Our Bedrock

Mission Statement: Gardens and programs that inspire, educate, and enrich our lives and our community.

Purpose Statement: To educate and encourage citizens on the importance of developing, restoring, maintaining and conserving wildlife habitat, and the native plants that comprise that habitat.

Membership:
Welcome new members!! We hope to see you at our monthly classes and upcoming events.

Renewal Information:
Thanks to those who have renewed and have done so continuously and generously. Memberships/Renewals help support our organization to maintain the gardens!

Renewal notices will be emailed during the month in which it is due. Due to circumstances, it is currently the more expeditious and cost-effective method.

Note:
Though you may still choose to mail in payments, we can now accept memberships and renewals online with this link: Membership/Renewals. (Note: It is possible to use credit/debit cards in lieu of a PayPal account. If it asks you to log in with a one time code, choose the option of “try another way” and then you can choose credit/debit card and go from there.)

To help us cover our processing costs for the convenience of using online payments, it is necessary to include those costs in our online membership fees. Amounts remain the same as before for checks/cash.

Separate donations can also be transacted online!
Donations/Memorials.

August Class

Please review the attached flyer for our class at the CASEE Center on Saturday August 15th at 10:00am ~ entitled Steep & Soak: Herbal Spa Hours ~ conducted by Erin Harwood and Eloyce O’Connor Co-Owners of Garden Delights Herb Farm (gardendelightsfarm.com)

Join us for a morning of herbal skincare making! We’ll talk about simple herbs, easy to grow, that can be transformed into nourishing skincare products. Get hands-on making your own take-home creations — perfect for pampering yourself or gifting.

Please let me know via email if you would like to attend this class to ensure proper chair set up and materials–members are always welcome.

July Class – Recap
If you attended the class on Avian Super Powers! conducted by Brandon Burger, Backyard Bird Shop Vancouver (www.backyardbirdshop.com) you no doubt learned a few new things about our feathered friends! We found out the answer to the question (among others) “do you see what I see”? Not even close! Of course Brandon was as fascinating as ever.

Garden Work Parties

It’s off to work you go and hopefully you’ll be whistling a merry tune while spending a few hours volunteering–we could really use your help! On work days (some Saturdays and weekdays) volunteers are guided by one of our garden coordinators to work on needed tasks/projects in the various gardens. We have a sign-up system using SignUpGenius. Additional sign up dates will be routinely added. To sign up to work on listed days, here is the link: SignUpGenius.

Garden Tidings

**Cultivating Community: Welcoming the Ridgefield Garden Club (contributed in part by Julia Maglione).

Nearly 30 people from the Ridgefield Garden Club (see pic) visited the gardens on Thursday, July 16th. Many are newcomers to the PNW and were visiting the gardens for the first time. They were greeted by NW Natives Garden Co-Coordinator Julia and Hummingbird Garden volunteer Coco, who answered questions specific to their gardens as well as overall inquiries. The group loved the gardens and as they left were already making plans to visit again with family and friends.

Evidence of their appreciation was (in part) expressed in  a lovely card we received: “A sincere thank you to the whole team that creates and maintains the beautiful NatureScaping gardens. Our recent tour of the gardens was inspiring, informative and FUN!” Included with the card, on behalf of the Ridgefield Garden Club was a generous donation that they hoped “will help you continue your mission.” A big THANK YOU from us!
**Anne Bulger recaps our August Garden Ambassador Walk ‘n Talk: Discovering Nature with iNaturalist
On Saturday, August 1, NatureScaping welcomed ten enthusiastic participants for a Garden Ambassador Walk ‘n Talk, “Using iNaturalist to Notice the Nature Around Us,” led by Anne Bulger, WSU Clark County Master Gardener, OSU Intermediate Master Melittologist, and Washington Bee Atlas volunteer.
Participants enjoyed a relaxed, hands-on introduction to using the iNaturalist app to photograph and identify plants, insects, and other wildlife while contributing valuable observations to a worldwide community science project. Throughout the morning tour, thoughtful questions and lively discussions reflected everyone’s curiosity about native bees, pollinators, and the remarkable biodiversity found throughout the gardens.
To complement our observations, participants explored several educational displays, including:
  • Native bee display boxes illustrating the different ways different bee species collect pollen.
  • Comparisons of several leafcutter bee species, highlighting the surprising range of sizes within the same bee family.
  • A bumble bee displayed alongside one of its remarkable fly mimics.
  • A comparison of paper wasps and yellowjackets, helping participants recognize key differences between these commonly encountered insect pollinators
  • A Washington Bee Atlas collection box filled with professionally labeled native bee specimens, providing a close-up look at many of the species found in southwest Washington.

Participants also learned how native bees are surveyed for the Washington Bee Atlas. Demonstrations included several capture methods used by researchers and trained volunteers, how bees are safely collected for identification, and how survey data help improve our understanding of Washington’s native bee diversity and distribution.
The gardens became an outdoor classroom as participants practiced making observations with iNaturalist and learned how each observation contributes to a growing body of scientific knowledge used by scientists, land managers, and conservation organizations. From flowering plants to pollinating insects, every stop along the walk offered another opportunity to slow down, observe carefully, and discover something new.
Thank you to everyone who participated with such enthusiasm and curiosity. NatureScaping’s Garden Ambassador Walk ‘n Talks continue to inspire visitors to connect more deeply with the natural world, one observation at a time.

**NatureScaping will have a display at the Clark County Fair August 7-16 at the fairgrounds 17402 NE Delfel Road in Ridgefield, WA 98642 in the Exhibit Hall. If you are there on the days we are manning our table…come say “hi”.

Did you notice?

 **Something new was recently installed into the Hummingbird Garden. One of the volunteers for that garden said: “We installed the bubbler today and are happy with the way it turned out. A few bees and a butterfly have already visited.” Doesn’t take long for wildlife to find the good stuff! See pic.

**A transplanted tree grows in the Hummingbird Garden–a Red Tiger Maple. It was donated to us by Larry (see pic). A garden volunteer said: “He loved the tree that he had on his patio in a pot. He delivered it to the garden upright in his truck with such care. He dug and planted the tree. Hummingbirds are known to love it so we found the perfect spot for it. The plant tag is in the ground next to it for the exact name.” Come see for yourself!

Sharing…..

Have comments/stories/pictures to share? Let others know about your experiences–pass them along.

Flyers

Always striving to best share information, our standard flyers in display boxes at the gardens are now on our website.

Booklet

With funding from a Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS) grant and with many volunteer hours from committee members (you know who you are) a longtime dream has been fulfilled.
We have created a free 52-page booklet as an educational tool that includes dozens of high-quality photos, descriptions and other information regarding native plants found at The Wildlife Botanical Gardens and reasons to incorporate them in your landscape. Here is the link to finding it on our website:

Comments:

From Google Business:
**Erica–5 stars & comment: “Peaceful,beautiful. Definitely worth the visit.”
**Beth–5 starts & photosFrom Comment Cards:
**Opales–Excellent rating & Comment: “I like to sit on the benches.”
**Anonymous–Comment: Great weeding program on streetside beds.”From Geocache: (see note) Two recent finds!
**KC0HEV
Log Type: Found it
Date: 07/22/2026
Location: Washington, United States
Type: Multi-cache
“I work right down the street and finally made time for this one. Great location. I enjoyed walking the gardens. TFTC”**Cytogirl79
Log Type: Found it
Date: 08/03/2026
Location: Washington, United States
Type: Multi-cache
“Beautiful first visit and birthday find! Made the teens walk! Totally fun and beautiful garden.”Note: The Geocache program is a treasure hunt that people from around the world are drawn to–we have one at the gardens. If you want to learn more about Geocaching, and our cache visit our Geocaching web page.**Want to see some great garden photos? Photo sharing is possible at NS WBG 2025-2026 Occasionals.

Nature Quote of the Month

From Anne Frank: “I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”

Stay cool and enjoy!