Further into the Native Forest

You too can bring native plants into your home gardens. Many nurseries stock native plants so I would never advise plucking them from their habitat, but sometimes you find young native plants starting out life in all the wrong places. I have a lovely vine maple (acer circinatum) that needed rescuing as a small sapling growing right in the middle of a popular trail. It is now my prized 20' tall beauty, providing much needed privacy from my big-box and too-close East Vancouver neighbours. Speaking of acer circinatum, the new foliage is just opening up now is shades of electric green when the sunlight hits it in forests near you. Beautiful understory trees to watch out for.

Vine maple - Acer circinatum

Huckleberries are another favourite native plant leafing out right now. They are a little trickier to bring into your home garden since they only grow on the decompsing wood of other fallen trees - nurse logs - usually fir. This makes them extra special in my book, The red huckleberries are a treat to eat as well, slightly tart but delicious. Being such a tiny berry, it's very rewarding to find a loaded bush in July and take some time to eat your fill. I have never been patient enough to collect adequate huckleberries to make jam, though some people do.

Native Red Huckleberry - Vaccinium parvifolium

A more commercially available huckleberry is the black berry from the evergreen huckleberry shrub, Vaccinium ovatum. Not as prolific in the berry department, it is otherwise a very handsome native shrub, well worth planting, with the added bonus of being handsome all year long.

Evergreen Huckleberry - Vaccinium Ovatum

To completely shift gears and enter into a political discussion, what do you all think about the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) we're supposed to be getting this July in BC? In the landscaping world, I think it's going to be devastating. Currently, landscapers pay PST (7%) and GST (5%) on products, but we don't charge out PST, so it is absorbed into the cost of goods only. GST gets charged on both goods and services. Our labour is subject only to GST right now. HST will blend the two taxes and be charged on everything. Since we are primarily a service-based industry, our cost is going up 7%. Our hourly rate effectively goes up almost $3!! Is anyone else worried about this? There is a lot of rhetoric from the current BC Liberal government regarding how this tax will be beneficial for the province but I really can't see it. Consumers are going to be paying a lot more money for anything service-oriented and the government gets the extra tax. They have already taken all the lottery money that used to fund non-profit organizations, cut health care, the arts and education and are currently selling our natural resources to anyone with enough money to buy them. Sorry about the rant, but it really is becoming annoying. Another old provincial politician, Bill Vander Zalm, who wasn't much better when he was in power, has started a campaign to fight the HST and he tells us it can be fought. Perhaps politicians CAN redeem themselves. If you feel the same way I do, why not visit the Fight the HST site to get involved at http://fighthst.com/ ?

Thanks for reading.
Liz