Posted by Sandi
In case you haven’t noticed yet, I’m a native plant buff. When I moved from Florida to Orcas I was excited to start learning about the extraordinary native plants here in the Pacific Northwest. Our property is sloped and rocky, partially wooded, with moss and deer everywhere. So gardening with natives has turned out to be both practical and rewarding. An even bigger benefit, though, is conserving and promoting biodiversity. (Read this article to fully understand why this is so important.) I thought I’d share a few of my most-used resources and links:
This hand-illustrated guide is no longer on the Wallace H Hansen website, but I have a pdf copy I can share.
- By far my favorite site has to be Wallace W Hansen’s Northwest Native Plants in Oregon. Check out their downloadable 75-page Native Plant Catalog (also available as an online index) and their monthly Journals. I also love their 49-page Garden Planner which is beautifully illustrated by Wally’s daughter.
- The King County Native Plant Guide has sample landscape plans and you can compile and save a custom list of plants.
- You’ll find the most detailed reference info and identification photos at Dept. of Horticulture at Oregon State University.
- The Washington Native Plant Society has a fine website and member benefits
My hard-copy library includes the following:
- Wild Plants of the San Juan Islands – Atkinson/Sharpe
- Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest – Kruckeberg
- Native Plants in the Coastal Garden – Pettinger/Costanzo
- Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest – Link
I just had a fantastic onsite consultation this week with Michael Budnick and Laura Gibbons of Northwest Concepts. They are the go-to native plant landscapers in the San Juan Islands. I’m going to start implementing some of their ideas this fall and will post updates.
Got any favorite native plant resources? Please share!
Looking to enjoy the simple life on beautiful Orcas Island?
Contact T Williams Realty – we’ll help you find your way home.
Very interesting stuff! Kudos to you guys for keeping it native. We look forward to checking out your comprehensive resources. Thanks Sandi!
One of the best things that came out during our site visit with Budnick is that we found alot of the native plants I want are already here, but the deer are munching them into bonsai! So first priority is deer fencing.