Harry and Maggie Wetzel Native Plant Garden
On May 26th, 2012 the Wetzel Native Plant Garden public park held its Grand Opening ceremony with the Wetzel Family pictured below. The Wetzel Native Plant Garden is one of the most unique parks in the city and showcases over 90 varieties of local native plants arranged by habitat type so local gardeners can easily identify what will grow well where they live. The Harry and Maggie Wetzel Native Plant Garden is located across Foss Creek from SHED, which is at 25 North Street in Healdsburg.
The Harry and Maggie Wetzel Native Plant Garden is one of the most unique parks in Healdsburg and serves as our only botanical garden. The Wetzel Native Plant Garden features over 80 species of local native plants attractively grouped by habitat needs to env\courage residents and businesses to bring native plants into their gardens and landscaping. Katie Wetzel, one of Harry and Maggie’s children, came up with the idea to build a memorial garden in her parents’ honor. Supervisor Mike McGuire, then Mayor of Healdsburg, introduced Russian Riverkeeper to Katie and her concept evolved into a native plant garden features species from every major habitat type found in Sonoma County. The City provided the land for the park and various City departments have all pitched in to help create and build the Wetzel Garden.
The garden provides a “see it, do it” resource that enables local gardeners to identify native plants that are particularly well-suited to their home environment. The garden supplies habitat for native wildlife and serves as a fitting memorial to Harry and Maggie, who were great philanthropists and community supporters.
We grouped the plants by their habitat in order to help you find plants that naturally do well in environments similar to your home or business landscape. When native plants are grown in areas that resemble places where they are found naturally, they flourish and require less maintenance than typical non-native garden variety plants.
Planting native species in your home garden enables you to cultivate a thriving native ecosystem in your backyard where butterflies, birds and other native wildlife can be viewed for your enjoyment. We like to think of native landscaping as a way to cultivate cheap and wholesome entertainment right outside your door.
Be sure to check out the educational material below and the links at bottom to help you start planning your own native plant garden. Download a PDF of the native plant list here.
