Pacific Northwest

Yellow Avalanche Lily. Who doesn't love seeing this during a mountain hike in the Olympics or Cascades where these seem to leap out of the ground soon after the snow recedes? There is nothing like a hillside sheeted in thousands of these in bloom. This one you are holding could be the start of the same in your garden..

A dense hard light green patty of minute needle-like foliage on this good alpine from the Wallowa Mts in NE Oregon which is a regional Mecca for serious rock gardeners and growers of alpines. Our plants have come from two of the most extraordinary growers of rock garden plants, Kathy Allen in Oregon and Rick Lupp of Washington. The fact that these two grew this in their nurseries says plenty as to merit as well as growability. A gritty soil in a rock garden or container in full sun and can be stingy with its white flowers but awesome even if it never bloomed.

Ultra-choice dwarf form of our Western Maidenhair fern that is currently known from just a few coastal cliff sites on Vancouver Island and historically on the Olympic Peninsula. Short black stems hold dense perfection of classic maidenhair leaves on plants not exceeding 8" in height. These are established divisions from our plants originating from the Kruckeberg Botanic Garden. Often listed as 'Subpumilum', we're going with the Alverson revision.

Western Shooting Star. A pleasing western wildflower California to Alaska that one can't help but enjoy with its showy pinkish flowers with its strongly backswept petals. Likes it moist in spring and goes summer dormant when it gets drier. The taxonomic move of Dodecatheon to Primula nearly made us give up on plants and take up studying something stable and predictable like Constitutional checks and balances. These from a Ron Ratko collection.

Grown from seed we collected from plants growing on a sheer rock face in Colorado. This population is known for its color variations from the usual whitish theme and our young plants have yet to flower so we are twitchy with anticipation. We first saw this species growing among the ancient Bristlecone Pines in the White Mts - that day was magic! Grows in rock cracks/crevices or stony open ground in dry situations. Evergreen mat-former.

Daggerpod. Love this plant but honestly, that doesn't narrow the field much. Eastern slope of the Cascades in WA, OR CA, to ID and NV growing in dry shrub-steppe slopes and open pine forests. Softly hairy gray-green to sea green leaves with wallflower-like flowers usually pink but rarely near violet or white. Rock gardens.

This occurs east of the Cascades and in CA and NV at high elevations and in Millet's opinion is the best form of Penstemon procerus. Small tight ground-hugging mats of fleshy succulent green leaves are backing for the short dark blue flowers. Consummate rock garden plant.

A very uncommon pink form of of our native Grass Widow. Like all of our Olsynium selections, this has been a long process of a decade or so to get this to a size where division is possible and we feel like we can safely release a few. Early flowering in Feb-Mar and fully dormant by summer. Myriad variants can be found in flower shape, color, size, time of bloom etc. and it would be easy to go Galanthus on this species in terms of collecting mania. We speak from first-hand experience on our Olsynium descent into madness. Multiple shoots which may or may not flower as it is hard to tell when dormant. This is a winter-spring moist plant which goes dry in summer in the wild where it grows in fairly heavy soil.

A variety of P. fruticosus found only in the Blue Mountains in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. This variety hugs the ground, forming mats up to 3ft wide covered in pale pink to lavender flowers in mid-summer. The toothed leaves separates this from other varieties of fruticosus. Full sun and ideal in well-drained lean rock gardens.

Fringe-petal Kitten-tail. This is an uncommon native found in small areas of the Olympic Mts and in Oregon's Clatsop County. An early spring treat for the collector, this has rounded leaves with toothed margins and impressed veins that emerge a light olive-copper color. Small lilac flowers cluster on short stems and the petal margins are incised. A rare offering. Some treatments place this in the genus Veronica but we prefer Synthyris. Light shade or morning sun is good.

A native of dry, rocky slopes in the northern Rockies. Glossy evergreen leaves are complemented by spikes of light blue to violet flowers in mid-summer. Leaves will sometimes take on a nice purple coloration in winter. Appreciates a lean well-drained soil in a sunny location, so rock gardens or dry gravel gardens are great.

Seed-grown from a collection in the Indian Heaven area of Gifford Pinchot National Forest in the southern Cascade Mts of Washington. Surely one of our favorite Penstemon, this has glaucous, rounded leaves on creeping mats with pink flowers that just lovely. This requires a rock garden, trough or crevice garden as it needs a lean and gritty, mineral soil with excellent drainage. This is a mountain plant and hot humidity both days and nights are fatal. Just sayin'. Loving it here in Port Townsend!

A robust Eriogonum from shrub steppe habitat east of the Cascades from WA to CA and east to ID. An awesome plant for a larger spot in the rock garden, mounding to 18"x30". Arrow-shaped leaves are felty-green on top and wooly-white beneath while white to pale-yellow umbels of flowers appear late May to July. Like many other Eriogonum, this is an important pollinator plant for butterflies. Lean and good drainage.

Cascades Penstemon. Easy native Penstemon that grows from the subalpine to almost the coast from oregon to British Columbia and is one we find in our own Olympic Mts. This will grow in rocky areas but is often found in moist areas along streams and in meadows. 10"-30" tall with upright stems topped by blue-tinged purplish flowers.

A white flowered form with purple stripes of of our native Grass Widow. Like all of our Olsynium selections, this has been a long process of a decade or so to get this to a size where division is possible and we feel like we can safely release a few. Early flowering in Feb-Mar and fully dormant by summer. Myriad variants can be found in flower shape, color, size, time of bloom etc. and it would be easy to go Galanthus on this species in terms of collecting mania. We speak from first-hand experience on our Olsynium descent into madness. Multiple shoots which may or may not flower as it is hard to tell when dormant during potting. This is a fall-winter-spring moist plant which goes dry in summer in the wild where it grows in fairly heavy soil.

This is an Olympic Mountain endemic meaning it is found nowhere else. This sweet little alpine is found among the dark shale chips on the gravelly-sandy ridgetops and is one of the first alpines to flower coming into bloom with its fuzzy little pokers of blue-violet flowers as soon as the snow clears the exposed ridges. The dissected or pinnatifid silver-white leaves are felted in dense microscopic hairs giving rise to the varietal epithet of lanuginosa. The reflective color of the leaves helps cool the plant and allows it to cope with the full sun exposure while the plastered hairs trap moisture keeping the foliage from dessicating in the wind, sun and frost. Good in troughs or rock gardens in a gritty mix. This needs a winter and we can only imagine that it would dislike prolonged summer heat as well as warm humid nights. Seems pretty easy here although we might trade being able to grow this for sitting out on an August evening without having to put layers on.

Let's talk drought tolerance. This is one step up from cactus. We always marvel at this growing out of cracks in sheer basalt cliffs on the dry Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge and looking oh so good despite the most rigorous of conditions. Great for the rock garden. Good drainage. Purple-pink flowers on this evergreen subshrub.

A rich reddish purple foliage form of our native Western Stream Orchid found by Roger Raiche in California and the best foliage of any selection. Totally hardy outside and loves a wet spot but is perfectly happy in a garden bed that doesn't dry out. This makes a colony of vibrant colored leafy stems bearing numerous orange-brown-yellow flowers. Divisions from our patch potted this spring. This can be found throughout the entire western half of the US.

Our selection from the California Redwoods of a large-leafed and vigorous clone of Wild Ginger. This sports large glossy green leaves which mask the sizable brown starfish flowers hidden underneath. We always like surprises. A dense big groundcover in shaded rich moist soil.

A very dwarf selection of our evergreen native red huckleberry found in the garden at St. Andrews in Scotland. This is extremely dwarf to just a few inches high but spreading to 3' across in time. How long to reach 3' across? A good long time. Brilliant red and orange new growth. Perfect little rock garden shrub which we received from John Weagle in Nova Scotia.