When Wendy Scherrer bought her Happy Valley home in 1981, her yard was filled with grass, petunias and pansies — beautiful flowers, but not native to the region.
Forty-one years later, Scherrer’s native plant garden buzzes with bees and other pollinators, who rely on the trillium, wild ginger, goat’s beard and other wildflowers.
On Saturday, Scherrer showed off her four decades of work during the Whatcom Native Plants Garden Tour, an event hosted by the Washington Native Plants Society (WNPS).
Scherrer said she selected native plants for her yard because they’re better for the environment, require less water than non-native plants and are more resistant to pests and diseases.
The goal, she said, is to restore her land to what it looked like 300 years ago, before invasive species were introduced to it.
“We have to figure out what will grow, how we can grow it, the plants we want and what’s resilient,” she said. “We also don’t want to water too much, because water can be an issue.”
Scherrer’s garden was one of seven featured on the tour. The other gardens, spread across Bellingham, Blaine and Semiahmoo, showcased native plant restoration across major properties like the Larrabee Right-of-Way, a street intersection converted to a native plant haven.
The Larrabee Right-of-Way project began about two years ago when members of the Happy Valley Neighborhood Association asked the city to remove overgrown, invasive plants.
“The goal was to replace the overgrown blackberries with native plants, which are a lot better for the environment and much more attractive to pollinators,” said Jim Davis, a WNPS volunteer stationed at the right-of-way Saturday.
The right-of-way now includes dozens of native plants and a walking path for neighbors. Davis called the change “an excellent example of what can be done” in public spaces.
The use of native plants is vital for a healthy ecosystem, said Patricia Otto, owner of the 100-acre Agate Pond Preserve featured on Saturday’s tour.
“Our whole ecosystem depends on native plants,” she said. “It’s the foundation of everything, from birds to mammals.”
Otto bought the property in 1988 and has been restoring it bit by bit. Initially, she said, most of the work involved getting native plants in the ground, but over the last 20 years, she’s focused more on invasive species removal.
Otto doesn’t consider her nature preserve a garden, like most of the other properties included on the tour, but was excited to show other local gardeners what theirs could become.
“People get to see native plants in their full development here,” she said. “The shrubs and trees that they might get at a nursery are tiny little things, and they have no idea what they’re going to look like eventually, so here they can see mature specimens.”
Mark Turner’s garden, known as the Paradise Acres garden, also includes a few acres of forest.
“We consider the woods kind of like an extension of our garden,” Turner told a group of visitors Saturday. “We’ve gardened the woods to an extent, but we haven’t finished the task.”
Turner said he and his husband, Brian, have worked to remove invasive species from their 5-acre property and made room for more native plants to support the beehives housed nearby.
“Gardeners sort of play God,” Turner said. “It’s an ongoing process to take an environment, to clean out the things that aren’t so good and put in the things you’d rather have.”
Eric Worden, who organized the tour, said his goal was to create an educational opportunity for local gardeners who wanted to learn more about native planting.
“Native plants help you feel more connected to where you are,” he said. “It helps the environment, it helps the wildlife and we’re trying to foster that.”
Worden first pitched the idea of a native plant garden tour a few years ago but it took some time to organize.
“Eric floated the idea about three years ago,” Scherrer said. “But it worked out because I really need a year’s notice to weed my garden!”
