Before Laura Rensberry even built her house, she planted 800 blueberry bushes.

“The thing about blueberry plants is they will live forever if you have the right conditions — and they are the perfect fruit,” she said.

Rensberry has developed two acres of her land at 435 Beach Haven Road into fertile ground for blueberries, raspberries and black currants, and a variety of native plant starts from dogwood to madrona to shore pine. After studying environmental horticulture in graduate school and living on Orcas for more than two decades, she is officially running a nursery from her property. Wren’s Berries and Native Plants is open by appointment only at 360-622-6616 or laurarensberry@gmail.com.

“I’ve collected native plant seeds and given them away for years,” Rensberry explained. “After my husband passed (last fall), I decided to get legit!”

Rensberry grew up in Michigan, where blueberries are abundant, both grown in the wild and commercially. Local restaurants receive weekly deliveries of her berries from summer through fall, and she has a shed at the end of her driveway for retail customers. She’ll also deliver to islanders who purchase in large quantities.

Those who visit Rensberry will receive a tour of the land and ideas about which native plants would work best for them, as well as meet Lucy, the goose, a flock of ducks, senior rescue dogs and her longtime friend Tracey Armstrong, who lives on the property and helps cultivate the land.

Rensberry purchases some stock from native plant sellers on the mainland, but most of her seeds are “super local,” and she grows starts in her hoop greenhouse. Native plants grow naturally in a specific region or ecosystem, providing habitat and food for local wildlife.

“I would like everything I sell to be from the San Juan Archipelago,” Rensberry said. “Ever since I moved here, I wanted to make this place better. Native plants are the foundation for everything else. I want to honor what came before.”

Colleen Smith Summers. Laura with her goose Lucy.