Snowberry
The snowberry's pink flowers give way to round white fruit in the fall that become a draw for birds - good news for the ornothologically inclined! This relatively hardy bush grows four to six feet in diameter and can withstand the high desert's wide temperature fluctuations with modest watering needs.
Bitterbrush
The iconic high desert plant is familiar to anyone who has hiked or biked a trail around Bend. Incredibly drought and temperature tolerant, the semi-evergreen produces pale yellow flowers and red berries.Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle can grow to more than 10 feet tall, but requires a bit more water than some of the other plants. Its dark red flowers portend fall fruit that provide fodder for songbirds.
Blue Oat Grass
This dense clump grass makes a nice island of green in your landscaping and works great along a fence line. Rounded blue gray blades grow to several feet.
Maybe it’s something in the water, or the upholstery of our Subaru Outbacks that makes Central Oregonians so environmentally conscious, a fact that’s readily apparent in our recycling rates (almost 45 percent of our waste is now repurposed) and our embrace of solar power. (We’re home to half a dozen installers and recently added two of the biggest solar systems in state at Bend Broadband’s data center and Facebook’s new server farm in Prineville.)
Whatever the reason, sustainability isn’t just a way of life in Bend -- it’s an industry that includes everything from small windpower producers like Redmond’s Abney Electrix to a people-powered cycle pub in Bend. This year’s Green Issue is a snapshot of how Central Oregon is putting itself on the forefront of the sustainability movement both individually and collectively. While there are dozens of interesting examples of how entrepreneurs, public agencies and private citizens are blazing a green trail, we’ve narrowed our focus to seven projects that show how Central Oregonians are putting their values into practice; examples range from a multimillion dollar community forest project to a natural soap making business. Read it, share it and then recycle it. (EF)
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