There are few other plants so closely associated with scent than Lavender. The purple flowers and gray/green foliage is unmistakable and found in gardens around the world. The various forms can grow from ground high up to waist high and it is used and appreciated by both humans and wildlife. Lavandula (more commonly known as [...]
Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) may be considered a painful weed by most, but it is a complicated plant with many hidden virtues ranging from a valuable wildlife plant to making beer. While most people are well aware of the evils of Stinging Nettle, not many are familiar with the good. The complexities of the Stinging Nettle [...]
One of the first plants I placed in my new yard this past fall was the Indian Plum. The reason it received this honor was because it is the earliest plants to bloom in the spring. Walk through parks or natural areas in the Pacific Northwest as early as February and you’ll see white flowers [...]
You would never know that Common Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is not a native plant of North America considering how abundant it is in certain regions like the Pacific Northwest. This flower was introduced from Europe and is found in gardens, and has naturalized to spread to roadsides, fields, forest edges and other disturbed sites around the [...]
While you may not always associate succulents with cool, temperate climates, the Pacific Northwest has several native sedums which live and thrive in exactly those conditions. The Broad-leaved stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium) is one of those succulents which grows only on the West Coast from British Columbia to California. It can be found at low elevations [...]
The pink, heart-shaped flowers of this plant define the pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa). While the flowers are not as showy as some of the popular ornamental varieties, the plant as a whole is still beautiful and offers great benefits to a variety of wildlife. Growing 8-18″ high, the plant is a perennial which dies [...]
Dense thickets of Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) are a common sight to anyone hiking through the Pacific Northwest. It’s often found alongside creeks or in ravines growing up to 12 feet tall. Salmonberry can be found along the Pacific Coast from Alaska down to the Santa Cruz Mountains, most commonly along the coastal ranges. It grows [...]
The California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) is an unmistakable bright splash found everywhere from roadsides and traffic circles to rocky slopes and vineyards. In fact early visitors by ship along the California coastline saw the sun hitting the fields of poppies and declared this was a land on fire. It’s native to the west coast of [...]
There are certain plants that are distinctly Pacific Northwest such as the iconic Douglas Fir tree, noticeable for it’s looming forest presence, the Oregon-grape, known for its bright-yellow flowers, and Snowberry, easy to spot because of its white berries. There is one Pacific Northwest perennial plant easily noticeable from a distance, not by its flowers or [...]
There are a couple of varieties of Oregon-grape, a common evergreen shrub growing in the Pacific Northwest, Dull Oregon-grape and Tall Oregon-grape, which is the state flower of Oregon. From the Barberry family (Berberidaceae) is Dull Oregon-grape, or also simply called Oregon-grape (Mahonia nervosa) and Tall Oregon-grape (Mahonia aquifolium). Both have pinnate, glossy green leaves [...]
Lupines (Lupinus) are members of the pea family (Leguminosae) and there are many species native to the Pacific Northwest. In fact Lupinus and Trifolim (Clovers) together make up the largest genera in the family in the Pacific Northwest. Some of the species include Nootka lupine (Lupinus nootkatensis), Large-leaved lupine (L. polyphyllus), Silky lupine (L. sericeus) and [...]
If you’ve ever set foot in the Pacific Northwest, or even flown over it, you couldn’t miss the majestic Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). It can be found not only in the forests, but it’s one of the few native trees commonly found in human inhabited areas such as the suburbs, parks, campuses and golf courses. Not a [...]