Habitat Haven–It’s Time to Get Down and Dirty!

Fall is the best time of year to plant your native trees, shrubs and perennial flowers as well as to sow most wildflower seeds. Over the winter, plants focus their energy on developing deep root systems, which helps them tolerate our dry summers. Many wildflower seeds require exposure to cold. And water is provided by mother nature in the winter.

Our habitat program, Habitat Haven, will send out someone who is knowledgeable about native plants as well as about creating habitat for birds and pollinators. This person will spend about an hour discovering what you want from your yard and discuss how to achieve that. Soon after, you’ll receive a personalized report with recommendations for how to certify your yard, and much more.

We appreciate the support of our grantor, Upper Willamette Soil and Water Conservation District! uwswcd.org

Here are some important reasons for planting native plants:

• Butterflies and moths require native plants for their caterpillars to feed on. These are called host plants.
• Research shows that birds need native insects to feed their nestlings.
• Many nonnative plants are inedible to native insects, leading to a shortage of food for baby birds.
• Native wildflowers feed our pollinators better than most ornamental (hybrid) flowers. Some pretty flowers don’t even make pollen!
• Insects and plants evolved together over millions of years, and they are adapted to our local ecology. In other words, they belong here.
• Native plants are adapted to our wet winters and dry summers. They don’t require fertilizer and usually don’t need much summer water once established.

To find native plants, visit these vendors:

Mt. Pisgah Native Plant Nursery holds sales in spring and fall.

Doak Creek Nursery Open Saturdays year-round.

Trillium Gardens  Wholesale but is sometimes open to the public:

Benton SWCD native plant sale  Opens October 1st for winter sale.

Join our Habitat Haven community today!

Two participants had this to say:

“Worthwhile?! YES! I cannot wait for the fall to start planting and see the future habitat come to life!”

“Thank you, thank you! You all are amazing. I feel like I just got the best present ever!”