Sandy Seed Library News - October 2026

 

Happy October, Gardeners!



All I’ve wanted to do this past month is get outside and harvest some seeds! In addition to the western bleeding heart, grape hyacinth, and California poppy I harvested earlier in the year, I recently collected lavender, allium, chive, peony, and zinnia seeds. In the library’s garden I harvested another kind of lavender just today (9/26/26) and during the summer was able to harvest some big-leafed lupine, California poppy, as well as Farewell-to-Spring. You will be able to find these seeds in the seed library as soon as I am able to finish processing them.

Last year, I attempted to save seeds from the dogwood tree in front of the library, but with no experience and a lack of bandwidth to dive deeper, I abandoned my collection. I bring this up because I recently learned through the Portland Tree Project that dogwood fruit is edible and is also called kousa dogwood berries! Read this blog post to learn more:

Kousa Dogwood Berries: A Hidden Culinary Gem

It is probably no surprise that I am subscribed to several OSU Master Gardener Extension newsletters. In the Clackamas County newsletter they highlighted sowing native seeds, and I wanted to share this resource with you as fall is a great time to start certain varieties.

Sowing Native Flower Seeds - a PDF

What seeds have you been able to save this year?

September Seed Library News

 

Happy September, Gardeners!

Thank you to everyone who was able to come to our final seed library event of the year. We had some of what you might expect: tomatoes and squash, but we also had community members bring in elderberries, cucumbers, duck eggs, bulb onions and garlic! It has been a year of firsts with the additional swaps, and I am looking forward to growing and improving in 2027.

Note: Elderberries should not be consumed unripe, raw, or with the stems or leaves. These berries provide a lot of health benefits, but those benefits are only available after they have been cooked for at least 20-30 minutes. Consuming them raw could make you sick.

As we enter into the fall and winter seasons, I will be seeking out seed donations from various nurseries. We are also very happy to accept donations from our local seed savers. If you have any questions on how to donate to the seed library, please feel free to send me an email. I have the seed donation slip that I like to receive with each seed donation to help me get them ready for the drawer, and I will attach that here. I also have been asked what kind of container, whether its a baggie or envelope, to donate seeds in, and I would say, it is whatever is convenient for you! Since I go through the effort of creating labels and putting them in my own bags to allow for uniformity in the drawers, it truly does not matter too much.

Sandy Seed Library News - August 2026

Happy August, Gardeners!

This year I challenged myself by incorporating more gardening swaps into the schedule, and I am hoping to close out the Sandy Seed Library Series of programs with a final swap: Share Your Bounty. With how popular our annual seed swap is, I thought about trying a seedling swap in the spring, and a harvest swap in the late summer. The seedling swap was on the smaller side but a hit with attendees, and feedback to make it an annual event. As I thought through what a harvest swap might look like, I decided it would be nice to keep the seedlings coming for folks that would like some late-season crops or even some plants that will overwinter.

There is room for this to grow as we get more experience under our belts and feedback from our seed library community.

Sandy Seed Library News - July

 

Happy July, Gardeners!

Happy International Fruit Day (July 1)! Moth week is also this month, and wouldn't you know, moths take the night shift in pollinating the following fruits: apples, pears, strawberries, raspberries, and plums!

Sandy Seed Library News - June

 

Happy June, Gardeners!

This month includes Pollinator Week (June 22 - 28) and I find it very fitting to be able to share that the library was awarded another native plant grant to complete our landscaping project! If you are new to our newsletter, you may not be aware that we have been slowly transforming our garden beds around the library to be made up of predominately native plants to support our pollinators and our Bee City, USA initiative.

The southeast garden bed is already filled with plants obtained through a Xerces Society grant, and after November, our entre south side will be made up of native pollinator plants.

This has been such a special opportunity that has come together through the donations from the Xerces Society and Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District, and the labor of our generous volunteers.

Sandy Seed Library News - May 2026

Happy May, Gardeners!

This is an exciting month for us gardeners because it means we are finally able to get our plants outside and into the ground! We start to see the plant sales and swaps pop up all across the tri-county area and the desire to be among the flowers is mighty strong. I will confess that I have already been to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden and The Oregon Garden since I wrote my last newsletter.

I am ready to be among the flowers.

Photo taken by me at the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden.

And, just a friendly reminder that both gardens are available to visit with a Cultural Pass!

To learn more about how to reserve a Cultural Pass, head to our How To blogpost! 

Sandy Seed Library News - April 2026

Happy April, Gardeners!

Spring is here and to celebrate I have put together a list of gardens to visit! This was inspired by a few conversations I have had with several friends that enjoy gardens and gardening, and my desire to connect them to one another while we explore.

Maybe you can catch the cherry blossoms in bloom at the Portland Japanese Garden early this month, or in mid-April through early May you can visit a lilac garden. Don’t forget about wandering through an arboretum to celebrate Arbor Day! The wonderful thing about this list is that there are places to visit all-year-round and several of them feature free passes for library patrons.

One that is not on this list, but is a recent addition to our Cultural Pass Express program, is the World Forestry Center located in Washington Park, Portland. Washington Park is loaded with so many garden/nature opportunities (the International Rose Test Garden, the Portland Japanese Garden, and Hoyt Arboretum to name a few) that if you decide to head that way, you might want to visit the World Forestry Center as well!

If anyone has a garden they recommend that is not on this list, I would love to know about it!

Please enjoy my goofy selfie that was taken at the Hulda-Klager Lilac Garden in 2024!

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List of Gardens to Visit

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Seed Library News - March 2026

 

Happy March, Gardeners!

I want to start off by thanking everyone who came to our annual seed swap, Seedy Saturday. We saw around 90 people come through to swap seeds and speak with our special guests. I estimate just over 500 seed packets were taken home that day! I have so many seeds left over that it might take me another month to get through them all and get them into the cabinet as we also received donations from the following nurseries:

• Al's Garden Center
• Baker Creek
• Peaceful Valley
• Portland Nursery
• Territorial Seed Co.

I also want to extend heartfelt gratitude to my wonderful volunteers that made our event flow better than previous years: Tom, Jim & Lynn, and Patty, thank you for your continued support of our seed library!

And thank you to our special guests, Echo Valley Natives, Food Hero, Master Gardeners Cindy and Kris, and Amy with the Community Gardens, for offering your time to be available to our community members to answer questions and provide resources.

Finally, thank you to The Garden Massage Therapy in Sandy for donating a gift basket that was an extra special treat for one lucky patron.

Sandy Seed Library News - February 2026

 

Happy February, Gardeners!

I am not sure why I decided that my birthday month was the month to talk about invasive plants, but here we are. It might have to do with the excitement around new seeds coming into the library and the recurring conversation I have around certain flowers being invasive or not.

Grass Isn’t Greener by Danae Wolfe makes a case for eliminating invasives. “Not all non-native plants are bad. In fact, many non-native plants coexist peacefully with native species and bring beauty to the garden. But when non-native plants become invasive, that’s when things go awry.”

“Invasive plants are non-native species that are introduced to a new environment and have the ability to rapidly reproduce and spread. These plants have a knack for outcompeting native species for resources like sunlight, water, and nutrients, and they also exhibit aggressive growth habits and fast growth rates, and often have efficient reproductive strategies. With few natural predators to keep them in check and the ability to tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions, they can rapidly colonize new areas and quickly dominate local ecosystems.”

One of the most frequent flowers that gets mentioned are foxgloves (Digitalis pupurea). We associate foxgloves with our area so much that I think they are even featured on the city’s new electric bus! They are beautiful, but there is a case to be made that they are invasive.

Oregon and Washington do not have them on the official list because to make it onto a state-wide invasive list, the plant often has to have a major impact on our agriculture industry, not our wild and native spaces. However, our neighbors, California and British Columbia both agree that it is invasive, with local plant organizations, like the Native Plant Society of Oregon, pushing for this classification.

If this is a flower that you adore, you are not alone, and I do have some words of hope: There are many hybrid varieties available in seed form, and the beauty in their hybrid form is that the seeds are sterile. You will not have to worry about them seeding out of control and taking over in native spaces and you still get to enjoy them.

Foxgloves (Digitalis pupurea) Links

Foxglove- Invasive Species Council of British Columbia

Native Plant Society of Oregon - Invasive Plant Atlas

Invasive Species List of California - Digitalis pupurea

Photo: Wiki Commons

Attribution: Robert Flogaus-Faust - Own work, CC BY 4.0

Penstemon

If you are looking for a similar flower that would be a better option, check out the penstemon flowers. This picture I took at a local nursery as I was watching a bee go in and out of each flower. Click on the image to see her booty and little legs hanging out of a flower.

OregonFlora - Penstemon

Portland Nursery - Penstemon: Beard-tongue

Sandy Seed Library News - January 2026

 Happy New Year, Gardeners!

With January brings our annual seed swap, Seedy Saturday, and every year my husband gets a giggle out of the name and has to say something to me about it. Seems he’s not the only one to wonder about the name and chuckle at it. This year, I discovered the answer to his question, well part of it anyway.

Everything You Want to Know About Seedy Saturdays

Turns out, we get our name from a movement that started in Canada in 1990!

Seedy Saturdays (& their sister event, Seedy Sundays) is a concept that started in British Columbia, Canada in the 1990s and these seed exchanges quickly spread across Canada and beyond. They remain a vibrant and essential part of the community gardening culture, offering a way to celebrate biodiversity, support local food systems, and promote sustainable, organic gardening practices. - Seed Library Network

So why do we always hold it on the 4th Saturday in January? In 2006, the editor and publisher of Washington Garden Magazine, Kathy Jentz, applied to have that day known as National Seed Swap Day. As the enthusiasm to participate on this declared day grew, folks from all over the world decided they would ignore the “national” in the name and just call it Seed Swap Day.

If you would like to learn more about seed swaps and organizing them, check out these links:

How to Organize a Seed Swap - SeedSavers

Seed Swaps

Sandy Seed Library News - January 2026

 

Happy December, Gardeners!

I know they say time moves faster when you get older, but seriously … I can't believe it's December already.

I went on the November hike led by Dakota and Erik of Clackamas River Basin Council, and found out that they have resources to help residents that live on a stream to remove invasive species from their property. I was told that they are especially interested in Sandy residents who live off of Tickle Creek that need help removing blackberries. If you, or someone you know, lives off of Tickle Creek and would like some help removing blackberries, please reach out at 503-303-4372. You can also learn more from their website.

Sandy Seed Library News - November 2025

Happy November, Gardeners!

This last summer, when we had the master gardeners out to speak on gardening for pollinators, one of the presenters inspired me with the idea of having crocuses in my lawn! I already have a few under my maple tree, but I decided that I wanted to look into it more and I thought I would share some of the videos, articles, and retailers I found along the way.

Additionally, now is the time to sow certain flower seeds! Adaptive Seeds out of Sweet Home, Oregon, has suggested the following flower seeds to sow in the fall for the spring (everything in bold is currently available in the seed library):

Annuals                                                                

• Bachelor's Buttons
• Calendula
• Coreopsis
• Nigella
• Poppies
• Snapdragons
• Sweet Peas

        Perennials

• Blanket Flower
• Columbine
• Coneflower
• Rudbeckia
• True Hyssop

They also mentioned Fava Beans (currently in the seed library under "C" for cover crop), not just as a cover crop, but if you are interested in a higher, and earlier yield, sowing them now is a great time.

Crocus Lawn Resources

• Video: How to Grow a Crocus Lawn -- Autumn Bulb Growing Tips for Winter Flowers
• Portland Monthly: Lawn Crocus
• Supplier: Dutch Bulbs*
• Supplier: Van Engelen Inc.*

* I have not personally used these sites; they were mentioned through multiple sources, including the Portland Monthly article, and I wanted to share.

Sandy Seed Library News - October 2025

Happy October, Gardeners!

I have been diving into all-things garlic! But before I share with you what I have been gathering, I wanted to also touch base on cover crops. Now is the time to get those seeds planted and we have a couple of seed packets dedicated to it in our seed library. You will find Fava Beans and Kodiak Mustard Greens in the "C" drawer under "Cover Crops."

Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District has opened up a special landscaping grant to City of Sandy residents!

Their Priorities: "We help people in Clackamas County solve land management problems on private property. This includes improving habitats for wildlife, controlling erosion, getting rid of harmful weeds, replacing failing septic systems, keeping forests healthy, and more."

Mini Habitat Kit Grants from CSWCD - Apply Here

"Habitats know no boundaries." By providing native plants in your yard you can support biodiversity and a healthy ecosystem.

These native plant kits are designed for City of Sandy residents with properties of three acres or less aiming to help enhance their yards with native plants.

Each kit will contain either 20 in-ground native plants or 5 native patio plantings, along with native pollinator seeds.