showy natives for your garden

The following is an informal list of PNW natives that have value as showy ornamentals for small gardens.  I sell many of these plants and provide professional landscaping services including design, installation and consulting.  As a plant-lover, I enjoy growing any plants, native or not, that are attractive, interesting, less-common, and appropriate to the site.  As a graduate-trained botanist, I have some expertise in the identification and use of natives in the landscape. 

Flowers for shade to part sun

The Saxifrage clan: Saxifraga, Heuchera, Heucherella, Tiarella, Tellima, Tolmeia, Mitella: a suite of perennials native to PNW woodlands, all shade-loving (though Tellima and some of the Saxifragas are more sun-tolerant than the others).  With the exception of Saxifraga, leaves of this group are exceedingly hard to tell apart, being mostly more or less heart-shaped, pale green, and fuzzy.  Flowers are typically small and white to pink, held in racemes on slender stems. For all of the saxifrages, ideal soil is moist, very well-drained, loam, sand, or gravel.

Anemone- lovely woodland perennial.  Several native species, most white, some blue to purplish, pink.

Viola- many native species- blue/violet, white and yellow flowering.

Aruncus dioicus- Goatsbeard- deciduous perennial in the rose family resembling Astilbe in its leaves and somewhat in its flowers, which are small and white on long feathery racemes.  Flowering stems as tall as 6 ft.  Aruncus is often seen on forest edges, on gravelly slopes with a supply of water.

Bleeding Hearts- Dicentra formosa- deciduous perennial with heart-shaped flowers in pink, blooming in spring.  The plant may go dormant in summer heat, but will persist until frost if kept shaded and moist.  Spreads by seeds and rhizomes.
Corydalis- Dicentra relative with tubular flowers; our native species are primarily yellow and pink.

Trillium- T. ovatum is the most widespread species, but T. chloropetalum, T. petiolatum, and T. albidum are other PNW species.  Take care when purchasing Trillium-- ask how they were obtained.  This plant takes 5-7 years from seed to bloom, and some nurseries unfortunately poach rare plants from wild land.

False Solomon's Seal- two species, formerly Smilacena racemosa and S. stellata, now merged into Maianthemum.  Tall woodland lilies with racemes of small white flowers followed by berries.

Fritillaria

Groundcovers for shade
Wild Ginger-  Asarum caudatum - attractive, heart-shaped leaves stay close to the ground; unique brownish flowers hide under the leaves.
Twinflower- Linnaea borealis- evergreen on delicate, trailing, slender woody stems.  Opposite leaves are small, mid-green, glossy.  Charming, tiny tubular pink flowers borne in pairs.
Inside out Flower- Vancouveria hexandra- to 12" or so, soft green, attractive leaves, small white flowers on wiry stems in early summer

Maianthemum dilatatum- low deciduous ground cover, False Lily-of-the-Valley.  Small erect spikes of white flowers over heart-shaped leaves with conspicuous parallel veins.  Can be quite assertive in covering ground.  Flowers followed by berries that change from light green to red.

Ferns
All ferns prefer shade, somewhat moist and well-drained ground.  The ubiquitous Sword Fern and Bracken are more tolerant of sun and dryness than any of the others, though both do better in shade.

Full shade species:
Athyrium filix-femina- Lady Fern, Latin species name means "Happy Woman".  Tall, deciduous.
Adiantum sp.- Maidenhair Fern- delicate, deciduous, with distinctive black, wiry stems.  Very sensitive to sun, heat, dryness.
Blechnum spicant- Deer Fern- handsome, semi-evergreen, sturdy fern, smaller and neater than the ubiquitous Sword Fern.


Flowers for sun to part shade

Annuals-
Collomia grandiflora- to 2 ft, pincushion-like flowers generally yellow to orange, occasionally white.  Rambunctious self-seeder.
Clarkia amoena- one of several species of Clarkia.  Very bright pink with petal spots, satiny finish, easy from seed.

Perennials
Evening Primrose- Oenothera spp.--  numerous species in the PNW and elsewhere. In western/coastal PNW, our most common species are tall and bright yellow-flowering, biennial to perennial.
Sidalcea- several species of Mallow, in the Hibiscus/Hollyhock clan.  Pink (occasionally white), very showy.
Stachys cooleyae- Pink Hedgenettle-  plant of drainage ditches and seasonal puddles, likes moist, very well-drained, very full sun spots.  Mid-green, slightly fuzzy leaves smell of horehound.  Deep pink-purplish flowers attract hummingbirds.  Spreads by rhizomes and self-seeding, rambunctious.  May be prone to powdery mildew if given insufficient sun or ventilation.

Columbine- several NW spp, most common is Aquilegia formosa, which is orange  to red.  Woodland edges and moist meadows, likes full to part sun.  Aquilegias in general hybridize freely and self-seed generously, so if you grow different species together, you will get babies not resembling the parents.  Hummingbird plants.

Campanula rotundifolia- pretty blue-violet bell-shaped flowers on wiry stems to about 12".

Lupine- this is a large genus, with hundreds of species, including scores in the PNW.  Two common ones are the very large Lupinus polyphyllus, with tall spikes of purple flowers, and the tall rock garden species L. argenteus, with silvery leaves.

Penstemon- Beardtongue- scores of PNW species, with tubular, usually purple (sometimes pink or red) flowers loved by hummingbirds.  Particularly showy is Rock Penstemon, with deep pink flowers on short, bushy plants.

Mimulus- Monkeyflower- many native species, ranging from tiny M. nana (pink) to shrub forms, yellow and orange flowering perennials.  Most common in our region is M. guttatus, moisture-loving plant to 3 ft tall with bright yellow flowers about 1-2" across.

Iris- numerous PNW native species, some hybridize.  Most widespread is I. tenax, with stiff-ish evergreen leaves, purple flowers with variegation.

Sisyrinchium- small Iris relative, 'Grass Widows', several NW species, flower stems mostly around a foot high, grasslike leaves a little shorter. Flowers small, usually purple.  One species, S. californicum, is shorter, with bright yellow flowers.

Erythronium- lily relative with various common names, including Fawn Lily, and the very confusing Dogtooth Violet (no relation to violets).  One of the prettiest is E. revolutum, so named for its reflexed petals.  Common names include Pink Trout Lily, Coast Fawn Lily.  Occurs inland, east of Puget Sound, but more common along the coast, particularly in Oregon.  Pink to white flowers.


Lilium columbianum - tall, nodding lily, gold to orange, with dark spots.  One of the many very different lilies often called 'Tiger Lily'.  Needs well-drained soil, full sun to dappled shade.  Blooms for a couple of weeks mid-summer.  May produce seedlings or bulblets.  Like many lily family species, this has a complicated germination cycle and takes several years from seed to bloom.  As with all lilies, needs protection from slugs and deer.

Shrubs

Spiraea densiflora- very showy, more compact than the more common species in our region, S. douglassii.  Deciduous, attractive twisty twigs add winter interest.  Clusters of small pink flowers.

Ribes sanguineum, Red-flowering Currant- deciduous shrub to 7 ft tall, 5 ft wide.  Very showy deep pink flowers in pendant clusters in spring, followed by dark berries with a chalky coating.  Needs excellent drainage, drought tolerant once established, most often seen at woodland edges in dappled sun/part shade.  Several selected cultivars available in the nursery trade, characterized by variation in flower color from white to the almost purple-pink King Edward VII.

Philadelphus lewisii, Mock Orange- tall deciduous shrub with showy white flowers.  Needs full sun; drought-tolerant once established.

Vines
Lonicera ciliosa- our very showy native vine, Orange-Flowering Honeysuckle- perennial, deciduous.  Will scramble 20 ft up trees.  Leaves are opposite, oval; terminal pair join to form a disc below the clusters of bright orange, tubular flowers.  Flowers are followed by orange-red berries.
Great plant for hummingbirds and other creatures.  Easy to propagate from cuttings or seeds.