Rick Martinson can summon the Latin name for almost any High Desert plant on a whim.
Ask for the common name, and it may take him a few seconds to conjure up.
That’s because, in the world of native plants, common names are far less important.
Take genus Arcostaphylos, commonly known as manzanita. It’s the mid-sized tree or shrub with smooth, deep-red bark, brooked branches and green leaves. Dozens of manzanita species are found in Oregon, many with two or three common names. Arcostaphylos patula, a thinner shrub that needs little water and is specifically adapted to live in dry environments like the High Desert, has three common names: green manzanita, greenleaf manzanita and buckbrush.
That’s the one Martinson grows at his seven-and-a-half-acre native plant Winter Creek Nursery northeast of Bend. Among rows of greenhouses and demonstration gardens, Martinson and his staff at the High Desert Horticulturual Center are growing more than 200 plant species, all of them specifically adapted to live in arid High Desert environments, and nearly all of them native to Central or Eastern Oregon. Martinson has propagated many of the plants from cuttings or seeds he collected on hikes exploring some of his favorite landscapes.
The mission, Martinson said, is to increase the awareness and appreciation of native plants, those adapted for Central Oregon’s arid climate. Specifically, the horticultural center is a resource for people or businesses who want to create thriving native plant landscapes on their properties. That not only helps conserve the species that have lived here thousands of years, but it unlocks the benefits they bring, like water conservation and habitat for pollinators, Martinson said.
“A lot of these species take very little to no water,” Martinson said in an interview. “One of our biggest issues is people tend to overwater them, and that will kill them.”
The City of Bend aims to reduce community-wide water use by nearly 8 billion gallons by 2040. To help reach the goal, the City has required native or drought-tolerant plants in planter strips in new developments and created an incentive program for people to rip out their lawns in lieu of native landscaping.
“Our strategy is to help people use water more efficiently, the water that we have, so we don’t have to find new water,” said Dan Denning, water conservation program manager with the City. “Incorporating native plants into our landscape is really a sensible strategy.”
Plant sales at Martinson’s nursery help fund the nonprofit, which puts on tours, demonstrations and other educational programs focused on native plants. The nursery has been around for more than 30 years. Up until a few years ago, Martinson also ran Winter Creek Landscaping, a company that built native plant landscapes.
In many ways, it was about blending art and science, Martinson said.
“We try to match the ecology with the site and meet that aesthetic objective, which is really a unique way to deal with native species and landscape design and construction,” he said.
That approach has come to life across Bend. In 2007, the CEO of Moda Health hired Martinson to plant a native garden on the roof of its former headquarters building in the Old Mill District. The project, one of the first of its kind, won awards for its design. Before that, Martinson helped design about 10 acres of native landscaping at the Safeway on Century Drive. According to Martinson, his proposed design didn’t fit with the City’s landscaping code at the time, but the City approved it anyway, and it became a model for future projects.
Modeling landscapes is also part of Martinson’s work at the Winter Creek Nursery off Deschutes Market Road. Along with seven greenhouses, he has multiple demonstration gardens. One is bursting with cacti like Prickly Pear and Black Spine Pedio Cactus. In another, blue bunch wheatgrass and fringed sage grow from crevasses in a rock outcropping where small grey lizards bask in the sun.
“We get a lot of people that say, ‘I just have really rocky areas, I can’t grow anything,’” Martinson said. “This is a really rocky ridge, and we’re planting with species that are adapted to really rocky ridges.”
Even the smallest nuances in topography can make a difference.
Once, Martinson and an ecologist friend were hiking on Hart Mountain, a wildlife refuge in the Great Basin about 200 miles southeast of Bend. They noticed a higher diversity of plant species in areas where cows had grazed. The reason? Hoof prints. The slight depressions in the soil created just enough moisture and shade for tiny plants to grow.
Ancestral Puebloans used in the Southwestern U.S. used the technique for growing beans and corn in “waffle gardens” on High Desert mesas thousands of years ago, said Martinson, who’s also a former archaeologist.
Still, the Oregon Landscape Contractors Board, which regulates landscape design, hasn’t recognized it. Instead, the state’s official landscaping guidelines require contractors to anchor roots three inches above soil grade, a technique for shedding excess water in wet environments west of the Cascades.
Other than educating the public, one of Martinson’s long-term goals is to lobby the legislature to create landscaping guidelines that are applicable to desert environments east of the Cascades.
This article appears in the Source April 16, 2026.
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