Earth & Spirit Native Habitat Gardens

06/24/2026

Welcoming in summer with these low-water native beauties in the PNW meadow garden. Both are highly attractive to a multitude of native bees and butterflies and they also serve as host plants for caterpillars too! Farewell-to-Spring (Clarkia amoena) grows 2-4' tall with profuse pink flowers. This annual is easily grown from seed in sunny locations. Showy Fleabane (Erigeron speciosus) is a deciduous perennial plant with bright purple blooms with yellow centers. It typically grows from 1-2' tall and wide and can handle a range of light conditions.

06/02/2026

Excited to gather together to celebrate pollinators and check in on the 6-month-old pollinator garden we were able to help design and install in collaboration with Purposeful Landscapes, Polk Soil & Water Conservation District, and the Luckiamute Watershed Council at the new Barnard Park in Dallas, Oregon this past fall.

Join Polk SWCD and partners for a fun and family-friendly follow-up event at the new Native Pollinator Garden in Dallas at Barnard Park! Learn about the importance of native plants and pollinators through a short garden talk, help care for the space through light weeding and installing plant identification tags, and enjoy hands-on activities for kids. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or simply curious about pollinators, this is a great opportunity to connect with nature and your community.

Families and children are especially encouraged to attend—and don’t forget to come dressed as your favorite pollinator! From bees and butterflies to hummingbirds and beetles, we can’t wait to celebrate the amazing creatures that help our ecosystems thrive.

If you plan to help with weeding, please bring your own gloves and tools.

Event Partners: Polk SWCD, Earth & Spirit Native Habitat Gardens and Purposeful Landscapes designers, The City of Dallas, Oregon and the Luckiamute Watershed Council

https://www.polkswcd.com/event/pollinator-garden-open-house/

06/02/2026

Field trip out to a native prairie restoration project of the Greenbelt Land Trust's in Benton County with the Native Plant Society of Oregon. What a special and rare treat to walk through a field of native grasses and wildflowers.
https://greenbeltlandtrust.org/conserving-land/oak-creek-preserve/

05/27/2026

In science, just as in crime, it's vital to make sure you have the right suspect. Many innocent native insects look very much like the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB) pest. So rule them out first before reporting a suspected emerald ash borer sighting. Luckily there's a handy online guide that shows the most common look-alikes. Find it athttps://www.oregon.gov/oda/ippm/survey-treatment/Documents/EABLookAlikes.pdf

This year, EAB adults started emerging early in Oregon because of the mild winter and warm spring and could be flying around now. If you think you've seen an actual EAB, you can report it at https://oregoninvasiveshotline.org/reports/create

05/27/2026

Pollinator hangout on the Oregon Sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum)! Find this bright blooming native at your local native nursery. Great for sunny, hot, exposed planting beds in the Mid-Willamette Valley.

05/27/2026

Adding native understory plantings below your existing, non-native shrubs is one way to add more habitat value to inherited conventional gardens (which are unfortunately most often non-native). Here these cheerful Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa) are adding to the color show below the rhododendrons.

05/27/2026

Delicate and airy blooming Crevice Alumroot (Heuchera micrantha), has been decorating the rocky cliffs and hillsides at the Columbia Gorge and looking ever so beautiful! Pick some up at your local PNW native nursery to add to part shade areas within your woodland garden. The shiny, large evergreen rosettes are complimented by finer-textured plants like Western Meadow Rue (Thalictrum occidentale) Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa) and Maidenhair ferns (Adiantum aleuticum).

05/27/2026

03/25/2026

If you’re growing a habitat garden, you’re probably already thinking about protecting pollinators—and avoiding pesticide use. But what about mosquito spray drift from neighboring properties?

We wanted to share what we learned from a recent Xerces Society study on this topic, along with simple ways to reduce mosquitoes at home without harming beneficial insects.

👉 Read more in our latest blogpost here:

If you’re growing a native habitat garden, you’re likely already thinking about how to support pollinators, birds, and the broader ecosystem—and avoiding pesticide use as part of that effort. But even when we avoid spraying in our own yards, pesticide drift from neighboring properties is still...