Happy Pollinators Week; Let's BIOBLITZ! |
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We’re curious how popular WinterCreek Nursery is with pollinators, so we’re having our first annual BIOBLITZ to count and identify as many of our insect friends as we can in a few hours! We’ll be providing instructions, education, refreshments, and the chance to ask local experts about pollinators and other insects. Be some of the first Citizen Scientists to document the diversity of insect life at a native plant nursery! When: Saturday, June 29 from 11am-3pm Where: WinterCreek Nursery Cost: FREE
Eventbrite Registration Link This event is limited to 20 participants. |
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This week is packed with opportunities to learn about pollinators and the plants they love. Stop by Bend's Worthy Brewing or Franklin's Corner Community Garden for a Worthy Environmental Native Plant Walk, visit the Sunriver Wildflower Show and Pollinator Festival, hosted by the Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory and the High Desert Chapter of the Native Plant Society, or sign up for a hike with the Deschutes Land Trust.
Did you know that Oregon is home to over 500 species of native bees? Check out the Oregon Bee Project to learn more! And as always, the Bend chapter of the Pollinator Pathway is an excellent resource for anyone interested in conservation of the insects that are "responsible for the reproduction of over 75% of the world's flowering plants as well as every third bite of food we eat." (Pollinator Pathway Bend)
The video below was recorded a couple of weeks ago, and captures the incredible air traffic around a mature Creamy Buckwheat (Eriogonum heracleoides). The Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak (Satyrium tetra) is a butterfly exclusively hosted by its namesake tree (which is our featured plant this month!). |
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Upcoming Classes: Save the Dates! |
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Watch your inbox for a class registration link in the next few weeks... |
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Introduction to Native Plant Landscaping with Rick Martinson, PhD (HDHC Founder)
When: Saturday, July 13 from 9am - 11am Where: WinterCreek Nursery Cost: $40 |
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Native Plants 101 with Ben Snyder
(WinterCreek Nursery manager & VP of Central Oregon Chapter of the Native Plant Society) When: Saturday, July 27 from 9am - 11am Where: WinterCreek Nursery Cost: $40 |
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Plant highlight:
Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius) |
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Curl Leaf Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius) is a hardy evergreen shrub or small tree that is native to desert mountains and sloped, rocky areas throughout Oregon and the Western United States. These beautiful members of the rose family, sometimes affectionately called "hogs" for short, grow slowly to about twenty feet tall and can serve many purposes in horticultural contexts. In spring they produce small clusters of white flowers, which mature into dry fruits tipped with fuzzy, corkscrewed "tails" (actually the remnant style of the flower) that assist in wind dispersing the seeds and driving them into the soil. Mountain Mahoganies in seed can really stick out as puffy, white clouds dotting our mountain slopes! In part due to their slow growth and very dense wood, these plants can live for several hundred or even more than a thousand years in the right conditions - so the mahogany you plant today will be enjoyed by many human generations to come!
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Propagating with Cuttings at WinterCreek |
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Some of the plants we produce at WinterCreek are propagated through vegetative cuttings; an asexual method that produces clones (duplicates) of the parent plant. This technique is a method commonly used for many conventional landscape plants, but is a method we try to minimize in our own nursery. The reason is that vegetative propagation limits the genetic diversity that is critically important for ecosystem health and function, but it is a viable option when seed is not available (birds beat us to ripe fruit) or for species that require extreme measures to overcome seed dormancy. When growing plants from cuttings, each new plant is genetically identical to the parent plant and lacks the genetic diversity inherent in seeds.
It’s much like you and your siblings. While you and your brothers and sisters are a product of the blending of the genetic code of your parents, each of you have your own genetic makeup and are not identical to either your parents or your siblings (unless, of course, you’re an identical twin!).
That genetic variability helps ensure the health, vigor, and ability to reproduce (fitness) of a species and is as important in plants as it is in people. Maintaining genetic diversity in the plants we grow is one of the main objectives at WinterCreek Nursery. Currently, only about 10% of our plants are produced through cuttings, and most of the other 90% are produced by seed collected by our staff or purchased from companies like the Deschutes Basin Native Plant Seedbank. A small percentage of our stock is purchased from other native plant propagation nurseries.
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WaterWise Field Day Recap |
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The City of Bend's Water Conservation department hosted its second annual WaterWise Landscape Field Day on June 8th at Hollinshead Park.
WinterCreek and Great Basin nurseries supplied the native plants for a community give-away. The city's Water Conservation Department, SZABO Landscape Architecture, and the Central Oregon Master Gardeners presented on the topics of waterwise landscape design and high-efficiency irrigation, and registrants enjoyed brief Q&A sessions with local designers (Carlseng Designs, Dappled Earth, Heart Springs Design & Your Garden Companion). HDHC and these vendors shared info and resources: Bend Fire and Rescue Own Your Zone, Bend Urban Gardens, Central Oregon Lawn Center, High Desert Mulching, Horizon, MoonFire and Sun, Oregon Bee Atlas, OSU Master Gardener, and Pollinator Pathway Bend.
Keep an eye out next June for this great event! City of Bend Water Conservation Resources |
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We are currently recruiting for mission-aligned individuals with strategic and implementation skills, a commitment to DEI, and expertise in fundraising and/or finance. This is a working board focused on strategy and growth through the start-up phase. See our listing on Connect Central Oregon for more information.
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| This month we welcomed several new volunteers to the nursery, and we are so grateful for your support! There's nothing quite like working with a team that is eager to make a difference, with or without a paycheck. We have a couple spots left if you're interested in volunteering. Contact Sophie for more information. |
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Your member contributions help support our nursery operations, public outreach, and educational programs tailored to homeowners, industry professionals, and the general public. In turn, you get great discounts! |
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Term of the day: "Nativar"
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Nativars are cultivars of native plants. They have been bred or selected for desirable characteristics (uniform size, color, bloom time, etc.) and propagated using asexual methods such as cuttings, root culture, grafting, tissue culture or other methods that produce clones of the parent plant. Sometimes nativars are selections from naturally occurring hybrids or genetic “sports” that are vegetatively propagated for specific desirable characteristics.
Native plants are defined by the Oregon Flora as a plant that was an element of the Oregon flora prior to European settlement, a recently described taxon found in Oregon, and/or a taxon disjunct in Oregon if it is considered native in a nearby state; all of which established in the landscape independent of direct or indirect human intervention. Native plants differ from Nativars in the natural variation that occurs in a species. Things like bloom time, color, size, or seed ripening and dispersal. The variation inherent in true native species helps ensure survival.
The High Desert Horticultural Center encourages the use of Native Plants to promote biodiversity and ecological health in gardens and landscapes, and to maintain the genetic diversity essential to a healthy ecosystem. |
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