Pacific Northwest

Nice native bulb surprisingly seldom available. Mottled leaves and multiple pale yellow to creamy yellow flowers in multiples hang above the foliage. Very good naturalizer from seed and one of the most requested plants in our shade garden aside from the fact that it is the first plant they see entering the garden.

Tolmie Star-Tulip or Pussy Ears are the colloquial sobriquets for this diminutive Oregon and California native. Historically in Washington but extirpated. This species is very tolerant of winter rains growing from the coast up into the Cascades. Very fuzzy flowers with 3 broadly rounded generally white petals and 3 narrow lavender petals.

This sweet little Trillium from the Siskiyou Mountains has been moved into its own genus of which it is the sole representative. This is known as a monotypic genus and we are drawn to such isolated species. This is quite diminutive but is very beautiful with usually white flowers but can be pink or have varying degrees of dark pink spotting. It increases well by division - these are nice freshly divided plants.

Our native False Hellebore which we see in the Cascades. Fabulous foliage plant with big rounded pleated leaves. These will flower up to 6' with lots of small whitish starry flowers. Best in light shade or no afternoon sun. Loves a rich moist soil and is deer proof. 

We love seeing this False Hellebore when we are hiking up to Marmot Pass or Mt Townsend in the Olympics. Usually growing in dappled light or partly sunny spots where there is ample moisture and rich soil, the big wide pleated leaves are perfect with the drooping plume-like green flowers. Fertilize them well when in growth to shorten the time to maturity. Too deep of shade inhibits bloom but you still get the great leaves. Deer proof. At least here.

This is the Award of Garden Merit form of the species which has a superior presentation in its fronds which are blessed with a long terminal pinnae. And really, who doesn't want a long terminal pinnae? The typical species is a familiar sight growing on the trunks of our native Bigleaf Maples here in western Washington but this form is rare.

Maidenhair Spleenwort. We love common names. We must dig out our 15th century Herbal and read up on how to properly decoct this sweet little fern for afflicting humors of the spleen. Or we can just grow it in a gritty well-drained shaded rock garden and enjoy its evergreen delicate appearance which belies its rugged constitution. This little fern grows throughout the northern part of the northern hemisphere and just has a small foothold in our North Cascades. One of our favorite sights of this fern was when we did the Coast to Coast walk in northern England in the epic rainy summer of 2012 and we walked close to 200 miles through the Lakes District and Yorkshire Dales and Moors. We saw this growing everywhere naturalized on old stone walls, stone bridges and stone buildings. Very attractive and a clue to its drainage preferences.

A new name for this West Coast native that hangs out in moist shaded places especially loving mossy cliffs in the cooling mist of a nearby waterfall yet very easy in the garden. Nice black stems holding the fronds. The stems were flattened and used for imbrication in basketry by coastal tribes. Adiantum pedatum is now the East Coast version.

Mountain dweller in the Cascades BC to CA, popping over to Colorado and up into the northern arctic regions. Good rock garden plant down here where the livin' is easy. Succulent blue-green leaves clad the many stems while the terminal clustered red flowers glitter like a garnet hatpin.

Blue-Eyed Grass. A West Coast and Washington State native that grows in mid to higher elevations in moist locations. This is very easy in our lowland gardens and a nice addition to the native plant garden. Low tuffets of green grassy blades and small blue-lavender flowers. A North American analog to the South American Sisyrinchium chilense.

A good form of the species with nice large flowers from a seed collection near Lewiston Idaho. The bright green leaves set off the white flowers in fine fashion. Tolerant of summer dry as it will just go dormant. Increases into nice clumps.

The first all-gold foliage form of our native Prosartes hookeri. These are seed-grown from our fantastic variegated Prosartes hookeri 'Lemonworth' (Thanks Daniel Mosquin for the name!) which we found near Leavenworth WA. Seedlings come up either green or gold and we look forward to planting seed of this gold form.

Gold Thread. This is a rare native to WA but more common in BC and AK. Great evergreen groundcover for moist shade with glossy parsley leaves and golden thin rhizomes hence the common name. Dye plant and most likely medicinal. This spreads well in loose moist soil.

One of the pleasing elements of our PNW woodlands is this Fairy Bell which always feels like we have just bumped into an old friend when we come across it hiking. Recently moved from Disporum into Prosartes, this has small white flowers in spring and nice orange fruit in mid to late summer.

Indian Rhubarb. California native that is an imposing sight in the garden. This is a superior form with darker flowers and somewhat more textured foliage. Streamside dweller that loves a wet rich soil where the big rounded leaves can really do their thing.

Our selection from near the extirpated location of a dwarf population above Carbonado relayed to us by NW plant legend Edith Dusek. This has proved to be very atypical in that it produces a zillion crowns in a single plant, A one gallon pot plant had 50 divisions, a large garden clump over a thousand. Smaller than lowland clones.

Our native Fawnlily which grows from California up to BC. It is difficult to imagine having too many of these but judging from the copious self-sown seedlings in our shade garden, we'll soon see. Dormant in early summer so they aren't in the way. Pink flowers, leaves mottled when young

Our collection from the Siskiyou Mts in southern Oregon of this moisture-loving lily. We were out looking at interesting plant populations with expert guide Phyllis Gustafson and she showed us this fine stand in seed growing in full sun in the wet drainage coming from a massive Darlingtonia fen well up on the hillside. Reddish-orange Turk's cap flowers with the red more pronounced toward the ends of the tepals or petals. This is a good garden species with rhizomatous bulbs making for a good clump in time. This can also tolerate periodic inundation if that is something you are either cursed with or blessed by depending on what you are trying to grow.

A plant of many names, 'Grandiceps', 'Grandiceps Group', 'Diane' here we have opted for crediting the original selector of this strongly crested form of our native licorice fern. The edges and end of the fronds are highly curled and rippling ready to lend a flamboyant touch of crashing evergreen waves to the boulder or log of your choosing.

Surely one of the finest Trillium species and one of the most fervently desired plant in our shade garden. We've got some fine clumps of this in the garden so it seems a sensible response. This is an uncommon species growing in southern Oregon and Northern California. Dark red sessile flowers with a slight twist of the petals that stand at attention above mottled leaves. These should be planted so there is 2"-3" of soil above the growth tip. Perhaps a bit deeper if you are in a cold zone.