Native Plant Gardening

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Native Plant Gardening

My goal for a great garden is one that looks fabulous but requires little effort. I admit I am a lazy gardener. I would rather sit amongst the flowers and shrubs enjoying a good book rather than labour away pruning, weeding, and babying plants. Native plants are the secret to my success. Because native plants are adapted to the west coast conditions, they don’t need much care. They don’t easily succumb to pest problems or diseases and they are drought tolerant. That means no chemicals, no fertilizers, and no long hours of watering.

I am a sloth of a gardener and yet my garden blooms with intense colours and wild foliage. The goldenrod brings sunshine no matter what the weather office claims and the red columbine are visited by butterflies and hummingbirds. Everyone can become a lazy gardener and as an added bonus the native plants will provide food and shelter for wildlife. Birds will find shelter from the weather and ladybird beetles will explore your backyard.

The West Coast has an array of native plants to suit many different microclimates. Many Lower Mainland nurseries now carry a variety of native plants. The following table is provided by Naturescape British Columbia and will help you choose the right plant for the right place. For more information call 1-800-387-9853 (ext. 5) or visit http://www.naturescapebc.ca/.

Plants for Sunny Spots | Plants for Partial Shade | Plants for Shady Woodlands | Soil Conditions

Plants for Sunny Spots:

Common Name	Latin Name	Type	Height(M)	Features	Soil
Beaked hazelnut	Corylus cornuta	Small tree	1-4	Edible nuts	M WD
Flowering Currant	Ribes sanguineum	Shrub or hedge	1.5	Showy red flowers	D WD
Bitter cherry	Prunus emarginata	Small tree	8-12	White-pink flowers	M
Black hawthorn	Crataegus douglasii	Shrub or hedge	6-10	Yellow flowers	M WD
Blue elderberry	Sambucus cerulean	Shrub or hedge	3-6	Clusters of white flowers, berries	D M
Fireweed	Epilobium angustifolium	Wildflower1	.8-2	Pink flowers and red pods	M
Goldenrod	Solidagocanadensis	Wildflower	.3-2	Yellow flowers	M
Kinnikinnick	Actostaphylos uva-ursi	Ground cover	.05-.2	Pink-white flowers, evergreen	D
Mock orange	Philadlephus lewisii	Shrub	1-3	Showy, fragrant white flowers	D
Noding onion	Allium cernuum	Wildflower	.1-.2	White-pink flowers, foliage	D
Nootka rose	Rosanutkana	Shrub or hedge	3-5	Large pink flowers and rosehips	D F
Oceanspray	Holodsicus discolor	Shrub	3-5	White cascading clowers	D WD
Pacific ninebark	Physocarpus capitatus	Shrub	1-3	White flower clusters	M
Pearly everlasting	Anaphalis margaritacea	Wildflower	.3-1	Blooms last well into fall	D
Red columbine	Aquilegia Formosa	Wildflower	.6-1	Yellows to red flowers	M
Red flowering currant	Ribes sanguineum	Shrub or hedge	1.5	Showy red flowers	D WD
Red osier dogwood	Cornus stolonifera	Shrub	1-6	Red stems, red fall colour	D
Saskatoon	Amelanchier alnifolia	Shrub or hedge	3-7	Showy white flowers	D
Scouler’s willow	Salix scouleriana	Shrub or tree	2-12	Velvet twigs and catkins	D
Sitka mountain ash	Sorbus sitchensis	Shrub or hedge	1-4	White flower cluster, berries	M
Snowberry	Symphoricarpos albus	Shrub	.5-2	White berries in winter	D
Stonecrop	Sedum spathulifolium	Wildflower	.1-.2	Bright yellow flowers	D
Wild strawberry	Fragilaria virginiana	Wildflower	.1-.2	White flowers, edible berries	D

Plants for Sunny Spots | Plants for Partial Shade | Plants for Shady Woodlands | Soil Conditions

Plants for Partial Shade:

Common Name	Latin Name	Type	Height(M)	Features	Soil
Cascara	Rhamnus purshiana	Tree	8-10	Attractive leaves and berries	M WD
Evergreen huckleberry	Vaccinium ovatum	Shrub	1-2	Pink flowers, evergreen, edible berries	--
False Solomon’s seal	Smilacina racemosa	Ground cover	.3-1	White fragrant flowers	M
Goat’s bear	Aruncus dioicus	Groundcover	1-2	Clusters of white flowers	--
Highbush cranberry	Viburnum opulus	Chrub or hedge	.5-3.5	white flowers, red-orange fruit	--
Inidan plum	Oemleria cerasiformis	Shrub	1-4	Flowers in early spring before leaves	--
Red elderberry	Sambucus racemosa	Shrub or hedge	3-6	White flowers	WD
Salal	Gaultheria shallon	Shrub	1-2	White flowers, evergreen leaves	WD
Sword fern	Polystichum munitum	Ground cover	1-1.5	Evergreen	M D
Twinflower	Linnaea borealis	Ground cover	.1	Fragrant flowers, glossy evergreen leaves	--
Trumpet honeysuckle	Lonicera ciliosa	Vine	3-6	Orange trumpet flowers	WD
Vine maple	Acer circinatum	Small tree	3-6	Yellow-red fall colour	--

Plants for Sunny Spots | Plants for Partial Shade | Plants for Shady Woodlands | Soil Conditions

Plants for Shady Woodlands:

Common Name	Latin Name	Type	Height(M)	Features	Soil
Black twinberry	Lonicera involucrata	Shrub or hedge	1-3	Yellow tubular flowers	M F
Bunchberry	Cornus canadensis	Wildflower	.05-.15	White flowers, berries	M O
Deer fern	Blechnum spicant	Groundcover	.2-.8	Evergreen	D
Dull Oregon grape	Mahonia nervosa	Groundcover	.4-.8	ellow flowers, evergreen	--
Flase lily-of-the-valley	Maianthemum dilatatum	Groundcover	.05-.1	Evergreen, spreads easily	M
Lady fern	Athyrium filix-femina	Groundcover	.8-1.5	Foliage	M O
Pacific bleeding heart	Dicentra Formosa	Wildflower	.2-.5	Pink flowers, spread easily	O
Piggy-back plant	Tolmiea menziesii	Groundcover	.4-.8	Brown-purple flowers	M
Red huckleberry	Vaccinium parvifolium	Shrub	1-3	Green twigs	D O
Tall fringecup	Tellima grandiflora	Groundcover	.4-.8	Fragrant flowers	M
Trailing yellow violet	Violet sempervirens	Wildflower	.05-.1	Yellow flowers, seed capsules	M
Wood fern	Dryopteris expansa	Groundcover	.8-1	Foliage	M

Soil Conditions:

D - Drought tolerant
M - Prefers moist soils
WD - Requires well-drained soils

F - Tolerates flooding
O - Prefers organic soils

Plants for Sunny Spots | Plants for Partial Shade | Plants for Shady Woodlands | Soil Conditions