it never feels that I am far from wild places." Through his journey of converting the property to ..read more

The Olympic Peninsula Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS) is excited to be hosting Study Weekend 2024, offering hikes and workshops from coastal strands along the Salish Sea to alpine ridges of the Olympic Mountains, plus peak season for our State wildflower, the Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum)! Events will be based at 7 Cedars Hotel & Casino, owned and managed by the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe in Sequim, June 14–16. Lodging and camping for the event wi ..read more

Before I bought my house, just over 19 years ago, I adopted a corgi. I was determined to find a plot of land where I could restore a woodland habitat—and get some sleep, after two years of enduring a neighbor's nighttime snoring at my condo. I could not have predicted how that simple plan would change with the arrival of a dog.   One July day in 2004, I visited a friend's farm on the Stillaguamish River. Inside the house, six puppies huddled in a cardboard box on stained blankets; a pile of ..read more

In random order, here are seven things I am remembering with special fondness from the recent Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS) Study Weekend, "Into the North Cascades," hosted by Koma Kulshan Chapter. It was super fun to gather in person, and this was my first Study Weekend since 2000!   Seven decadesAt dinner on Saturday, during the Awards Ceremony, Don Schaechtel asked attendees to stand up according to their age group. We had participants from seven decades—people in their 80s to p ..read more

One of two peony species in North America, Brown's peony (Paeonia brownii) is a favorite plant to see in the wild, but it's a heartbreaker for gardeners and would-be peony hybridizers. Why it's choiceFor starters, it's just plain cool to look at. The clumps of leaves are a lovely gray-green—almost lavender—slightly leathery, up to a foot tall, and multiply dissected. Flowers grow mostly singly, face downward, and are about as unlike a frothy garden peony as you can imagine. They are smaller, for ..read more

Does it seem to you, sometimes, that learning about Washington's native plants also involves an equal effort to learn about the non-native invasive plants that are disrupting our state's ecology and economy? As if we could turn the mission statement of the Washington Native Plant Society on its head, so that it would read: To promote the control and removal of Washington's non-native invasive plants through study, education, advocacy, brute force, and fretting.  One of the best ways to deal ..read more