Obviously I have been sleeping at the wheel this week. It is one of my favorite times of year – when the native Bleeding heart flower blooms and smells so sweet (Dicentra formosa). I have some in containers on my back deck, they’ve been there almost two years now since I moved from my old 1/4 acre lot to a townhome with a 200 sq ft deck.

Governor Gregoire proclaimed May 3-May 9, 2009 as Native Plant Appreciation Week in Washington. More info from the Washington Native Plant Society web site:

This week is a celebration of the amazing diversity of Washington’s over 3000 native plant species that inhabit deserts, rain forests, high alpine environments, river valleys, and even backyard landscapes. Native plant ecosystems are critical to sustaining our native wildlife and the quality of
Washington’s environment.

The Native Plant Appreciation Week inspires citizens through diverse activities and events to learn more about native plant species and their habitats and how to protect them. The public can participate in everything from talks, walks, hikes, garden tours, and visits to our natural areas to active involvement in habitat restoration projects.

and

Native Plant Appreciation Week is primarily an opportunity to celebrate our native floral abundance, our amazing bio-diversity, and all the good work being done to protect and preserve it.

Seek out native plants at plant sales in your area – going on every weekend all over the region right now. They are designed to withstand your local environment. And with proper care they can be kept in containers. In the Northwest that means on a north facing deck that receives shade most of the day. Some plants can withstand more sun exposure. Think about where that plant originally came from and try to mimic it. Many plants grow under trees in the woods – which means they are in the shade most of the time.