Natural World

As gardeners, landscapers and owners of a native plant nursery for over 30 years, we’ve had our fair share of interesting, sometime humorous, but never stupid questions. One common theme is the difficulty of growing ANYTHING in our challenging area, but more specifically, what CAN we grow in our wonderful soils and climate. Our answer is always […]

The 31st annual High Desert Garden Tour will guide you to five locations including the OSU Demonstration Garden and outdoor learning lab. The demonstration garden, which started at the Deschutes County fairgrounds in 2003, includes perennials, trees and shrubs that demonstrate cold hardiness, water wise and fire-resistance. It also features a watersmart controller and a […]

Willis Mitchell’s passion for mushrooms does not go unnoticed. His eyes light up as he enthusiastically explains why he has devoted his life’s work to this remarkable kingdom. During our podcast conversation, he mentioned that fungi are more closely related to humans than to plants — a statement that immediately piqued my curiosity. Rather than […]

Wolves have certainly been in the news lately! Multiple confirmed sightings of gray wolves have already been recorded this year in La Pine, Sunriver and even Bend. Many people are giddy with the idea of wolves in our nearby forest ecosystems. Yet, some people are fearful and feel this is too close to home. Education […]

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Central Oregon Wildflower Show and Pollinator Festival, sponsored by the Sunriver Nature Center and Observatory on June 27. This annual event highlights the beauty of native wildflowers and flowering shrubs, and their relationships with a diversity of pollinator species, and coincides with National Pollinator Week, June 22-28. […]

Earlier this month, in an act of urgency after finding many young Chinook salmon dead in the vegetation along the Upper Klamath River near the Oregon-California border, scientists drove to an Oregon expert with several of the fish carcasses they normally would have mailed. Dead fish typically sink to the depths of the river or […]

Can cacti survive in the harsh climate of the High Desert? The long, cold winters make it seem unlikely, but a recent visit to Smith Rock Cactus Company in Terrebonne dispelled any of my doubts. Cacti fascinate me, so when I heard about a place where they are purposely grown in our region, I had […]

To witness the McDermitt Caldera is to be moved. Supported by the east-flowing McDermitt Creek, sloping hills of sagebrush cradle native wildflowers and bunchgrasses. In spring, paintbrush awakens in crimson bursts alongside winks of purple lava aster. Bitterroot emerges, first in succulent leaves, then in white flowers nestled close to the ground. In blooms of […]