Portland, OR, March 28, 2016 – Nine days of dedicated Oregon native plant education and awareness are coming to Portland from April 23 through May 1, 2016. Oregonians enjoy an amazing diversity of native plants; they help connect us to this land, deeply rooted in Oregon soils since before people set foot here.
Native Plant Appreciation Week NPAW PDX is packed with workshops, guided hikes, and garden tours that serve to promote a greater appreciation and knowledge of our local native plants and highlight the importance of protecting and preserving these valuable species. The first weekend will include a tour of Lost Lagoon Farm on Sauvie Island, an incredible 3acres of restored native plant ecosystems local to the island, as well as an open garden tour of a gold-certified Backyard Habitat. Workshops include “Urban Native Plants and their Local Pollinators” by Colleen Lockovich and Dr. David Gordon, and “Native Plant Keying”, a workshop and field trip led by Brent Miller that teaches participants how to identify native plants using a botanical key. Two guided hikes are scheduled, one to Canemah Bluff Natural Area and another to Sandy Canyon. There will also be a guided tour of Metro’s Native Plant Center, which provides rare and uncommon plants for habitat restoration projects throughout the metro region.
ABOUT: NPAW PDX is hosted by the Portland Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Oregon. NPAW has been celebrated across Oregon for over a decade thanks to the NPSO, which has been working tirelessly since 1961 for plant and habitat restoration. This all volunteer run nonprofit organization protects and conserves threatened and endangered plant species, carries out rare plant surveys and monitoring programs, develops guidelines and policy regarding native plant gardening, ethics, grazing, mining, and forest management, and works on plant salvage and reintroduction. These are all hot topics currently, as our climate changes and our biodiversity is threatened. The aim of NPAW is to grow the awareness and appreciation of these valuable plants and their deep seeded role in environmental sustainability.
For more information, go to npawpdx.org.