Native Plants of Western Washington

Help Preserve Native Plants Why Use Native Plants? Some Useful References Did you know that Washington State has over 2,300 There are many resources to help you learn about NATIVE PLANTS OF native plant species? Here are some reasons why and appreciate native plants — in your garden and native plants are important and benefi cial additions to in the wild. WESTERN WASHINGTON your garden. Plants of the Pacifi c Northwest CoastJim. Pojar and Andy MacKinnon, Eds. Lone Pine Publishing, Vancouver, Native plants: BC. 1994. The Natural Way to Grow are adapted to our climate of wet winters and Flora of the Pacifi c Northwest : An Illus- Photo by ClayPhoto Antieau by trated Manual. C. Leo Hitchcock and Arthur Cronquist. dry summers University of Washington Press (UW Press), Seattle. 1973. require less water than non-natives once they Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacifi c are established Northwest, 2nd Edition. Arthur R. Kruckeberg. UW Press, Seattle. 1996. resist native pests and diseases better than non- Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacifi c North- natives west. Russell Link. UW Press, Seattle. 1999. Ruth Munson Photo by Broad-leaved stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium) Native Plants in the Coastal Garden, nd2 Edition. improve water quality by needing less fertilizer April Pettinger. Whitecap Books, Vancouver, BC. 2002. Each of us can help preserve native plant species and and no pesticides Ethnobotany of Western Washington. Erna habitat. You’ve already taken the fi rst step by picking Gunther . UW Press, Seattle. Revised 1973. provide shelter, food and pollination up and reading this brochure! Want to know more? Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples. Nancy J. opportunities for native wildlife Read on. Here are more suggestions on how to take Turner. UBC Press, Vancouver, BC. 1995. action. save resources and encourage a sense of Grow Your Own Native Landscape. Item MISC0273 WSU Cooperative Extension. Revised 1999. Order at 1-800-723- stewardship 1763 or >http://pubs.wsu.edu< Plant natives in your garden; ask your local nurs- Propagation of Pacific Nothwest Native ery to stock them Plants. Robin Rose, Caryn E.C. Chachulski and Diane L. Become active in your local chapter of the Wash- Haase. Oregon State University Press. 1998. Washington State Noxious Weed Board. >www.nwcb.wa.gov ington Native Plant Society Washington Natural Heritage Program. >www.dnr.wa.gov/ Share information with friends and neighbors nhp/indes.html

about how native plants contribute to the health Alan Yen Photo by and vitality of the northwest ecosystem and sus- tain the animals that live here Red-ﬂ owering currant (Ribes sanguineum) Encourage others to “go native” in their home gardens

Remind our elected ofﬁ cials that native plants play a key role in keeping Washington green Washington Native Plant Society Pull out a non-native invasive plant and plant a

native in its place Smith Rivers Marcia Photo by

Volunteer to help pull out non-native plants in local parks – contact the city arborist to learn where Bunchberry (Cornus unalaschkensis) you can help out WASHINGTON NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY The creation of this brochure was made possible through Phone: (206) 527-3210 • E-mail: [email protected] WaterWorks, the King County Water Quality Block Grant awarded by the King County Department of Natural Resources. Website: www.wnps.org Western columbine (Aquilegia formosa) Revised and reprinted with separate funding, 1/2006. native plantsgrowinginwestern Washington. huckleberry bleeding heart Douglas- adapted tothelocalclimateandsoils. evolved withlocalinsects,fungiandwildlifeare European-American settlersarrived.Theyhaveco- Washington’s nativeplantsgrewinthisregionbefore What areNativePlants? knotweed Purple loosestrife and mammals. eliminating wildlifehabitatand foodfornativebirds natives growrapidlyandcrowd outnativeplants, many non-nativeplantsfromother places.Somenon- People haveaccidentallyandintentionally introduced What areInvasive Plants? ( plants. Once established, non-natives canbedif us to control or remove. Hedera helix ) areparticularly invasive anddamaging non-native ﬁ r ( Polygonum cuspidatum

(Pseudotsuga menziesii)

(Vaccinium parvifolium) ), and Vanilla leaf(Achlystriphylla) Nootka rose(Rosanutkana)

(Dicentra formosa) ( Scot’s broom Lythrum salicaria ( ), and Cytisus scopari- , English ivy arecommon Paci ), Red Japanese ﬁ c Photo by Carol Beach ﬁ cult

Photo by Marcia Rivers Smith that do well ingreenbelts andspacious yards. (Pseudotsuga menziesii) (Tsuga heterophylla) ern redcedar additions tothe homelandscape.Shade-loving contorta) lock spring andhavegoodcolorin fall. (Cornus nuttallii) started. Here aresomeplantingsuggestionstohelpyouget shade plantswillstruggleindrysoilandconstantsun. and lightconditions.Forexample,moisture-loving space. Itisimportanttoworkwithexistingsoil,water walking aroundyouryardandevaluatingtheplanting Northwest. Todesignyournativegarden,beginby tive plantshaveasubtlebeautythatde Gardening withnativeplantsisrewardingandfun.Na- Native Plants Landscaping with Vine maple Trees

(Tsuga mertensiana) aresun-loving evergreens thatareattractive

(Acer circinatum)

Vine maple(Acercircinatum) (Thuja plicata) areshadetolerant, andsun-loving arelarge, statelyevergreens and , and Shore pine Western hemlock Mountain hem- Paci Douglas- fl fi ower early in nes thePaci fi c dogwood

(Pinus ﬁ r West-

ﬁ c

Photo by Alan Yen evergreen leavesandwhite (Fragaria chiloensis) look greatallyear. Sun-loving munitum) lacy, blue-green leaves. beautiful springplantwithdelicate pink Paci Perennials &Ground Covers rose Red- Shrubs tive white spreads quickly andiscoveredwithunusual diminu- out delphus lewisii) leaf stalks of tiny of delightfully-scented broadleaves with slender (Sambucus racemosa) los columbiana), as drought-tolerant interest andcolorfulfallfruit,includetallshrubssuch evergreen additions tothegarden.Forstrikingvisual Low Oregon grape wood Medium-sized shrubslikesun-loving pollinators likehummingbirds,beesandbutter (Amelanchier alnifolia).

ﬂ

(Achlys triphylla) ﬁ ower (Rosa nutkana), ﬂ c bleedingheart

owering currant (Paxistima myrsinites) transplantswellanditsdark green leaves Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) Red elderberry ﬂ owers inspring.Shade-loving (Vancouveria hexandra) ﬂ owers. haveshowy shade-tolerant Hairy manzanita

(Mahonia nervosa) and isdrought-tolerant, hasshiny, willform alight-green carpet andsun-loving

(Dicentra formosa)

Sword fern (Ribes sanguineum), Mock-orange ﬂ owers inspring. ﬂ andshade-tolerant owers andattract Coastal strawberry Red elderberry likesmoistshade,

(Polystichum

Oregon box- (Arctostaphy- Serviceberry aregreat

ﬂ (Phila- owers and Vanilla isa

Nootka Inside- ﬂ ies.

Photo by Marcia Rivers Smith the Once planted,nativeplantswill needwaterfor the Garden Caring forNative Plantsin the rareplantsofourstate. ton NaturalHeritageProgram hasmoreinformationon should notbecollectedinany manner. The Washing- collection andpropagationmethods.Rareplants preferred thatplantsbeobtainedthroughethicalseed plants unlessthesiteisabouttobedestroyed.It tive plantsfromthewilddiscouragestakingwhole PLEASE NOTE: The WNPS policyoncollectingna- references listedinthisbrochure. using, propagating,andcaringfornativeplantsfrom others. time. Somenativeplantstransplantmoreeasilythan and cuttings.Besurecollectingisdoneattheproper tions shouldapply.Otheroptionsincludetakingseeds in yourownyard.Similarlight,soilandwatercondi- Consider wherethesalvagedplantisgoingtobeplaced of thenativesoilalongwithplant’srootsystem. plants. Whendiggingplantsitisimportanttotakesome you mustgetpermissionfromownersbeforeremoving Salvage plantsfromdevelopmentsites.Rememberthat site. web our WNPS collection ofnativeplantsandseedsisavailableon organizations. A listoflocalnurseriescarrying agood ety (WNPS),CountyConservationDistricts,andother several chaptersofthe Washington NativePlantSoci- Buy nativeplantsatspringandfallplantsalesheldby Your Garden Finding NativePlantsfor minimum. keeps weeds toa moisture and soil conserve mulch helpsthe dition oforganic ad- attacks. The resistant toinsect system, growmore vigorouslyandbecome more ing aplant’s infancyhelpsitdevelopagoodroot ﬁ rst twogrowing seasons. A bit of T.L.C. dur- Learn moreaboutidentifying, Seep Monkey Flower

Photo by Alan Yen