Save water, save money, save wildlife
If you have a yard – at home or at the office – you can significantly benefit water conservation by prioritizing native, drought-tolerant plants in your landscaping. Plus, regionally native plants are diverse and brilliant and, with the right preparation, are sure to make your outdoor spaces a delightful place.
A rainbow of blooms for the sunny, dry spot where nothing wants to grow! Blooms spring to fall.
Plot Size: 75 – 100 sq ft
Soil Type: Well-draining
Soil Moisture: Medium-Dry
Sun Exposure: Full Sun
# Plants: 32
# Species: 10
Hardy to USDA Zone 4
Plants for a location with partial or dappled sunlight. Soft blues, pinks, purples and white, and a dash of yellow and red, create a soothing garden that will also support native animals and require minimal water. Blooms spring to fall.
Plot Size: 75 – 100 sq ft
Soil Type: Well-draining
Soil Moisture: Medium
Sun Exposure: Part Shade
# Plants: 32
# Species: 10
Hardy to USDA Zone 4
Watch butterflies and other pollinators flutter-by when this colorful wildflower garden takes hold in your yard. Pinks, purples and yellows will delight you and your delicate guests. Blooms late spring to late fall. Features milkweed for monarchs!
Plot Size: 75-100 sq ft
Soil Type: Well Draining
Soil Moisture: Dry – Medium
Sun Exposure: Full Sun
# Plants: 32
# Species: 10
Hardy to USDA Zone 4
This seed mix is offered by Great Bear Native Plants. This “lawn” alternative is made for Montana. It features a mix of warm and cool season grasses and root-spreading grasses that help a lightly to moderately trafficked area to stay green throughout the growing season.
This mix includes 5 species common to the Bitterroot Valley and Western MT.
Red Fescue ‘Molate’
Sheep Fescue
Streambank Wheatgrass ‘Sodar’
Sandberg Bluegrass ‘High Plains’
Blue Grama ‘Hachita’
Suggested seeding rate: 5 lbs per 1,000 sq ft
Ordering Your Water-Wise Plant Pack
$79 / Pack of 32 Plants – $2.46 per plant!
Each Pack includes curated selection of native species, with a diversity in bloom times, colors, and plant types to quickly and easily turn your yard into a vibrant and thriving native plant habitat.
You’ll find Packs for sunny and shady areas, and a special pack to attract butterflies (also for sunny areas). Each comes with detailed care and watering instructions and landscape design suggestions.
Packs can be PICKED UP in person on:
Sunday, June 8 | 10 – 1 pm in Hamilton
Wednesday, June 11 | 5- 8 PM in Hamilton
More details about pick up will be emailed to you after purchase.
Email alex@bitterrootwater.org for special pick up arrangements.
Reducing Local Water Pollution
Less water in your yard means more water in our natural waterways.
New to native, Water-Wise landscaping?
Water-Wise Packs come with resources from Great Bear Native Plants with helpful tips and guidelines on caring for your native plant habitat.
Reducing Local Water Pollution
Less water in your yard means more water in our natural waterways.
Native plants are those plants that naturally and historically grow in an ecosystem or region. This means they thrive in local, natural conditions. Unlike cultivated plants or lawns, they don’t need high volumes of fertilizers, soil amendments, or water.
Temperature Pollution
Temperature pollution is “any change from the natural temperature in a habitat.” This means streams get too warm for native wildlife, like trout. On top of that, warmer streams allow non-native invasive species, like pike, to thrive, which further disrupts our streams and the species we want to live there.
Low Flows
One reason streams become vulnerable to temperature pollution is ‘low flows’. When too much water is removed for our uses – like watering our yards – in-stream water, or flow level, becomes so low that aquatic life and other important natural processes are damaged.
Chemical Pollution
We know flowing or even slowly seeping water picks up chemicals on its journey, carries them, and delivers them to larger water bodies. Synthetic chemical and fertilizer treatments added to lawns or gardens are dangerous and easily seep into the ground or wash off plants to end up in our waterways, damaging water quality for people and wildlife.
Supporting Local Pollinators & Farmers
Native plants provide irreplaceable habitat and benefits to our local wildlife and natural areas.
Native pollinators, like bees, birds, beetles, moths, and butterflies, have developed unique relationships and behaviors that can’t always be replicated by non-native species. Thriving pollinator populations require healthy native plant populations and, in turn, encourage stable natural systems and food production.
