The Clark Conservation District’s upcoming annual native plant sale provides gardeners the opportunity to purchase high-quality plants native throughout the Pacific Northwest ahead of the planting season.
Customers will be able to submit online orders for plugs, bare root and potted plants beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26, through the Clark Conservation District’s Plant Sale store, clarkcd.org/native-plant-sale. Pickup of purchased plants will take place at Feb. 15 at the CASEE Center in Brush Prairie, 11104 NE 149th St., with selected times for pickup available.
When purchasing native plants during the upcoming Clark Conservation District’s sale, gardeners can buy native plants for a lower cost as each species they choose comes in bundles of five for roughly less than most nurseries sell one plant.
This year, the Clark Conservation District will be offering 37 species of native plants, with returning favorites like the blackcap raspberry. Other plants specific to Clark County include the Oregon white oak, Oregon iris, trillium and other important plants to the local and surrounding ecosystems.
“Native plants have a ton of different benefits,” said Mary Kinney, communications and outreach lead for the Clark Conservation District. “If you are somebody who doesn’t want to spend a bunch of money on your water bill in the summertime, for example, watering your plants, native plants are adapted to our climate. So [after] those really wet winters and very dry summers, they can still be very beautiful.”
Kinney said the red flowering currant is a great option for beginning gardeners. The currant is fairly easy to maintain, and when it blooms, it attracts a number of pollinators, especially hummingbirds including the Rufous hummingbird, she said.
Other plants to consider when diversifying habitat include goldenrod, a late-season blooming plant for pollinators; Ponderosa pine, a quick-growing conifer that is hardy to local conditions; and the Oregon white oak, a tree of concern as their oak savannas have declined along the Interstate 5 corridor.
For rain gardens, Kinney recommends planting blue-eyed grass. Contrary to its name, blue-eyed grass isn’t a grass species but a flowering plant ideal for native bees and other insects that frequent the wetland.
Quite a few plants being sold at this year’s sale feature edible berries, leaves and other parts of the plant with medicinal values, as well.
Kinney said the edible value of some of these plants are another benefit for planting native foliage because they pack a lot of value for native wildlife and pollinators.
“So, planting native plants help support the whole ecosystem that we live within from the insects and pollinators to the birds, to any other wildlife that you may have,” Kinney said. “Creating that patchwork in your yard or your garden or whatever can really greatly benefit wildlife and pollinators, and even fish and stuff like that if you have a stream near your property.”
Most of the plants endemic to the Pacific Northwest that are offered through the upcoming sale are also adapted to wildfire. Some flowering species’ seeds germinate at a higher success rate after a wildfire, which can be mimicked at home by boiling the seeds over the stove. The fire-tolerant plants can also rebound at a faster pace, helping support the regeneration of an ecosystem, Kinney said.
Other ecosystem benefits to native plants are they stabilize soil conditions; filter water in streams, rivers, ponds and beyond; purify air; and support wildlife, according to the district’s website. More information and resources about native plants can be found at clark cd.org/native-plants.
