Building the Future of Sustainable Gardening: WildscapeMuse’s Latest Milestones
Hey garden friends! The past few weeks have been incredibly exciting here at WildscapeMuse, and I can’t wait to share some major developments with you. 🌿
Growing Our Creative Team
First up – and I’m practically bouncing in my chair as I type this – I’ve welcomed two amazing designers to the WildscapeMuse family! While I’ll share more details about these talented individuals soon, I can tell you that we’re working on a complete visual identity that will bring our vision to life. Think beautiful logos, intuitive user interfaces, and an experience that makes sustainable gardening accessible to everyone.
Technical Growth & New Features
On the technical side, I’ve hit some significant milestones. The WildscapeMuse app is now live on AWS Amplify (for my fellow tech enthusiasts, you know what a big deal this is! No you can’t look at it yet ;-), and we’re implementing some game-changing features. One I’m particularly excited about is our 70/30 approach – a guideline that helps you create a garden with 70% native plants and 30% well-adapted non-natives. But here’s the clever part: each plant in our database receives an ecological score based on your specific climate zone. This means that when you’re selecting that 30% of non-natives, you’re choosing from plants that have proven to be non-invasive, low-maintenance, and supportive of local wildlife. No more guessing whether that beautiful exotic plant might become tomorrow’s ecological headache!
A Peek Behind the Curtain
Some of you may have wondered about the inspiration behind WildscapeMuse, and I’m ready to share a little secret: the app is structured around U.S. climate zones, each named after one of the nine Muses from classical mythology. These zones form the foundation for all our plant selections and gardening recommendations. For instance, here in the Pacific Northwest, we’re in what we call Euterpe’s region. The plant selections and gardening techniques are first and foremost based on our unique climate conditions - our rainfall patterns, temperature ranges, and soil types. Euterpe, the Muse of lyrical poetry, then inspires creative ways to work with these regional characteristics, helping us design gardens that flow as harmoniously as her verses. (I’ll be sharing more about how each climate zone and its corresponding Muse influences garden designs in future posts – trust me, this is just the beginning!)
Speaking of inspiration, I have to mention Doug Tallamy’s “Nature’s Best Hope,” which played a huge role in shaping WildscapeMuse’s mission. We’ve reached out to HomegrownNationalPark.org for potential collaboration because, well, dream big or go home, right?
What’s Next?
As wWildscapeMuse continues to grow, I’m exploring partnerships with local nurseries and environmental organizations. If you’re interested in being part of this journey early on, whether as a partner or beta tester, I’d love to hear from you.
The vision of transforming urban and suburban spaces into thriving ecosystems is becoming more real every day, and I’m grateful to have you all along for this adventure.
Drop me a line in the ‘Contact’ section!