About Me
Dana with Al D’Annunzio at the 2014 Gig Harbor Arbor Day Celebration.
My name is Dana Kelley Bressette. I have a bachelor of science degree in Ornamental Horticulture from Washington State University and a master of science degree in Urban Horticulture from the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture. For my master’s thesis I studied the Possible Causes of Decline for the Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii).
I worked for the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma from 1987-1992 in the production greenhouses at Point Defiance and at the W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory.
Currently, I am the Plant Production Manager and Sales Consultant at Woodbrook Native Plant Nursery in Gig Harbor, Washington and have spent the past several years tutoring, mostly basic math and algebra at Sylvan Learning Center, while concentrating on raising my son, Sky Hawk Bressette.
My family lives in a solar home built by my husband, Edmund, on 6 acres on the Key Peninsula, near Gig Harbor, Washington. I plant native plants and fruit trees and berry plants on my own property and grow a vegetable garden every year. The whole family enjoys hiking & camping. I also enjoy genealogy research. Learning how my ancestors lived helps to put an historical context to the interactions of people and their environment!
I am so happy I found you!
I have a hedge that is very close to the beach. Strong winds come through and the salt air is burning one side of the hedge. Sadly it is the side that my neighbors see so I need to replace it with a plant that can survive wind and salt air, evergreen and provide privacy. 6 feet is the ideal height. Christiansens suggested Rugosa or Pacific west mrytle.
I am not a gardener, wish I was and I try. Can you make a suggestion?
I wish the guy who did the landscape plan and paid more attention to the setting.
Thank you
Pacific Wax Myrtle is our best native evergreen shrub for screening and grows well along the coast. It is an excellent choice. Rosa rugosa is not a native Rose. We have 2 species of native roses that would be better for your situation: Nootka Rose, Rosa nutkana, or Peafruit (Clustered Swamp Rose) Rose, Rosa pisocarpa. They are very similar. The main differences are that Nootka Rosa has more single blossoms and larger hips and Peafruit Rose has clustered blooms and clusters of pea-sized hips.
wish I’d found this site earlier — I was just thinking about how we need more than just the plant names and details, but the whole context of working with native plants in the landscape, residential and elsewhere.
— will have to do a lot more reading here!
Very glad to have found your website which I came upon whilst searching mountain boxwood (pachistima myrsinites). I’m looking forward to following you; thank you so much for your work and for sharing it.
Your Christmas letter put me on to this, and there is so much to enjoy.
I will send your web sites to granddaughter Sarah Kelley Richman who is a plant and bug person working on her biology PhD at Arizona Univ in Tucson . sarahkrichman@gmail.com
(Sarah and Phoebe are my daughter Valerie’s daughters. Phoebe at NYU in social work Masters program).
don
Thanks Don! I have never been to Tucson; It has a very different ecosystem than my Pacific Northwest Forests!