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:
Fall planting season is here!
Plant some native plants and cultivate biodiversity! Visit our plant list to see what is currently in stock at the nursery. We are open by appointment Thursday through Sunday, so...
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Call or email us at 503.449.3694, humbleroots@gorge.net
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...to schedule an appointment to visit!
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!
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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"
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"The Beauty in Biodiversity: Conservation and Cultivation of Native Plants in the Columbia River Gorge"
Thursday, November 14th, 7pm (zoom)
We will be sharing stories and insights from over twenty years of working with native plants in the Columbia River Gorge. Encouraging gardeners to plant native plants to support biodiversity, creating a pollinator corridor, saving rare plants, and partnering with land trusts on many restoration projects are just a few of the things we will be talking about. Hosted by the Native Plant Society of Oregon-Portland Chapter.
Member and registration info here: portlandnativeplants.org. Look for this and other great talks on the Native Plant Society of Oregon-Portland Chapter's YouTube channel!
Look for our thoughts on native keystone plants and conifers for PNW gardeners in the Nov/Dec 2024 issue of these gardening magazines!
We contributed to two national gardening magazines coming out in November 2024!
Kristin contributed to an article about keystone native plants for different regions of the U.S. in the Nov/Dec issue (#220) of Fine Gardening magazine:
https://www.finegardening.com/article/the-best-keystone-plants-for-your-region-and-zone
And Drew contributed to an article about native conifers to support wildlife in the American Horticultural Society's magazine, The American Gardener:
As well as an article about small deciduous trees for gardeners in the July/Aug issue of The American Gardener:
https://ahsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Native-Trees-TAG-JA24.pdf
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Find our plants at Dirt Hugger
You can now find a selection of our plants at Dirt Hugger's landscape supply store in The Dalles! We use Dirt Hugger soil mixes to grow all of our plants, and are happy to partner with this ecologically minded business and great crew of people to help you get growing.
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Dirt Hugger Landscape Supply
749 Snipes St., The Dalles, OR 97058
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Open: Mon-Fri 8-5pm, Sat 9-4pm (closed Sunday)
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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:
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Learn more about oaks!
East Cascades Oak Partnership
Learn more about the oak trees of the East Cascades with the East Cascades Oak Partnership (run by the Columbia Land Trust).
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Mosier White Oaks Group
Learn about Oregon white oaks and how to spot the newest threat to these important trees, the Mediterranean oak borer (MOB).
Mosier White Oaks Group website
Join the Mosier White Oaks Group's iNaturalist Bioblitz. Help us record the plants and wildlife of Mosier! Learn more here: Mosier Bioblitz
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.
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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.
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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
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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".
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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....
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*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.
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*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.
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*Do not post locations of rare plants on social media.
Learn more with others...
Learn more about our amazing regional flora through hikes, lectures, and volunteer opportunities with your local native plant society.
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Washington Native Plant Society: wnps.org
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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.
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