Native Plant Appreciation Week
Following up on California Native Plant Week, yesterday marked the beginning of Oregon Native Plant Appreciation Week. These back to back weeks help celebrate the incredible native plants of California and Oregon, including the spectacular diversity in the Klamath-Siskiyou region.
Yesterday was the beginning of Oregon Native Plant Appreciation Week (April 26 – May 2)! This year’s Oregon Native Plant Appreciation Week poster includes myco-heterotrophic plants that are partly or entirely non-photosynthetic and obtain energy and nutrients from fungi. The Klamath-Siskiyou region is home to all three plants featured on the poster. Although you can’t easily grow myco-heterotrophic plants, there are many native plants that can be grown from seed.
To see our wide selection of native seeds go to our SHOP page at: https://klamathsiskiyouseeds.com/shop/ From there you can search for species you are interested in, or use the “Sort by” feature to find the plant that’s right for your specific site.
Deltoid balsamroot (Balsamhoriza deltoidea) 
Butterfly on Narrow leaved mule’s ears-Wyethia angustifolia 
Idaho gumweed – Grindelia nana 
Deltoid balsamroot (Balsamorhiza deltoidea) 
Bumble bee on Bolander’s sunflower-Helianthus bolanderi 
Mule’s Ears (Wyethia angustifolia) 
Bumble bees on Narrow leaved mule’s ears – Wyethia angustifolia
Need some sunflowers to brighten up your day during COVID-19 stay at home orders? Want to grow a native yellow sunflower similar to the Desert sunflower featured on the California Native Plant Week poster? Klamath-Siskiyou Native Seeds offers seed for Bolander’s sunflower (annual), Deltoid balsamroot (perennial) and Narrowleaf mule’s ears (perennial) and Idaho gumweed (perennial). The Bolander’s sunflower can still be grown from seed this spring since it is an annual, but the balsamroot, mule’s ears and Idaho gumweed all have seeds that need to overwinter to achieve the cold-moist stratification requirements necessary for springtime seed germination.
Under stay at home orders there are still many ways to celebrate Native Plant Week:
- Learn a new plant on a hike
- Share wildflower photos on social media
- Teach a child about the importance of native plants
- Create art of or with native plants
- Plant native plants for the benefit of native plant conservation, pollinators and wildlife!
Learn more about Oregon’s native flora at the Oregon Flora Project website: http://oregonflora.org/
Learn more about California’s native flora at the Calflora website: https://www.calflora.org/
Learn which plants are native to your area in California. Go to calscape.org and enter your address. Calscape also offers great advice about gardening with native plants in California.
Get information about gardening with native plants in Oregon at the Oregon Flora Project’s gardening information page: http://oregonflora.org/gardening.php
Check-Out a live virtual garden tour series starting this week that features ecologist and author Doug Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home.