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! To those who have renewed your memberships (some at higher levels) and to those who made donations, thank you so much! Memberships help support our organization and our gardens!
Note: We can now accept memberships and renewals online! Membership/Renewals. People are starting to use this more frequently and we’ve especially gained more new members this way.
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!
March Class
Friday March 18th Zoom class at 4:00pm entitled ~ Soil Basics ~ presented by Arthur Fuller, Cowlitz County Master Gardener.
Great gardening starts with good soil with the right pH and nutrient levels. Join us for an online class to learn about the building blocks for obtaining a solid foundation on which to have a successful garden.
We are again partnering with the Camas Library.
February Class-Recap
Brandon from Backyard Bird Shop once again conducted a great class and gave us some good tips for trying to identify birds in the sparrow family–proving once again, it’s all in the details!
If you missed the session it is now available to view on The Camas Public Library’s YouTube page. Here’s the link to the recording and Brandon’s slides used in the class:
Beginning Bird ID-Sparrow Edition
Bird ID-Sparrow Edition-Google Docs
Note: We have a playlist at the Camas Library YouTube page where you can view the entire offerings of recorded class sessions from past months at: Camas Library YouTube-NatureScaping Classes
Plant Sale
Plans for our Bare Root Trees, Shrubs & Perennial Sale, our biggest fundraiser for the year, are continuing. The sale will take place on Saturday April 30th and Sunday May 1st 10:00am to 3:00pm. Members, (up-to-date with their dues and new members) will have early and exclusive access to the sale starting at 9:00am until noon on Saturday. Thereafter it will be open to the public. On Saturday only (all day), a defined number of people per hour will be welcomed to shop–sign ups required for everyone. Sign up slots will be made available soon. Sunday will be unscheduled and open to all.
We will again be offering Mason Bees cocoons and supplies for sale.
As in the past, CASEE Center’s greenhouse will be open and they will be offering native plants for sale separately.
No inflation here!–prices are holding, making for the best deal in town! 2022 sale flyer
Plant Sale Volunteers–Thanks to those who have already volunteered to help with the plant sale–either one or both days of the sale itself and/or for pre-sale tasks. Although we don’t have exact dates for the pre-sale work as of yet, people who can volunteer weekdays (some involving late afternoons) will be much needed.
Here is a very brief listing/description of some of the various jobs we need to fill. As you can infer, some jobs are more physical than others. I will give you more details when you volunteer.
Heeler: Place and cover or “heel” the bare root trees into the sale area. Physical work on several weekday late afternoons.
Labeler-writers and placers: Write labels (possibly at home-must have legible handwriting). Placing finished labels on plants. Labeling materials provided.
Greeter: Distribute plant lists, guide new customers to the sales area, check for receipts..
Field Helper: Help with selections and help pull trees to for purchase
Holding area: “Check in” and hold plant loads while people continue to shop
Bagger: Dip bare root trees in water, place into bags.
Checker: Write up sales slips for cashiers.
Cashier: Do the math (calculators furnished) and take in checks or cash (no coin change transactions).
Our success depends upon our volunteers–please consider helping. Join in the camaraderie and take pleasure in knowing that we could not do this without you! And don’t forget, volunteers may choose a free bare root tree, shrub or potted perennial for helping. Feel free to contact Marlene Dellsy at: marlene52ns@gmail.com
Saturday Morning Work Parties
We’ve started up our Saturday morning (starting at 9:00am) work parties (SMWP) to last through October. Each Saturday morning, volunteers are guided by one of our garden coordinators to work on needed tasks/projects in the various gardens. Non-Saturday dates may also be available as determined. 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 a link: SignUpGenius
Organizational News
We’d like to congratulate our two newest NatureScaping Board Members Larry and Hannah. They were both Associate Board Members for a while and did such a great job, we thought we’d keep them!
On a different but similar note…
President/ Executive Director
Looking for an opportunity to get involved with a local non-profit organization? NatureScaping is seeking an energetic and dynamic president to oversee the not-for-profit NatureScaping organization. Prospective applicants should have terrific collaborative and communication skills to communicate and develop relationships with the public, community organizations, CASEE, and volunteers. Responsibilities include development of the board, outreach, recruitment, planning and overseeing the Wildlife Botanical Gardens. The new president will be mentored by the out-going president to ensure a smooth transition. If interested, please contact NatureScaping at:
Bulletin Board
Thanks once again to Rosemarie, we have a beautiful new
bulletin board display on the front of our smaller shed.
Come visit and check it out in person but see attached for a peek.
Art in the Garden
Invitations for the 10th anniversary edition of Art in the Garden on Sunday July 10th have been sent. The immediate response has been great! We are hoping for a good mix of your favorite return artists as well as some new artists for you to fancy. Stay tuned.
News Around the Gardens
Mason Bee Release
Our first set of Mason Bee cocoons have left the comfort of Brigg’s (our Mason Bee Herder) refrigerator and have been set out into the Wildlife Botanical Gardens to “do their thing”. As the temperature warms, they will get busy pollinating and laying more eggs for us to clean in the fall. More cocoons will be released in coming weeks to help ensure successful timing with pollinating the different plants as they blossom. Learn more from Brigg when you buy cocoons at our sale. Maybe you’d like to become a Bee Herder assistant? Please contact Marlene Dellsy at 360.737.1130 or info@naturescaping.org
Did you notice?
If you’ve been to the gardens lately, you’ll see the newly laid gravel on our main paths. Thanks so much to the CASEE Center for their great work!
Sharing…..
We recently received a few 5 star ratings from Google Business and the comment below:
From Mark:
“Can’t wait for everything to bloom!”
And finally to complete this newsletter….I’d like to share a few pics from Larry (Board Member, garden co-coordinator and frequent contributor) that help us see (literally) that spring is indeed on it’s way.
Nature Related Quote of the Month
From Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden:
“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”… “It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…”
Stay safe and enjoy!!