What we offer:
Native and invasive plant identification. Briefly, we identify and name plants in your yard.
We conduct rapid botanical surveys in your yard for native and invasive species
in the Native lands currently referred to as Portland, Oregon, in the greater Cascadia bioregion.
We offer home yard visits to help you identify native and non-native plants around your home.
Get in-person help with identifying common native and invasive plants in your own yard!
We visit your yard and help you to identify the native and invasive plants that are growing.
Our botanical consulting services empower you to decide which species to encourage or discourage, and to appreciate the plants in your community more fully. This is a great opportunity if you have some mystery plants growing and not sure if you would like to keep or encourage them, or would just like to know names and become familiar with recognizing local flora. Our services are ideal if you have recently moved in, have lots of seasonal surprises, an overgrown yard, neglected areas, or are new to gardening or yard maintenance. Perhaps you are planning to apply to the Backyard Habitat Certification program but would like to get a jump start before their visit. Or perhaps your focus is not habitat conservation or creation, but other garden or landscape goals, or simply to engage more deeply with the land.
We offer private, time-sensitive, seasonally specific, interactive consultations, and are available for plant identifications you might need quickly.
We will spend 30 minutes to 1 hour in your yard botanizing and discussing plants together.
Our yard consultation visits are available at sliding scale rates for low income and BIPOC folks.
In the future, we plan to offer casual plant identification strolls and guided nature walks in our local natural areas.
Our clients
Who will benefit from these in-person sessions:
Newbies
new to the area, new address, new homeowner, new to having or maintaining a yard, new to gardening, new season, new pet or human parent, new plants popping up
The Curious
the plant-curious, the plant-confused, the "plant-blind", the inquisitive, inquiring minds, the inner child, the perpetual student, the intrigued yet timid, the overwhelmed, the human yearning for knowledge
Naturalists
the nature lover, the gardener, the science type, the community or "citizen" scientist, the budding biologist, the zoologist, the ornithologist, the entomologist, the biophiliac, the beginning naturalist, the conservationist, the environmentalist, the climate-concerned, the rewilder
Practical Realists
the pragmatic, the home schooler, the DIY-er, the food insecure, the gourmand, the chef, the hiker, the camper, the survivalist, the prepper, the mutual aid enthusiast, the helper, the friend, the neighbor, the volunteer, the Zoom-exhausted, the digital-averse, the visual, auditory, spatial, tactile, interactive, or hands-on learner
Do you find yourself asking:
What is this plant?
What is this weed?
Is this a weed?
Should I keep this?
Which plants have safety issues for my kids or pets? We can help!!!
Your yard does not have to be particularly large or 'interesting':
overgrown areas can have a lot to offer, and we could have plenty to discuss even just examining a sidewalk/median/'hell'/parking strip.
Who are you?
You are humans seeking to know plants. One way of knowing is by observing them - knowing them with your eyes and other senses.
One way of knowing is by being in relationship with them, which can take many forms. One way of knowing is to recognize them based on patterns and experiences, sensory and cultural input, environmental, historical, and physiological clues, enough that we can name them.
This is what we do: we identify plants, and then relate that to a name.
What's in a name?
The names we use are scientific/Latin names which are used worldwide, and common regional names in the English language that you might more readily recognize. You can use the genus and species of the scientific name to learn further about it in other local and regional languages that you may understand. Names in all languages, even scientific names, change and evolve and may be controversial, contested, and political. Names are cultural and can reflect deep histories and complex legacies.
Identifying plants is just one way of knowing - one step into learning about, understanding, and developing a relationship with them. We want to help transform confusion or fear of the unknown to empowerment. We hope to increase awareness and the ability to notice details within the plants that you see. Another aim is to get more folks outside, thinking about and interacting with plants and their environment, which contributes to health and happiness!
Our role is narrow within a broad spectrum of understanding the plants that surround us, and our goal is to assist you to begin or continue that journey to discover what is there and what is missing, who these plants are that share their spaces with us as much as we share space with them.
Why You'll Love Us
It's a great time to be outdoors! There is deep wisdom, practical skills, and profound beauty to be learned from nature.
Learning to identify plants is one great way to start, and we can help you begin the journey.
Enthusiastic
Interactive
Plant nerd
Woman owned
Ample availability
Local micro-business
Free for BIPOC (until 31 July 2022, then sliding scale)
Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
Organic LLC dba Cascadian Botany exists on and benefits from land historically and contemporaneously occupied, utilized, traveled through, and cared for by nations, tribes, and bands including, but not limited to, the Multnomah, Clackamas, Tualatin Kalapuya, Atfalati, Chinook bands, Molalla, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Tumwater, and many others, some of which continue to be Federally unrecognized. Ancestors and descendants of these people have been and continue to be stewards of this land since time immemorial. We are profoundly grateful for their contributions to this land. We acknowledge the impacts they have endured and continue to face through genocide, coerced and broken treaties, forced relocation, religious conversion, individual and systemic racism, assimilation, erasure, and state-sanctioned discrimination, oppression, and inequality.
My ancestors are not indigenous to this land, and I acknowledge that our presence working on and occupying these Native lands is a part of and benefits from the ongoing legacy of settler colonialism.
We have genuine respect for and want to support Indigenous people, places, and the relationships between them both locally and around this planet.
We recognize that this is an imperfect, partial, and evolving statement,
and that acknowledgement is only a first step.
We welcome your feedback.
Cascadian Botany
P.O. Box 17656
Portland, OR 97217-0656
USA
Call/text/WhatsApp:
(503) 240-0260
11am to 6pm Pacific Time
Monday through Sunday cascadianbotany (at) gmail.com
