For native plant enthusiasts, the drought for a native plant garden tour is about to end in Bend during National Pollinator Month. The High Desert Horticultural Center is offering a curated tour of private and public gardens that feature and focus on native plants and pollinators on June 21 in Bend.
There will be 12 stops on the tour which starts at Wintercreek Nursey on Deschutes Market Road and includes eight residencies and four commercial properties. “Our criteria are that each garden has to be at least the minimum of 50 percent native plants,” said Rick Martinson, the tour organizer and executive director/founder of the High Desert Horticultural Center. “We are trying to show a range of native landscapes from 100 percent native down to 50 percent and show how people are incorporating native plants into their landscapes in creative ways.”
The format will be similar to the High Desert Garden Tour presented by the OSU Extension Service and OSU Master Gardeners™, which will be held on July 19. Participants can pick up their tour booklet, which has descriptions of and directions to the participating gardens, and includes some photographs of the gardens and a map showing the overall sites to help plan a route at Wintercreek.
Volunteers will be stationed at each residence to help direct traffic and answer questions if the homeowner is busy with other participants. The commercial sites will be mostly self-guided; the featured green roof at 360 Bond will be open for a few hours and have staff on hand. Other sites include OSU-Cascades, the west side Safeway, and Worthy Brewing which offer opportunities to explore the incorporation of native plants in a commercial setting.
“The importance of including native plants in a garden setting addresses the general loss of biodiversity on a regional, national, and global scale,” said Martinson. “What we can do locally to help biodiversity is critically important, especially now with more research coming out showing how these systems are collapsing, so we are focusing on local efforts addressing a much broader problem.”
Martinson, who was co-owner and president of Wintercreek Restoration for over 25 years, has created award winning landscapes throughout the West.
Accent Landscaping & Design is the title sponsor and Arbor 1 Tree Service, Szabo Landscape Architecture, Your Garden Companion, Sundog Gardenworks, Green Savers, and First Interstate Bank are also contributing sponsors.
Tickets are on sale now for through Eventbrite for $15 and tour booklets will be available for pickup at Wintercreek (check the website for detour information on Deschutes Market Road) on June 21.
This article appears in Source Weekly June 19, 2025.
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