Native Plant Sale

The dormant winter months are a great time to take an inventory of your garden plants and plan for the upcoming growing season. Every spring, Friends of Baltimore Woods holds a native plant sale in partnership with Sparrowhawk Native Plants. This year our FoBW/Sparrowhawk Native Plant Sale is the weekend of April 28 and 29. It is the only fundraiser for our non-profit and the revenue goes to sponsoring our free public winter talks; donations to our community partners; and buying tools, seeds, native plants and supplies for our native habitat restoration work in north Portland’s 30 acres of Baltimore Woods.

The pandemic has left some perks in its wake, one of them being the highly organized system that the owners of Sparrowhawk Native Plants, Nikkie West and Tracy Cozine have devised for plant pick-up at the pop-up sales. When you come with your order form in April, volunteers will direct you to the labeled and numbered location of your plants in the large lot. There will be a Flash Sale with bargain prices during the last hour on Saturday if you would like take a chance finding plants that could work in your garden and save some cash.

This year our collaborative sale begins with a one month window of on-line ordering starting Sunday February 26, and ending on Sunday March 26. As in previous years, it’s best to shop early to get the plants you want by browsing the Sparrowhawk Native Plant selections online, and paying for them in advance. You will then be able to pick up your purchases on Friday April 28 and Saturday April 29, at the St Johns Farmers Market site, on the corner lot of North Charleston Avenue and North Central Street, near the St Johns Library.

As staff members of the Portland Audubon Backyard Bird Habitat Program, Nikkie and Tracy noted the huge desire of homeowners to redesign their gardens to attract wildlife. They created Sparrowhawk Native Plants in 2019, to fulfill this region’s desperately needed access to native plants for gardeners enthusiastic about creating natural wildlife habitats in their backyards.

Adding native plants to your garden is a win-win for you and the planet. Over millennia native plants have evolved to thrive in their local environments, along with local insects, birds and mammals. Many of these plants are naturally drought resistant and support a variety of local bees, butterflies and insects that are an important food source for baby birds, amphibians, fish and many mammals. 90% of insects are specialists, and only feed and lay eggs on a limited number of local natives. Because they are especially adapted to thrive in our Northwest ecosystems, natives are our best defense against climate change.

Friends of Baltimore Woods highly appreciates your support, interest in our mission of supporting native ecosystems, and willingness to make your backyard garden habitat and wildlife friendly. Please visit the Sparrowhawk Native Plant website if you want to learn more about the our FoBW Spring Native Plant Sale, growing native plants, the Sparrowhawk Community Partnership Program, and gardening for a better planet!