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Chickadee Gardens

Gardening on two acres in northwest Oregon with an emphasis on native plants and sustainability

Press and Services and Products

Services & Products
November 2021 Better Homes & Gardens Article
HPSO Article: Working for Joy Creek Nursery
Pacific Horticultre Article: Creating Place: Outdoor Sculptures of Michi Kosuge
Garden Design Article
Winterbloom Landscaping Visits Chickadee Gardens

Posts

Showing posts from 2023

Posted by Chickadee Gardens December 28, 2023

Cistus Nursery

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens December 14, 2023

December Garden

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens December 07, 2023

England: The Rest

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens November 23, 2023

Let's Go: Great Dixter Part II

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens November 16, 2023

Let's Go: Great Dixter Part I

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens November 09, 2023

November Garden

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens November 02, 2023

Let's Go: Sissinghurst Castle Garden Part II

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens October 26, 2023

Let's Go: Sissinghurst Castle Garden Part I

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens October 12, 2023

Let's Go: Oxford Botanic Garden

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens October 05, 2023

Take Five: Forgiving Perennials for Sun

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens September 28, 2023

Finding Land: Eight Years Later

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens September 21, 2023

Take Five: Forgiving Shrubs for Shade

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens September 14, 2023

Take Five: Forgiving Shrubs for Sun

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens August 31, 2023

Challenges and A Bit of Hope

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens August 17, 2023

Observations

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens August 03, 2023

Facilities Manager's Summer Report

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens July 27, 2023

High Summer

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens July 20, 2023

Wild Things

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens July 06, 2023

Golden Hour

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens June 22, 2023

Summer!

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens June 15, 2023

Sebright Gardens and Nursery

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens June 01, 2023

Progress Report

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens May 18, 2023

It's All About the Fleurs

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens May 11, 2023

Bring On The Projects

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens April 27, 2023

Unfun Gardening

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens April 20, 2023

Patience

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens April 06, 2023

Spring-ish

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens March 30, 2023

Revisiting a Special Garden

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Posted by Chickadee Gardens March 16, 2023

The Miller Botanical Garden and Great Plant Picks

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All material ©2013 - 2025 by Tamara Paulat Chickadee Gardens. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited

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about Chickadee Gardens

Chickadee Gardens started as a small, green oasis in the urban center of Portland. Now it is a two-acre garden in Saint Helens, Oregon about 40 minutes northwest of Portland. We incorporate native plants throughout and practice a low-impact, sustainable approach to this land. Much of the garden is a summer-dry garden and we love experimenting with what works well in our ever-changing climate.

--------------------------------------------Bio: Gardening is an obsession for Tamara. The major impetus was in 2010 when the Backyard Habitat Certification Program caught her attention and her small Portland garden eventually gained platinum status. She began blogging about her garden at chickadeegardens.com to share what she was learning regarding sustainable practices, native plants, successes and failures. A year later, wishing to expand and challenge themselves, Tamara and her husband David purchased a home sited on two acres in Saint Helens.

Transforming what was field grass and blackberries into a thriving, diverse ecosystem these past nine years has been a labor of love for Tamara and David. The property is bordered on three sides by Douglas fir trees and mixed hedgerows, between these boundaries is a dry, sun-soaked garden with a heavy dose of West Coast native and summer-dry adapted plants. A half of an acre of the property was cleared to plant a vegetable garden and orchard. Additionally there are chickens, one turkey and mason bees loving their home, not to mention the native fauna.

She worked for Joy Creek Nursery in Scappoose for several years as the photographer, social media creator as well as helping customers choose that perfect plant up until it closed its gates in late 2021. She currently works for Cistus Nursery part-time and is having a blast learning about a whole new plant palette. As a member of the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon she has written for that group’s magazine as well as for Pacific Horticulture. She is the newest member of the Great Plant Picks selection committee, a non-profit through the Elisabeth Miller Botanical Garden in Seattle. With access to so many fantastic plants and two acres to experiment with, sharing her passion at chickadeegardens.com is a joy.

contact Tamara at chickadeegardenspdx@gmail.com @chickadeegardens.bsky.social

Blog archive at Chickadee Gardens

2025 13
- June 1
- May 3
- April 2
- March 2
- February 2
- January 3

2024 29
- December 2
- November 2
- October 3
- September 3
- August 3
- July 2
- June 2
- May 3
- April 2
- March 2
- February 3
- January 2
2023 36
2022 32
- December 3
- November 2
- October 3
- September 2
- August 2
- July 3
- June 3
- May 3
- April 3
- March 4
- February 2
- January 2
2021 33
- December 3
- November 2
- October 3
- September 3
- August 3
- July 4
- June 3
- May 2
- April 3
- March 2
- February 3
- January 2
2020 31
- December 3
- November 2
- October 3
- September 2
- August 2
- July 3
- June 2
- May 2
- April 3
- March 2
- February 3
- January 4
2019 41
- December 2
- November 3
- October 4
- September 4
- August 3
- July 3
- June 4
- May 4
- April 4
- March 3
- February 3
- January 4
2018 46
- December 4
- November 5
- October 4
- September 3
- August 4
- July 4
- June 4
- May 5
- April 4
- March 3
- February 4
- January 2
2017 43
- December 3
- November 5
- October 3
- September 3
- August 4
- July 3
- June 4
- May 3
- April 4
- March 4
- February 4
- January 3
2016 50
- December 5
- November 4
- October 4
- September 5
- August 4
- July 4
- June 4
- May 4
- April 4
- March 4
- February 4
- January 4
2015 50
- December 3
- November 3
- October 5
- September 5
- August 4
- July 5
- June 3
- May 4
- April 5
- March 4
- February 4
- January 5
2014 53
- December 4
- November 4
- October 5
- September 4
- August 4
- July 5
- June 4
- May 5
- April 4
- March 4
- February 4
- January 6
2013 18

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Instagram

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Chickadee Gardens

Video Tour of the Garden from Over the Fence Landscape Tours Part 1

Video Tour of Garden Part 1

Video Tour of the Garden from Over the Fence Landscape Tours Part 2

Video Tour of the Garden Part 2

pinterest

Visit Tamara's profile on Pinterest.

Services and Products

Services & Products

November 2021 Better Homes & Gardens Article

HPSO Article - Hotter, Drier, Wetter: Preparing for Extremes

HPSO Article: Working for Joy Creek Nursery

Pacific Horticultre Article: Creating Place: Outdoor Sculptures of Michi Kosuge

Winterbloom Visits Chickadee Gardens

blogs I read

Garden Rant
Dirt Therapy
Gods and Foolish Grandeur
A Way to Garden
danger garden
Late to the Garden Party
Digging
A Growing Obsession
GardenRiots
The World's Best Gardening Blog
Natural Gardening
Whatsitgarden
Fernhaven
The Rainy Day Garden
The Practical Plant Geek
MulchMaid
The Lents Farmer

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links!

Backyard Habitat Certification Program
Bosky Dell Native Plant Nursery for Willamette Valley
Chickadee Gardens Facebook Page
Cistus Nursery
City of Portland Ecoroof Handbook PDF
Cornell Project Feederwatch
E-Garden-Go
Echo Valley Natives Plant Nursery
Great Plant Picks
Hardy Fern Foundation
Hardy Plant Society of Oregon
How to start milkweed from seed
Humble Roots Native Plant Nursery
Joy Creek Nursery (where I work)
Metro Master Gardeners
Native Bee Research
Native Plant Society of Oregon
Native Plants List and Photos for the Willamette Valley from Portland Metro
Plant Lust - Great Search Engine for Plants
Portland Ecoroof Program
Soil Survey from the USDA
The Garden Fling
Video Tour of the Garden with Over the Fence Landscape Tours
Video Tour of the Garden with Over the Fence Landscape Tours Part 2
Xera Plants
Xerces Society - Bees!

followers

contact

chickadeegardenspdx@gmail.com

All images and content © copyright 2025 Tamara Paulat, Chickadee Gardens

labels

Anna's hummingbird9
Arctostaphylos25
Art in the Garden12
Asclepias13
Audubon Portland7
Autumn color37
Backyard Habitat Certification Program14
before and after58
Bird Creek Meadows4
birds20

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