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 members–those who have renewed and those newly joined! (some at higher levels). Thank you!
I hope to see many of you now that we can meet in person for classes and other events!! Memberships help support our organization and our gardens!
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!
November Class
Note: We are back to our (pre-COVID) in person classes at the CASEE Center on the 3rd Saturday of the month at 10:00am! Woohoo!
Saturday November 19th at 10:00am entitled ~Native Mason Bees ~ conducted by Brigg Franklin, NatureScaping Mason Bee keeper and Worm Wrangler.
Yes! It is our annual Mason Bee event! Learn about all facets of those hard working bees; we have an amazing video watching them laying their eggs. We will be cleaning the tubes/cocoons collected from the Wildlife Botanical Garden display. You can even take some cocoons home in exchange for helping us clean!
October Class-Recap
It was great to have our first in-person class at the CASEE Center once again! We learned a lot about propagation timing and techniques from our “Perennial Princess” Julie Carlsen.
Note: For our past recorded Zoom classes, we have a playlist at the Camas Library YouTube page where you can view most of the recorded class sessions from past months at:Camas Library YouTube-NatureScaping Classes
Perennial, Bulb & Seed Swap (& More)-Recap
We had a nice weather day and a pretty good turn-out for our event in October. We sold some plants at our “mini” plant sale and CASEE Center was successful in selling natives from their greenhouse. We do have some seeds left over from the swap and Marlene will be bringing them to our next class for anyone who may be interested in taking some home.
Saturday Morning Work Parties
Our regular Saturday Morning Work Parties (SMWP) are now over for the season. We typically start them up again in March.
Did you Notice…..
Something new in the Cottage Garden–
Progress in the Flying Flowers Garden expansion–more planning and purchasing of plant materials at this point. Paths are becoming more defined and more compost spread to smother weeds. 
Tours/Visitors
We had some employees from the Ginn Group volunteer at the gardens in October. 
A small wedding took place in the Cottage Garden utilizing the gazebo and the beautiful surroundings. She shared pics and her rating in the “Comment” section.
Sharing……
For those new members or in case you have not already heard….
Booklet
We are pleased to announce that 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, online, 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/
Did You Know?
Geocaching
Geocaching is a type of global treasure hunt of people looking for caches, or hidden stashes of objects. Geocaching may also be described as a series of hide-and-seek games, where hiders provide online clues for seekers. Seekers use global positioning system (GPS) devices to find hidden caches. There are 4,888 geocaches around Portland. Learn More
The Wildlife Botanical Gardens is the home of one of them! Brigg Franklin, our Geocache Coordinator spent a recent afternoon cleaning and updating the garden’s geocache and clue tags (thank you Brigg). You can view the on-line information about the garden’s geocache at this web site:
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC1GHJR_wildlife-botanical-gardens
Comments…
We are still getting many visitors…..
From Business Google
To see photos (contributed by anyone)
Alexandra gave a 5 star review and posted photos: “Absolutely perfect for my small, intimate wedding”
Gelinda gave a 5 star review: “Loved the beautiful landscape”
Kathryn gave a 5 star review and shared a photo: “Gorgeous gardens and well maintained. My puppy and I enjoyed our visit”
Shoto gave a 5 star review.
Nature Related Quote of the Month
“Words from her heart” from Martha, one of our gardeners: “Let us enjoy this time of knowing that our work in the garden continues even as those perennials take a rest and prepare to astound us in the spring and summer with their abundance of beauty and growth”.
In Memoriam…..
For those who may not already know, it is with deep sadness we announce the passing of Fran Hannah in October. Fran was an important part of NatureScaping for many years and was the Collector’s Garden Coordinator for a long while. She was instrumental in forming our annual Art in the Garden event among so many other things. Even after she gave up her garden, she mentored the next gardener and came back many times to visit.
Terry (our resident photographer and board member) who knew her well, shared a lovely moment: “Yesterday I spent time in the Collector’s Garden and looked at everything, remembered Fran, and told that garden she had passed on to another plane – yet I still personally believe she is part of that garden and always will be. With fond memories as well as sadness”.
As for me, I will always remember Fran with her ever present smile like the sun shining on her garden.
Her son Craig said: “My mom loved the gardens and being involved with everyone there”. See the photo he shared with us.
A commemoration in “Fran’s garden” will be planned for the spring. Fran, you will be missed by many.
Stay safe, dry and warm.