GARDENING
BY RACHEL FOSTER
A GOLDMINE
OF NATIVES
Upcoming plant sale is a
treasure trove
D
on’t miss a golden opportunity to pick up some
locally sourced native plants while supporting
the efforts of the Friends of Buford Park and
Mount Pisgah: From 9 am to 1 pm on April 29,
the Friends will hold their annual fundraising
sale at the Buford Park Native Plant Nursery. I have had
great success with plants I purchased at this sale in years
past.
To reach the nursery, proceed as if you are visiting
Mount Pisgah but, after you cross the river, turn immedi-
ately left as you enter the park. Continue past a parking lot
on your left and through the open gate. Park outside the
nursery.
The nursery is an impressive sight, especially in spring!
Allow yourself time to look around the two-acre site,
because by sale time many of the nursery beds will be full
of flowers: delphinium, columbine, bleeding heart and
many more should be in full bloom.
I visited toward the end of March, and Hal Hushbeck,
the nursery manager, gave me a tour. Dozens of orderly
beds were filled with burgeoning foliage. Swallows
swooped above us while volunteers labored in the spring
sunshine. (Yes, really. I lucked out.)
Hushbeck, who has worked at Buford Park since 2001,
became crew leader for planting projects in 2004. In that
capacity he helped build the fence and the first planting
beds for this nursery, which was started in order to produce
seed for the Nature Conservancy’s Turtle Flats restoration
project. The large area of beds furthest from the road,
beyond the office, greenhouse and outbuildings, was
added later, coming under cultivation in 2013.
All the plants in the nursery beds are raised in the
greenhouse from seed wild-collected within 15 miles of
Mount Pisgah, from plants growing outside the nursery
fences. Self-sown plants that occur within the beds are
mostly weeded out. That ensures the offspring from col-
lected seed won’t be adapted to nursery conditions.
Seed produced in the nursery beds is collected, cleaned
and carefully stored on site to be broadcast on restoration
areas here at Buford Park and elsewhere within the water-
LONGTIME BUFORD PARK VOLUNTEER, MARADEE
HELPS PREPARE FOR UPCOMING PLANT SALE
shed. A small proportion of seed produced in the nursery is
used to raise new plants in pots, both for the annual sale
and for special planting projects.
The nursery grows 150 species, about half of which
will be offered for sale as plants, mostly in 4-inch or gallon
pots. It is unusual to find such a variety of natives offered
in one place, and it’s a unique assortment, because they all
grow within the park and adjacent areas.
That means, of course, that there are things you won’t
find here. Never mind. You’ll find several shrubby species
and plenty of perennial forbs: such favorites as Oregon
iris, sidalcea, columbine and bleeding heart as well as
many things less familiar. There are bulbous plants
(camas, allium, triteleia) and an unusually good selection
of annual forbs (clarkia, rosy plectritis, fragrant popcorn
flower). You will also find an assortment of grasses,
sedges and rushes, a group that other nurseries often
neglect.
Growing natives in nursery conditions is no piece of
cake. A good deal of ingenuity goes into keeping critters
from raiding this cornucopia of roots and seeds, and also
to make seed collection as efficient as possible.
Some beds have rodent-proof cages under them that go
Doak Creek
Native Plant Nursery
Fawn Lilies • Shooting Stars • Tiger Lilies
We have a great selection of
NORTHWEST NATIVES FOR SPRING PLANTING
541-521-9907 By Appt.
83331 MARLOW RD. • EUGENE
www.doakcreeknursery.com
50
A pril 20, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
two feet down. Some have shade cloth barriers around
them to corral exploding seed. Some also have shade cloth
on the ground among the various plants, to deter self-
sowing and so fallen seed can be vacuumed up as it accu-
mulates.
There’s tons of work to do, and much of it is done by
the volunteers who meet here all year round, on Tuesday
and Thursday mornings and some Saturdays as well.
On the Tuesday of my visit, a half-dozen volunteers
were working on a variety of projects. Some were weed-
ing. One was flaming paths with a propane burner to
destroy unwanted vegetation. John (“our botanist,” Hal
called him) was transplanting tiny seedlings into 4-inch
pots.
I met two people working on the new office building
(actually a newly converted storage shed). Ellen was paint-
ing the interior a sunny yellow; Barry was hanging a new
door.
If you’d like to join the volunteers, contact volunteer@
bufordpark.org or 541-344-8350 for information. Or just
show up. No experience necessary! Tools, gloves, snacks
and instruction are provided.
Rachel Foster lives and gardens in Eugene. She can be reached at rfoster@efn.org.