Nursery specializes in native plants

On a small plot of land south of Whitefish, spring fever is in full swing. The sound of shovels scoring the earth rings through the trees nearby as new trees begin to form rows along the grounds.

The Center for Native Plants specializes in regional species. This time of year, crews are uncovering plants that have been held through winter, as well as planting and potting new incoming trees.

With spring weather arriving earlier than usual, the crew is preparing for the upcoming season two weeks ahead of last year. Despite the schedule shuffle, Andrew Beltz, vice president at the Center for Native Plants, said working with a native plant culture gives them an edge when going up against the elements.

“That’s one nice thing about the natives,” Beltz said. “These plants can tolerate the fluctuating weather and they’re a lot more forgiving and tolerant of the environmental variables.”

Beltz said he began taking the non-typical weather into account in August, which was dry and hovered around 65 degrees. This required the grounds crew to cut off irrigation early to induce a natural dormancy so plants don’t continue to grow. Before winter finally hit, Beltz laid layers of blankets and insulation over the plants to hold over winter. He said most of the plants held over winter are at least a year or two old.

Beltz said he’s sort of rolling the dice uncovering plants this early, but a premature spring along with a warmer fall has forced his hand.

“We’re at a slight risk now that we’ve uncovered the plants. They’re vulnerable now to the weather,” he said. “In the nursery business it’s all about risk, just like any agricultural field.”

The plants have adapted well to the local environment and climate, though. The Center of Native Plants has an inventory of 120 different local species. Working with local plants allows the crew to stand back somewhat and allow the process to happen, although manual labor still contributes to the process. Beltz said there might be a 50/50 split between allowing the natural grow cycle and intervening with measures such as pruning and irrigation.

Hailey Moore, a plant specialist at the Center for Native Plants, doesn’t consider herself an expert on these native species, but rather a student of the adaptations the plants are making year after year in order to survive a changing climate.

“Thats what’s so intriguing. They’re adaptable and there’s so much that’s involved with their biodiversity,” Moore said. “They’re here for a purpose.”

While each plant is diverse and specific to a smaller area of the greater region, the Center for Native Plants has found an umbrella-type solution for boosting each species. After several years of trial and error, Beltz has created a custom soil mix that nurtures each plant species.

“We had to develop our own soil mix that all these different plants would tolerate. We’re not buying bags of Miracle-Gro, so we had to manipulate our soil to allow these plants to grow in a nursery environment,” he said.

In this new soil, native plants such as paint brush, blanket flowers and loco weeds are thriving.

Even after years of experimentation, the custom soil mix continues to develop with new additives such as peat or sand. It’s one of the staples the center has included in its process since opening south of Whitefish in 2014.

Beltz and David Noftsinger, both vice presidents along with president Greg Gunderson, established the Center for Native Plants in 2007 as a working business of their parent company, Forestoration.

Their restoration work began after the Moose Creek Fire in the North Fork during 2001. Beltz, whose background is in forestry, said Forestoration began as a small operation for which they bought plants in small plugs before eventually growing their own crop of native plant species. They have since contracted work on wildfire-torched areas throughout the Flathead Valley area.

Since then Beltz and the Forestoration crew have acquired a small nursery space north of Kalispell off Trumble Creek Road where the first saplings for the Center for Native Plants were planted. That was 2007, and Beltz said the space was well-used, but smaller than their operation needed. Their tractors and equipment had to be stored on different properties throughout the valley and the irrigation system was a little sporadic. Two years ago Beltz and the crew purchased the 5-acre property south of Whitefish along U.S. 93 where the center is located today.

“Just a lot of different pieces fell into place to get set up here and after that we decided to go for it,” Beltz said. “It was just time to move away from the hobby part of it and do something much more professional.”

Today, Noftsinger runs the landscaping branch of the Center for Native Plants. He hand-draws each project, creating scenes from natural plant growth areas in the Flathead to develop a seamless transition from landscape to a residential or commercial building.

“We try to recreate or mimic scenes in nature,” Noftsinger said. “To me it’s important that people can easily move around their space. We try to make it pop right around the house and then taper off into the landscape.”

The market for native plants is growing, Noftsinger said, as people become more interested in connecting with their own environment.

Rita Brawn, marketing assistant the Center for Native Plants, echoed Noftsinger’s statement. Before joining the center she was a technical business writer and also worked in sales during her career. She came across the Center for Native Plants on a bicycle ride one day and found an enthusiasm for the effort in growing native species.

“Native plants are connecting people, just like food is connecting people because I think they want to feel more connected to something. Native plants allow you to feel connected to the land in which you live,” she said.

As summer approaches, the grounds crew at the Center for Native Plants will continue to plant and pot species that have been grown from seeds, as well as tend to the 12,000 new seeds planted last fall. “When I’m outside I can see a lot of plants starting to break their buds open. It won’t be long before things start greening up,” Beltz said.

For more information on the Center for Native Plants, visit www.centerfornativeplants.com.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.