Jeremy Ojua, Native Plant Nursery Supervisor for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, describes to visitors the cultural significance of the plants he grows for restoration.

GRAND RONDE, Ore. — Most nurseries grow plants with profits in mind. Jeremy Ojua, supervisor of the Native Plant Nursery owned by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, has a more profound mission. The Tribes are hoping to revive plants that are significant to their people.

“It’s not a commercial nursery,” Ojua said. “But we’re happy to get the seeds out on the land.”

Small lots of seed produced in the nursery are available for restoration, but not for commercial operations. Most of the seed and starts from the nursery are used on the conservation and restoration acres the Tribes now own or manage in Polk and Yamhill counties.

The nursery started in 2014 and is also a stage for education: Tribal and non-tribal groups come to the nursery to learn about the importance of native plants to the Tribes, and to the ecology of the Willamette Valley.

Many of the native plants growing in Grand Ronde’s greenhouse and outdoor nurseries have had their habitats reduced in Western Oregon, Ojua recently told about 40 conservationists, gardeners, farmers and local landowners.

It is no easy task to grow native plants from seed, but Ojua has had plenty of help. In addition to the Tribes, local and state watershed groups and private ecology nonprofits funded the initial set-up and ongoing operations. Many native plants grown from seed take three to five years to mature.

Today, the nursery features scores of native plant species that have been significant to the Tribes, some thriving and some not. Ojua points to the wild strawberries and camas, which began spreading once invasive plants were removed from the lower field.

“We’re still learning,” he said of growing tobacco and other plants. Many of his methods mimic those used by Native people for thousands of years. Tribes, including those in Grand Ronde’s confederation, would harvest plants in a way that fostered plant and crop health over time. Imitating those methods is a work in progress, Ojua said. He said he’s still figuring out irrigation, shade and fertilizing schedules.

He’s not averse to using modern methods to foster young plants. Clay-heavy local soil in raised beds has been amended with Wilco’s professional potting mix. Modern methods of thinning and disease control are all part of the nursery’s growing toolbelt.

Responding to Ojua’s care are camas, biscuit root, yampah, native onion, yerba buena, tall dogbane, salmonberry, mugwort, tarweed and dozens of other species of plants and trees.

Each carries with it a story of traditional use by the tribes. Plants like Camas, Yampah, wild iris, hazel, and tall dogbane are not only beautiful but useful plants, as foods, tools, basketry, and medicine that also attract pollinating insects.

Already popular among groups restoring wetlands and streambanks are willows, red-osier dogwood, Pacific nine-bark and other shrub species, all growing in the nursery.

“These plants are not just plants to us. They’re tools.”

To visit or learn more about the nursery, call or leave a message for Ojua at 503-879-1460.