Ethically propagated native plants of the Pacific Northwest & Columbia River Gorge
Nursery News & Events
Plant sales, educational events, volunteer opportunities and more.....
We will feature select news & events related to native plants, native pollinators, conservation, and restoration on a seasonal basis here, so keep checking in or follow us on Facebook to stay updated.
Featured news & events:
Spring has sprung!
Things are starting to wake up in the nursery and we anticipate a busy season. Let's plant some native plants!​
​
​​
Call or email us at: 503.449.3694, humbleroots@gorge.net
​​
to schedule an appointment to visit the nursery and pick out some ethically and lovingly propagated PNW native plants for your garden!
​​
The Pacific Northwest Native Plant Primer
Our book, The Pacific Northwest Native Plant Primer: 225 Plants for an Earth-Friendly Garden, with publisher Timber Press was released in the spring of 2023! We feel this is a great resource for regional gardeners, particularly in Oregon and Washington. It contains useful information for both beginning and seasoned native plant lovers and covers more than 225 species as we make suggestions of alternate species for different habitats and ecoregions in many of the plant profiles.
Available wherever books are sold. We also have copies for sale in the nursery, so make an appointment to visit us and go home with a book and some plants recommended for you by the authors!
​
See what people are saying about our book and read reviews here
Seattle Times article "5 books for gardeners that paint an optimistic reading list for winter"
​​
April is Native Plant Appreciation Month!
Plant native plants, attend a talk on native plants, volunteer, and do some bioblitzing! There are lots of activities and floral fun planned for the month. Find out what is happening in your area...
​​
We also encourage you to take some time this month to advocate for the continued protection of the precious places where native plant populations still thrive, and the hard-working people who care for these places. Write or call your legislators urge them to support funding the work and workers who ensure the health of our local flora and fauna and the habitats in which they live.
You can also help make Oregon's Native Plant Appreciation Month permanent by writing your legislator in support of SB 547. Here is some helpful information from Eileen Stark on how to do so:
Help Make Oregon's Native Plant Appreciation Month Permanent
​​​​​​
Mosier Spring Fest.
Saturday, April 26th. Plant sale 12-4pm at Totem Plaza.
Come visit our beautiful community of Mosier! Help with a river cleanup, eat some food, hear some music, take a hike to see the Gorge wildflowers in bloom, and get some plants for your garden. We will be bringing a selection of native plant starts to Totem Plaza in the afternoon.
​​​​​​
Wild About Nature lecture series returns!
Fridays in April.
6:30 pm
White Salmon Library and Mountain View Grange
​​​​​​​​
2nd annual Vancouver Pollinator Festival
June 21st, 9-3pm
Free!
​​
For more information about this event: pollinatorfestival.org​​​​​​​​
New website on Pacific Northwest oaks.
A great new resource on Pacific Northwest oaks is now live! Check out the Pacific Northwest Oak Alliance's online home for inspiration and information about one of the Pacific Northwest's most important trees. ​
​
The East Cascades Oak Partnership (ECOP) is a part of this alliance and has its own portal to information on news and events, and excellent brochures on topics such as creating fire resilient landscapes while supporting oaks, improving forage and native plants in a changing climate, and acorn planting! These are great resources for landowners and oak lovers. Find the ECOP informational brochures here:
oakalliance.org/resource-category/ecop​
​​​​
The Columbia Gorge is well known for its beautiful wildflowers...
We encourage everyone to take a few steps to help protect the beautiful native wildflowers of the Gorge while out hiking....
​
*Clean weed seeds from footwear before hitting the trail and use boot brushes at trail heads to help stop the spread of invasive plants that could harm native plant populations.
​
*Stay on the trail and please don't pick native wildflowers! What looks like a common flower may actually be a rare subspecies or an endemic species and picking them could do more harm to the population than you may think.
​
*Do not post locations of rare plants on social media.
"The Beauty in Biodiversity: Conservation and Cultivation of Native Plants in the Columbia River Gorge"
In November 2024 we shared stories and insights from over twenty years of working with native plants in the Columbia River Gorge during a zoom presentation hosted by the Native Plant Society of Oregon-Portland Chapter. Encouraging gardeners to plant native plants to support biodiversity, creating pollinator corridors, saving rare plants, and partnering with land trusts on many restoration projects are just a few of the things we spoke about.
View this presentation on the Native Plant Society of Oregon-Portland Chapter's YouTube channel:
Humble Roots on Cultivating Place
Jennifer Jewell interviewed us for her podcast, Cultivating Place. Listen to this episode of the program (which aired November 2nd, 2023) wherever you get your podcasts...and keep listening! This is a great show with deep insights for plant lovers, gardeners, and anyone who appreciates the greenery of the world.
Link to the program: Growing Home: Humble Roots on Cultivating Place
Mt. Adams Institute's Sense of Place Lecture - Mountaintop to Backyard: The Beauty of the Gorge's Native Plants
Columbia Center for the Arts, Hood River
Follow this link to see our talk in December of 2023 about the native plants of the Columbia River Gorge and the true beauty of gardening with them:
​
Native Seeds: Supplying Restoration video series.
Created by the International Network for Seed-Based Restoration (INSR) and Hidden Films with support from a number of organizations and agencies, this is a beautifully made video series exploring the need for native seed in restoration and the native seed supply chain in the western United States.
​
Watch the full length documentary or individual episodes:
OregonFlora needs your help!
OregonFlora is a vital resource for anyone interested in Oregon's native flora. Their website provides identification tools and information about native plants and gardening with native plants. In addition, they are producing a three volume comprehensive, illustrated guide to the flora of the state.
This important organization relies on community donations and is in need of donations to continue its work.
​
Donate and tour the website at: oregonflora.org
Order Vol 1 and 2 of the Flora of Oregon or purchase the Oregon Wildflowers app here: oregonflora.org/pages/store.php
Create nesting habitat for bees and beneficial insects.
When doing any cleanup in the garden, keep in mind that many of our native bees (which also happen to be solitary and stingless) spend the winter underground, in cavities in trees, or the pithy stems of plants. There are many ways to promote, protect, and provide for these vital insect allies, including specific ways of pruning and maintaining your landscape. The Xerces Society provides some great information and online publications which can educate gardeners on how to truly maintain a year-round pollinator-friendly garden.
Learn more about providing nesting resources for pollinators here:
xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/nesting-resources
​
Fall gardening for pollinators webinar September 21st, 2023. This class will be recorded and posted to the Xerces Society YouTube channel.
Book features Sheila Ford Richmond's home and neighborhood gardens in Hood River
Under Western Skies is a beautifully photographed and written book by Caitlin Atkinson and Jennifer Jewell that showcases innovative gardens in the American West where nature is the inspiration. It features the hard work of Sheila Ford Richmond and our very own An"Drew".
​
Learn more with others...
Learn more about our amazing regional flora through hikes, lectures, and volunteer opportunities with your local native plant society.
​
Washington Native Plant Society: wnps.org
​
Native Plant Society of Oregon: npsoregon.org
Columbia Insight
Independent environmental news for communities throughout the Columbia River Basin.
Current news and podcasts on a range of topics related to life in the Columbia River Basin. Read & listen up!
Check back seasonally for updates. We will also post updates & links to these events and more on our Facebook page.
​
​