Hansville Log Articles

Buck Lake Garden articles published in the monthly Hansville Log highlight seasonal activity in the garden.

What’s a Drupe?

Author: Martha Pendergast Hansville Log Date: Oct 1, 2019

High Bush Cranberry (Viburnum opulus var. americanum) blooms showy white in late spring and the clustered bright red berries or drupes follow in fall. A drupe is a fleshy fruit with thin skin and a central stone containing a seed. Other drupes include plums, cherries, olives, and almonds. The fruit is edible but must not be tasty to the cedar waxwings, robins, and other songbirds that leave the drupes until they have frozen and thawed several times before they eat them.

Our high bush cranberry is located in the very northwest section of BLNPG in the rain garden. This shrub is known by various names including witch hopple, pincushion tree, and crampbark tree. Crampbark tree refers to antispasmotic properties of the bark which were discovered independently by Native Americans, Asians, and Europeans, all of whom used it for relief from menstrual and stomach cramps and asthma.

Join Us!

Author: Martha Pendergast Hansville Log Date: Sep 1, 2019

As summer wanes and we resume our fall routines please consider joining one of the work parties at the Buck Lake Native Plant Garden Monday mornings from 9 to noon on

• September 2,
• September 16,
• October 7, and
• October 21.

Bring your gloves and favorite hand tools. We take a break around 10 for treats, coffee and water, and a quick talk by local expert Mary Booth highlighting the native plants she’s included in her bouquet. Other advantages of helping in the garden include gaining familiarity with the plants and weeds, lively conversations, and (sometimes) free plants when we divide or remove plants we have in abundance. If you can pull a weed, we want to get to know you better.

Contact us to visit the garden with a docent. If you want to visit the garden from the comfort of your own home, see our website.

Native Hedgerows

Author: Martha Pendergast Hansville Log Date: Aug 1, 2019

The mixed hedgerow in the Buck Lake Native Plant Garden marks the boundary of the southwest corner of the garden and serves as a transition from the woods behind to the planting bed in front. The mix of evergreen and deciduous shrubs is drought tolerant now that it is well established. The flowers attract hummingbirds and pollinators. The hedgerow provides fruit and seeds for birds and other animals plus cover from predators.

The hedgerow merits several visits throughout the year to watch the transition from flowers to fruit. Fremont’s Silk Tassel bush (Garrya fremontii) starts the progression of blooms in midwinter. Fellow evergreen Hairy Manzanita (Arctostaphylos columbiana) joins it in late winter. Deciduous white flowered Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) follows in early to late spring along with Oregon Grape’s (Mahonia aquifolium) golden yellow clusters of flowers. Spring shifts into summer when the deciduous shrubs Oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor) and fragrant Mock Orange (Philadelphus lewisii) take over blooming while Fremont’s Silk Tassel flowers ripen into purple berrylike fruit for robins and towhees.

See our website for an article on planting a native hedgerow in your garden. The article includes a picture of our hedgerow. The Plant Profiles on the website have pictures of the plants mentioned above.

Check Out the New Swale in the Garden

Author: Martha Pendergast Hansville Log Date: Jul 1, 2019

The swale will help drain the soggy field, located immediately east of the native plant garden, filter pollutants, and increase water infiltration for the existing plants. Thank you to the Suquamish Foundation for the generous grant.

Nootka Rose in the Garden

Author: Martha Pendergast Hansville Log Date: Jun 1, 2019

Look for fragrant Nookta Rose (Rosa nutkana) blooming in profusion on tall bushes parallel to the wooden fence. The pink flowers attract butterflies, bees, and deer. In winter red berries, known as hips, feed juncos, grosbeaks, chipmunks, rabbits, and deer.

The garden isn’t just about the flowers. Take time to enjoy the foliage, bark, rocks, mosses, and lichens too. Consider taking a tour of BLNPG with a docent. Contact the garden for more information.

False Solomon’s Seal Stars at Buck Lake Native Plant Garden

Author: Martha Pendergast Hansville Log Date: May 1, 2019

White flowers bloom at the ends of the leaves of two varieties found near the south entrance to the garden. False Solomon’s Seal’s (Maianthemum racemosum) flower is fragrant and the fruit feeds our woodland birds in summer and fall. Star-flowered False Solomon’s Seal (Mianthemum stellata) has smaller starry shaped white flowers. Both are good ground covers in shady gardens.The author has forgotten much of her Latin but noticed “mai” included in the scientific name and sure enough Maianthemum means May blossom.

Observing Fawn Lilies at Buck Lake Native Plant Garden

Author: Martha Pendergast Hansville Log Date: Apr 1, 2019

The ethereal white Fawn Lilies bloom first and the pink Fawn Lilies bloom later. One to three nodding flowers adorn a leafless stem atop paired basal, oblong, dark green and brown mottled leaves. Look for drifts of them near the shaded wooden bench. These Erythronium oregoneum and Erythronium revolutum nourish our hummingbirds.

Observe Native Plant Appreciation Week April 21- 27

Mix It Up!

Author: Lindsey Vallance Hansville Log Date: Feb 1, 2018

Native and non-native (let’s call them “introduced”) plants can happily co-exist in your garden. Even those of us who love natives can’t resist those beautiful plants at the nursery, themselves native to such far-away places as China, Australia or South Africa. Not only are they expensive, we buy and plant them with full knowledge that they may require more TLC than their native counterparts. They will likely need amended soil, more water and something to keep those pesky slugs/snails and deer at bay. Often, they prove to be short-lived in our climate. Buy them, plant them near your house, where they are easier to tend, and enjoy their beauty. That said, give your back and your budget a break and start adding native plants into your beds. They blend seamlessly with their more fussy cousins, are adapted to our soils and climate and require less maintenance.

Our native ferns (there are many) co-mingle happily with introduced perennials and shrubs. Add broadleaf stonecrop or Oregon stonecrop (native sedums) to your rockery. In early spring, Pacific Coast iris, with their colorful blooms, can be the star of your garden. The flowers and scent of Western azalea rival those of any introduced azalea cultivar. Try a black twin-berry, flowering current or silk tassel bush as a specimen shrub. Better yet, if you have room, consider planting a hedgerow of mixed natives for privacy and wildlife habitat.

Check out the Buck Lake Native Plant Garden website (bucklakenativeplants.org) for more information on these plants and others, or consider joining our group at one of our work parties (dates also posted on our website) to learn about gardening with natives.

Enjoy Great Camas in the Native Garden

Author: Lindsey Vallance and Rol Malan Hansville Log Date: May 1, 2017

In the wild, Camassia leichtlinii, commonly known as great camas, is found in damp mountain meadows and grasslands. Visit the Buck Lake Native Plant Garden in early spring and look for the purple, pale blue and cream-colored flowers in our own camas meadow near the south entrance. We feature two different varieties and one cultivar of great camas. Camassia leichtlinii caerulea (purple) and alba (cream-colored) are 24"-30" tall; C. leichtlinii 'Blue Heaven,' (pale blue) is somewhat smaller. Another familiar Northwest camas species, Camassia quamash, common camas, is almost indistinguishable from great camas in appearance and grows in the same habitat. Currently, they are not planted in the Buck Lake Native Plant Garden.

Camas prefers a sunny location, plenty of winter moisture and little to no moisture in the summer, when it goes dormant. It puts on its beautiful bloom display in April and May in the BLNPG. Camassia leichtlinii caerulea and C. leichtlinii 'Blue Heaven' begin the show in April, followed by C. leichtlinii alba in May. (Due to our cool spring, bloom times may be slightly later this year.) Planted initially as bulbs, when the camas flowers are allowed to die back naturally and set seeds, they will naturalize freely. Camas flowers provide nectar for butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

Camas bulbs were an important staple food for the indigenous population of the Western U.S. Bulbs were harvested in the autumn, after the plants died back, and were baked or pounded into flour. They were such an important food source that fields of camas were cultivated and, in some tribes, were owned and inherited.