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A rough-cut mistake gardeners make is adorn their flower seam with plants that appeal to them visually with little thought make to their impact on the surroundings . Yet it ’s possible to have the good of both worlds — a garden that not only delight the eye , but also benefit the aboriginal habitat .
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A paver walkway meanders through the back garden , under the alert eyes of a concrete Buddha , which sits among Echinops ritro . Also in the mixture are Hebe ‘ Quicksilver ’ , Penstemon ‘ Husker Red ’ , and a variety of Pacific Northwest natives such as Sedum oreganum , Juncus effusus , Armeria maritima , and Penstemon serrulatus .
That ideal portmanteau of beauty and sustainability was achieve by Tamara Paulat in her magical Pacific Coast garden in Portland , Oregon . Her integral yard ( which she calls “ Chickadee Gardens ” ) is populated with a carefully choose intermixture of native and ornamental plant that are kind to the environment while echoing the architectural flair of her 1929 Spanish Revival home .
Paulat ’s Spanish Revival elan home is unusual in the Pacific Northwest , and she has selected plants that heighten its architecture yet thrive in their native habitat . Spiraea douglasii with fluffy pink bloom were planted as an alternative to incursive butterfly bush or buddleia . The two small trees , which were there when Paulat buy the house , are Myrica rubra - relatively unknown around the West Coast but vulgar in Japan . She plainly pruned them to bring in more light and air circulation . An Acer circinatum ( vine maple ) in a terra - cotta sess on the front porch echoes both the Spanish influence of the home while being aboriginal to the Pacific Northwest .
“ Everything has to pull its weight around here , ” says Paulat , who is platinum certified with the Portland Backyard Habitat Certification Program . “ It is either a native plant that provides a habitat for insect and birds or an ornamental that is non - encroaching , adaptable to our expanse , and provides some kind of welfare for wildlife in the form of food , protection , seed , or build stuff . ”
Hakonechloa macra ‘ Aureola ’ in the front garden gets morning sunshine and afternoon breezes . Native Sedum oreganum serves as a groundcover underneath aboriginal steel ferns that have naturalise in the rock rampart . tick-weed ‘ Moonbeam ’ tucked in between attracts pollinators .
When Paulat began found her garden five old age ago , her mission from twenty-four hour period one was sustainability . She uses native plants whenever potential and shuns the manipulation of pesticide . To encourage pollinators and allow a welcome refuge for louse and razz , her garden is teem with bird feeders and birdie houses , a bat house , and mason bee houses . She also has installed two eco - favorable rooftop garden ( one above her enclosed porch and the other over her garden shed ) and has hit her concrete patio , replacing it with pavers to provide greater water permeableness .
Eco - favorable rooftop garden were installed on the enclosed back porch ( leave ) and garden shed ( rightfulness ) . Broad strokes of Echinacea purpurea ‘ White Swan ’ and Sedum ‘ Matrona ’ along the walk provide color through later summer and early fall , while Abutilon in the foreground are favorite for hummingbirds . The tree on the right field , Styrax japonicus , is covered with sweet - smell sugared white blooming in the spring .
“ I am altogether organic , ” she says . “ I want to garden experience that what I leave will be better and healthier than when I started . I desire to improve the space and soil I started with and leave the birds and bees a little well off to countermand whatever legal injury I have done unknowingly . ”
The spunky blooms of Sempervivum arachnoideum stand out against a backdrop of Sedum oreganum .
Some of Paulat ’s preferent plants include Sedum oreganum , Aruncus dioicus , Armeria maritima , Ribes sanguineum , Oxalis oregana , Spiraea douglasii , Heuchera ' Marmalade ' , Hebe ‘ Champion ’ , Agave ‘ Blue Glow ’ , and Adiantum aeluticum . Ornamentals , such as Yucca rostrata , Rosa ‘ Eden ’ , planted for its beautiful rose articulatio coxae in the fall , provide both visual and wildlife benefit . She meticulously selects plant that act well in each “ microclimate ” in her pace , which has both full sunlight exposure and shaded areas . Her rule of thumb is rule the correct plant for the right home .
One of Paulat ’s preferent plants is Heuchera ‘ Marmalade ’ . “ It has proven to be not only sun - kind , but shade and drought tolerant too . It just gets big and good every yr , ” she says .
“ Just because aboriginal industrial plant are in your garden does not mean they are zero maintenance . There are tincture - loving recurrent natives as well as chaparral natives and red-hot , hot desert natives within a unforesightful distance of one another at my home . Some like wet forest conditions , others blistering and dry . Give them what they would find in in their raw habitat , ” she say .
A variety of sedums and Astelia nivicola ‘ Red Gem ’ melody the path up to Paulat ’s front door . The blossoming tree on the right is Lagerstroemia x ‘ Natchez ’ .
To read Paulat ’s blog , which chronicle her life in the garden , visitChickadeegardens.blogspot.com .
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