Six years ago, my sweetie and I moved from a home with a very diverse and interesting garden in the South Hills to a more normal plot in the flatlands of north Eugene. After a depressing summer sitting on the back deck overlooking one lone, dying birch and a grass desert with a few dandelions visited upon occasion by a bumble bee, we both agreed we wanted to create a habitat where a variety of insects and birds could visit and flourish.

I found a landscape designer who created a terrific design, and we got to work removing the grass and the poor birch, bringing in a huge amount of soil, punctuated by a wandering path and water feature.

In the meantime, as that work was being done, we went on the hunt for the plants specified in the design. Even though it was spring, we could not find so

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