UI Extension, Pitkin Nursery celebrating nation’s 250th anniversary by giving communities native plants

University of Idaho Extension and the university’s Franklin H. Pitkin Forest Nursery sent the perfect gift at the ideal moment to help the Veterans’ Outreach Center of Benewah County celebrate the grand opening of a new Fernwood annex building.

In honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary, the Pitkin Nursery — Idaho’s state nursery operated by the College of Natural Resources — has offered to ship all 45 county and tribal offices operated by UI Extension red, white and blue native tree and shrub seedlings.

Each participating Extension office will receive a blue spruce, a red osier dogwood and a Lewis syringa. The Pitkin Nursery will also include signs and descriptions of each species, planting instructions and commemorative stickers. Extension offices have the discretion to include the plants in their own landscaping, plant them at county fairgrounds or use them to beautify other local public buildings, such as Fernwood’s new veterans’ facility.

Seedlings were shipped on June 22 to reach the first group of 16 offices in time to be planted in conjunction with community semiquincentennial celebrations. Other Extension offices have opted to receive their plants in late September, closer to the fall planting season.

Hank Thornton, president and CEO of Veterans Outreach Center, Inc., arranged to have his organization’s seedlings planted in conjunction with the Friday, July 3, grand opening celebration of the new annex building.

“When they came to us and said, ‘We have these plants in red, white and blue,’ and we were preparing to open the Fernwood annex, I thought, ‘What a perfect addition,’ because we have no landscaping there yet,” Thornton said. “The plants will be beautiful, obviously, but it’s especially nice to have people respect and think of the veterans. It’s a special tribute, and we really appreciate it.”

UI Extension educator Lauren King, Benewah County, who is a former Pitkin Nursery employee, has been the liaison between Extension and nursery staff for the effort and chose the veterans’ organization as her county’s recipient.

“I think this is a good way of showcasing Idaho’s natural resources and native plants,” King said. “I focus a lot on native plants in landscape restoration, and I think it’s important that landowners see we have beautiful native plants here that can also be used as ornamentals.”

Aside from their colors, the species were chosen because the nursery had surplus inventories following seasonal sales. Furthermore, they all grow well throughout the state. Blue spruce, known for their blue-green needles, typically reach about 98 feet tall in the wild and are commonly used as an ornamental tree. The Lewis syringa is Idaho’s state flower, growing up to 5 to 10 feet tall and producing flowers with white petals. Red osier dogwoods reach 3 to 9 feet in height and have bright red stems.

The Pitkin Nursery grows about 500,000 seedlings per year, supporting the state’s reforestation needs and funding student training, research and outreach through seedling sales.

“This gets to Idaho’s spirit of valuing our natural resources — being able to highlight its natural resources through native plants in a unique way of celebrating the country’s history,” said Andrew Nelson, director of the Pitkin Nursery. “This also highlights the value of the university to the citizenship of the state, particularly from the perspective of the nursery as a place where people can procure seedlings for reforestation needs.”