Native Plant Sale

Native Plants for Native Birds
By Ann Littlewood, Audubon Volunteer and Tom Costello, Sanctuaries Director

Native Plant Sale 08 Family - Carol Gross

Spring has returned! Leaves are out, flowers are blooming, and birds are singing. What better way to celebrate the beauty of our region than nature-scaping your home with native plants? Native plants are adapted to grow in our soils and climate, require less care than exotic ornamentals, and provide habitat for birds and other native wildlife. Come to Portland Audubon’s 13th annual Native Plant Sale Saturday, May 16 & Sunday, May17, 10 AM – 4 PM, stock up on plants, and support our restoration efforts in our sanctuaries.

Once again our sale boasts over 100 species of native trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, bulbs, grasses, and vines to enhance your yard, garden, or acreage. As always we will have our wonderful shopping lists on hand, painstakingly compiled by long-time Audubon volunteer Gregg Everhart. Our shopping lists provide a wealth of information on all of the plants available: typical size, growing conditions, habitat value, and even the color of the flower and fruit type. You can use the shopping list to find out what will grow in that moist, shady back corner of your yard, or which plants will help you attract butterflies and hummingbirds. More comprehensive information on individual plants is posted above plants themselves, including photographs of the plant in bloom.

As always fine team of knowledgeable volunteers will also be on hand to help answer any and all of your botanical questions. This year we will also feature an information booth with staff from our Backyard Habitat Certification Program. In addition to all the great information on native plants you can come get the big picture on nature-scaping, rain gardens, invasive plant removal, and more. Turn your own yard into a wildlife sanctuary! The 4 County Cooperative Weed Management Area is also planning on setting up a table with information on managing and removing invasive plants form your yard.

We are pleased to offer two free workshops on Saturday May 16th :

•    What is the connection between rainwater runoff, habitat and a healthy, beautiful garden? Join Amy Whitworth of Plan-It-Earth Design in a discussion of rain gardens, or bio-swales, for your home.  A rain garden combines the right plants with the right location for a pleasing garden feature that enhances populations of beneficial insects, birds and wildlife. Find out if a rain garden is right for your yard. Bring your questions and ideas!

•    Beginning with our own small corner of the earth we can make choices that  honor our fellow creatures & plants, leaving a vibrant balanced earth for future generations.  Kathryn Leech, APLD, River City Gardens, will discuss sustainable practices that can be incorporated your garden building process.

If you are not overloaded on information yet, A wonderful selection of books on native plants, wildlife, and nature-scaping will be available at our Nature Store.  We will also have a slide show running in Heron Hall showing ideas for using native plants in the landscape, and we will have a small assortment of teas and other products made from plants native to our region.

Can’t wait until the weekend? Join Metro naturalist and interpretive planner Deb Scrivens  Tuesday, May 12, 7 PM, in Heron Hall for a presentation on ethnobotany, the study of how humans use plants. Deb’s presentation will focus on plants native to our region and how they have been, and continue to be used, by people for food, shelter, tools, and more.