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.
Welcome new members!! We hope to see you at our monthly classes and upcoming events.
And to those who have renewed–thank you so much! Memberships help support our organization and our gardens! Renewal notices (for the most part except for exceptionally large volume months in which case they are emailed) are sent out via USPS during the month in which it is due.
Note: We can now accept memberships and renewals online with this link: Membership/Renewals.
However, 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!
June Class
Saturday June 15th at 10:00am ~ entitled Soils are the Secret ~ conducted by Krista Lawrence, Landscape Designer, Garden Coach and owner of Petros Design (www.petrosdesign.com).
Soil is vital–it is the foundation to landscapes and gardens. We’ll learn about its importance and how to kickstart your soil’s health.
Krista Lawrence Bio:
I come from a family with a background in landscaping and ornamental plant nursery work in Ventura County, California. I pursued my education in horticulture, greenhouse management, and landscape architecture at California Polytechnic State University in the 1990’s.
Following my education and experience working in my family’s nursery, I went on to start my own perennial plant business in California. I eventually got married. My husband and I have been collaborating since 2001, managing landscaping and stone enterprises while raising 4 children. Currently we own Petros Design, which has designed and installed residential landscapes in Washington State for 5 years. Prior we consulted for other contractors as designers and project managers. In 2019, I earned my Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Science from Washington State University Vancouver. My strengths are in botany and terrestrial ecosystems.
I am passionate about sharing my knowledge and experiences with others, particularly about the crucial role soil ecosystems play in the health of our world and landscapes. In my presentation, I will delve into the intricacies of the soil ecosystem and explore the different factors that can either support or harm the relationships between plants and the soil.
My goal is to send my audience members on their own journey, to encourage the concept of full cycle thinking in our home landscapes, and to propose different ideas moving forward into a cleaner way of living in communion with other organisms. and the ecosystems in which we participate.
May Class–Recap
Our May Class entitled “Let’s Talk About Weeds” conducted by Pamela Moody, focused on discussing and identifying some of the types of common weeds you may encounter during spring/early summer. We answered some of the questions: What are weeds? What’s so bad about weeds? Where did weeds come from? and more. We learned that some have actual benefits in culinary and medicinal uses. We touched on the different classifications of noxious weeds in Washington State as well. Lots of interesting facts!
Saturday Morning Work Parties
Get your hands dirty and volunteer at the gardens! Our Saturday morning work parties (SMWP) are well underway and will last through October. Each Saturday morning (from 9:00am to noon) volunteers are guided by one of our garden coordinators to work on needed tasks/projects in the various gardens. Non-Saturday dates and other opportunities may also be available at times. 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
Art in the Garden
The 12th anniversary of Art in the Garden will be Sunday July 14th from 10am – 4pm. Various artists will be strategically located among the gardens and the Expansion Area behind the gardens, displaying and selling their creations. There will be a record 41 individual artists participating–many new and returning artists this year. We hope to have the yarn spinning demonstration back with us and some musicians to entertain. The Clark County Composters will be in their Demonstration area to the west of the gardens to answer your recycling and composting questions. Let’s hope for good weather!
Bulletin Board
Another beautiful poster adornes our bulletin board located on one of our sheds in the center of the gardens.
Thanks Rosemarie!
Garden Tidings……
Backyard Certification Program Garden Tour
On Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18, Meredith Hardin, Water Wise Coordinator, was tending the Garden and met with participants of the Backyard Habitat Certification Open Gardens Program to answer their questions regarding native plants for home landscaping. We had 9 participants visit the Water Wise Garden. The participants had great questions and shared with Meredith their journeys in gardening to meet the goals of this important certification program in restoring habitat for our native flora and fauna.
Meredith toured 3 home gardens on Sunday, May 19th that participated in this Open Gardens weekend. She observed and learned more about native plants, where they fit in home landscapes and the beauty and pleasure they provide to the homeowners. To learn more about this collaborative program between the Watershed Alliance of SW Washington, Columbia Land Trust and Bird Alliance of Oregon, go to: www.backyard habitats.org.
Shower and Wedding
June has just begun (more events to come) but we already had a bridal shower and a wedding at the gardens–both on the same day! Fortunately the weather cooperated.
Sharing……
Always striving to best share information, our standard flyers in display boxes at the gardens are now on our website. Find them referenced on the following pages:
https://naturescaping.org/the-gardens/
https://naturescaping.org/the-gardens/flying-flowers-garden/
https://naturescaping.org/the-gardens/hummingbird-place/
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:
https://naturescaping.org/resources/free-booklet/
Recent Comments:
Visits to the gardens are increasing as reflected by the comments….
*From Business Google:
Cory–5 star review
Kelly–5 stars & comment:
“This was an absolutely beautiful garden. The plants and landscaping are gorgeous, very cool how there are a lot of individual gardens with different “themes”.
Sloane–5 stars & comment:
“So pretty I could have spent the entire day there! ”
Yamon–5 stars & comment:
“This place is absolutely gorgeous. The different themed gardens are all created with such care. You can tell the people working on this care about it a ton. We went on a tour of flower farms and gardens and included this on our trip and it was one of the best places we saw.”
Amanda–5 star review & comment:
“This is a beautiful garden. The garden is funded by donations and kept up by volunteers. It’s definitely worth a visit. Great spot for pictures. Leave a donation to help keep this garden beautiful!”
Amanda Lee–5 star review
*From Comment Card:
Idette– –excellent rating & comments:
“My toddler and I enjoyed every bit of it. Great experience. :-)”
Nature Related Quote of the Month
Apropos for the upcoming first day of summer…
From George Santayana: “To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.”
Enjoy!