A Dozen More Native Plants to Try

To start 2015 off with a bang, I listed a few favorite native plants to try out...you can read all about the list here. There were a lot of plants on that list. I had to edit out many to make it a post of reasonable length. Then I thought why not make this a fairly regular category on my blog? How about lists of great native plants, ones I have experience with in my own garden? And ones I don't have but would like to investigate and maybe add? Without further adieu, here is an addition to the ever continuing list of very worthy Pacific Northwest native plants:

This first grouping pictured above does not count towards the dozen listed today, but it illustrates three natives that I love and grow throughout Chickadee Gardens, three groundcovers: Oxalis oregana, Asarum caudatum or wild ginger and Sedum oreganum or Oregon stonecrop. They intermingle well and just ended up together. I did not plan this grouping.



My goal here is to showcase native plants in closeup photos, foliage and flower shots (maybe not in the same post), wider shots as mature specimens in my garden, and as seen in other settings in the wild and in other gardens. I may not always have photos of both but I will share what I have and continue to gather photos and information. I also hope to showcase plants I may not necessarily grow myself but either plan to or show ones that I simply admire. There are many out there that I don't grow simply for lack of space, so if you have some great natives that you grow, let me know and perhaps I can pay you a visit! Let's spread the word and the visual encyclopedia of plants.

Moving on!

Rosa nutkana or Nootka rose. These were photographed at Mt. Tabor Park where they have naturalized. Beautiful hips in the fall, deciduous plants.

They can get quite tall.

Lovely fall color.

This rose is in the hell strip in our garden. It is totally neglected and yet very vigorous. In fact, I considered taking it out, it could take over the whole thing eventually which might not be such a bad thing. I'm unsure what its future will hold, but it's a great plant for certain situations. Its blooms are a very pretty pink. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo.

Here's a curious vine, a native honeysuckle, Lonicera ciliosa or orange honeysuckle. This is a deciduous vine that sports bright orange flowers.

This is just forming buds. When in bloom they are bright orange and quite striking especially as it is a woodland vine, so in the shade it is a wonderful treat. Mine took a while to get going but now is doing quite well. 

Here's some bright new growth on a Rhododendron occidentale or western azalea, a deciduous azalea that smells heavenly. Bright green new growth that will eventually give way to reddish fall color.

The blooms come in shades of white to pink to peach, and oh my gosh they smell of Asian lilies, no kidding. Grow these now if you don't already. I will get a better flower photo this spring.

There it is, smack in the middle above the fern, of course overcrowded in my proudly
 "crammit style" (a la Danger Garden) of gardening.
They can take some sun, can get up to 12 feet tall but usually stay about 4 feet tall. They like the edge of a forest and do like water. Here's a great informative article I found on Pacific Horticulture's website about them. Read about it here. If you have the proper setting these are wonderful plants and underused. Mine are fairly young at only three years old, I will get better photos this spring. They do appreciate a bit of air circulation. I bought mine at both Bosky Dell Native Plants in West Linn, and at Livingscape Nursery in Porltland.

This is probably a familiar sight, Spiraea douglasii. This native shrub can reach 8 or so feet tall, and it spreads by runners. The fluffy pink blossoms attract all kinds of bees and is a lovely alternative to invasive butterfly bush (here in the Willamette Valley). It is a good plant for wet areas, but I have mine in the very dry in summer hell strip and it does quite well duking it out with the nootka rose.

Here it is in bloom, getting quite large. I hacked it back hard last week which it handles like a champ.

Sweet Polypodium scouleri or leathery polypody. I adore this little fern that grows slow and steady every season and does not die on me for any reason. Evergreen and tough. I have at least a dozen if not more sprinkled throughout in mostly shady situations.

Here's a member of the honeysuckle family, twinberry or Lonicera involucrata. It is a deciduous shrub that blooms with yellow flowers turning to dark purple double berries.

Here it is on the right, behind the potted lobelia, about two years old.

A small, inconspicuous flower that turns to a strange berry that the birds adore. The hummers love these flowers. It's a great shrub for all manner of wildlife. I cut mine back as it can get quite large for my small space. Luckily, it takes to pruning well.

Mimulus aurantiacus, my beloved orange monkeyflower. While technically not native to the Willamette Valley, it is native to the hotter areas of southwestern Oregon and California.

It is the banner image for my blog, I love it so much. Also called sticky monkey flower, its leaves are sticky. I have lost a few during deep freezes and super wet winters, but they are fairly easy to propagate from cuttings. I see in Annie's Annuals catalog they say to cut it back each fall, perhaps that's a good idea. They also list this plant as a good understory plant for oak trees and dry hillside areas. It does like it dry, so I push it a little in my wet Oregon garden.

Here are two forms of it, the orange on the left (without flowers at the moment) and a rustier version on the right. It takes to pruning very well.

Douglas aster or Aster subspicatus. This is an airy flowering plant that spreads like crazy. Great for meadows and naturalizing, I have it in our hell strip. I have pulled up a lot of it but it doesn't get too bad. I just see a lot of seedlings in the immediate area. It blooms all summer into fall and the bees adore it.

Just keeps on blooming.

Piggy back plant or Tomiea menziesii, this is 'Taff's Gold' which I purchased from Xera Plants last year. It performed so well that I bought a few more. This is in the newly planted area I blogged about here. Hey, there's a Polypodium scouleri on the right!

Here is Tolmiea menziesii in Forest Park.

Trout lily or Erythronium hendersonii.

Such interesting foliage. Henderson's fawn lily as photographed at Elk Rock Garden at the Bishop's Close, I blogged about it here.

Just elegant.

Licorice fern or Polypodium glycyrrhiza. These guys go dormant in the summertime at my home, they are everywhere in the forests around Portland. I love them, they hang from trees, mailboxes, posts and porches..single leaves that scream "forest"....so lush.

 Aren't they the most?

Lastly, Juncus effusus or common rush. This is actually a cultivar called 'Bay Blue' purchased at Xera plants. It doesn't get as large as the common rush. Remember, rushes are round and sedges have edges! I have had mixed results with juncus, some have just died out in the middle while others carry on without incident. They say juncus is great for stabilizing soil and for bioswales, in other words either really wet saturated soil or super dry soil, either extreme of which we get both here in the Willamette Valley.

So there are a few more Pacific Northwest native plants to add to your file of possibilities. I'll keep on adding if you'll keep on reading...there are really so many more interesting plants out there. Many of our gardening friends in the UK, for example, have known about our great plants here from the Pacific Northwest for decades and have enjoyed them in their own gardens. I too think we have a treasure trove of beauties waiting to be explored so let's do it!

For a great local resource, here's a link to Portland Metro's brochure about native plants for the Willamette Valley. I have used it often, it's a keeper!

Thank you for reading and until next week, happy gardening!