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A vulgar mistake gardeners make is decorate their blossom bed with industrial plant that invoke to them visually with little thought process give to their impact on the environs . Yet it ’s potential to have the dependable of both worlds — a garden that not only enrapture the heart , but also gain the native habitat .
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A paver walk meanders through the back garden , under the insomniac middle of a concrete Buddha , which sits among Echinops ritro . Also in the mixture are Hebe ‘ Quicksilver ’ , Penstemon ‘ Husker Red ’ , and a diversity of Pacific Northwest natives such as Sedum oreganum , Juncus effusus , Armeria maritima , and Penstemon serrulatus .
That ideal portmanteau of beauty and sustainability was achieved by Tamara Paulat in her charming Pacific Coast garden in Portland , Oregon . Her entire railyard ( which she call in “ Chickadee Gardens ” ) is populate with a carefully chosen mixture of native and ornamental plants that are kind to the surround while echo the architectural flair of her 1929 Spanish Revival home .
Paulat ’s Spanish Revival style home is unusual in the Pacific Northwest , and she has take plants that enhance its computer architecture yet boom in their native habitat . Spiraea douglasii with fluffy pink blooms were planted as an alternative to incursive butterfly stroke bush or buddleia . The two modest trees , which were there when Paulat bought the sign , are Myrica rubra - relatively unsung around the West Coast but common in Japan . She only pruned them to bring in more easy and air circulation . An Acer circinatum ( vine maple ) in a terra - cotta pot on the front porch reverberate both the Spanish influence of the home base while being native to the Pacific Northwest .
“ Everything has to deplume its weight around here , ” says Paulat , who is platinum certify with the Portland Backyard Habitat Certification Program . “ It is either a native works that provide a home ground for insects and birds or an ornamental that is non - trespassing , adaptable to our area , and bring home the bacon some sort of benefit for wildlife in the shape of food for thought , protection , semen , or building material . ”
Hakonechloa macra ‘ Aureola ’ in the front garden get morning sun and good afternoon breezes . Native Sedum oreganum serve as a groundcover underneath native sword ferns that have naturalized in the rock paries . Coreopsis ‘ Moonbeam ’ tucked in between attracts pollinator .
When Paulat began planting her garden five years ago , her delegacy from day one was sustainability . She uses native flora whenever possible and shuns the employment of pesticide . To encourage pollinator and provide a welcome refuge for insects and Bronx cheer , her garden is teeming with razzing feeders and dame houses , a bat house , and mason bee theatre . She also has installed two eco - friendly rooftop gardens ( one above her enclosed porch and the other over her garden shed ) and has removed her concrete patio , replacing it with pavers to provide cracking water permeability .
Eco - friendly rooftop gardens were set up on the put in back porch ( left ) and garden shed ( right hand ) . Broad strokes of Echinacea purpurea ‘ White Swan ’ and Sedum ‘ Matrona ’ along the paseo offer color through recent summer and former fall , while Abutilon in the foreground are favorites for hummingbird . The tree on the rightfulness , Styrax japonicus , is report with sweet - smelling sweetened white heyday in the spring .
“ I am wholly organic , ” she says . “ I desire to garden lie with that what I result will be better and sound than when I started . I want to ameliorate the space and grunge I started with and leave the razzing and bees a little well off to reverse whatever damage I have done inadvertently . ”
The gamy blooms of Sempervivum arachnoideum stand up out against a backcloth of Sedum oreganum .
Some of Paulat ’s favorite 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 hip in the fall , provide both visual and wildlife benefits . She meticulously selects plants that exercise well in each “ microclimate ” in her yard , which has both full Lord’s Day exposure and shaded area . Her rule of thumb is finding the correct plant life for the correct place .
One of Paulat ’s favorite industrial plant is Heuchera ‘ Marmalade ’ . “ It has turn out to be not only sun - tolerant , but shade and drouth tolerant too . It just get handsome and better every year , ” she says .
“ Just because native plants are in your garden does not mean they are zero criminal maintenance . There are shade - love perennial indigen as well as chaparral natives and hot , hot desert natives within a inadequate distance of one another at my home . Some like wet woodland conditions , others live and dry . Give them what they would find in in their natural habitat , ” she says .
A variety of sedum and Astelia nivicola ‘ Red Gem ’ line the itinerary up to Paulat ’s front threshold . The unfolding tree on the right wing is Lagerstroemia x ‘ Natchez ’ .
To translate Paulat ’s blog , which chronicle her life in the garden , visitChickadeegardens.blogspot.com .
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