Compact hybrid Corokia that has larger leaves that turn from gray to bronze in cold weather. To 4′ x 3′ in 6 years. The upper parts of the stems are more like soft gray rushes before the foliage elongates. In late spring starry bright yellow flowers spangle the older growth. Occasionally its followed by orange berries. Very forgiving shrub that we have actually grown for years. It has good cold hardiness for a Corokia x virgata hybrid and its compact, dense and good looking year round. Avoid the coldest sites, gains cold hardiness with age, protect the smallest plants from temperatures below 20ºF, after several years it will be hardy to the upper single digits. Makes a great sheared hedge and its used for that purpose in its home New Zealand. Great performance at the Oregon coast. Very good in containers. especially winter containers. This shrub has a much more burgundy hue in winter as opposed to the all gray look of Corokia cotoneaster. Easy to grow. This shrub would be good to try where deer are profuse. Its excels in containers in the urban scape of down town.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun
When a plant is designated as full sun that means several things. Full sun is at least six hours of unobstructed sunshine. Anything less than that can qualify as part shade. Plants in too much shade that are adapted to sun behave in strange ways. They will often lean exorbitantly towards the direction of the most possible sun. They will not bloom very well and they will not grow nearly as dense becoming lanky and missing the natural beauty of a plant grown correctly. Most drought adapted/low water plants fit into this category.
Climate Adapted Plants for Gardeners in the PNW
This is a different form of our locally native Buckbrush. We found this at approximately 2200′ on Mary’s Peak in the Coast Range in a forest that was comprised primarily of Douglas Fir and Golden Chinquapin. This shorter shrub with smaller deep green leaves is most conspicuous in its slick gray stems. To 3′ tall by 4′ wide in 5 years. Full sun and average to poor soil. Blooms April to May with ivory colored panicles that cover the whole plant on old wood. The sweetly fragrant flowers are always buzzing with pollinators. A true low water shrub that can easily get by on only what falls from the sky, once established. This is a cold hardy and locally native evergreen shrub. Often it grows in an arching and then angular kind of way. This form is less upright. Red seedheads follow the flowers. This is a very well known and stable population in the wild that is regenerating nicely. Extraordinarily tolerant of heat and drought. Traditionally this shrub follows disturbance and was widespread in the Willamette Valley often as a meadow component with Rosa nutkana and Amelanchier, Excellent with native clumping grasses, perennials, and annuals. Oregon native plant.
Giant baby blue eyes is kind of a misleading common name. The flowers in our locally native form of Baby blue eyes are a pure white with black dots on the interior. The only blue that appears on this subspecies is on the reverse of the petals which is often blushed with navy blue. This delightful wildflower grew natively in my back yard where I grew up. In early April to early June it would make sheets of cup shaped blooms under the native white and black oaks. There it bloomed simultaneously with Foothill shooting star (Dodecatheon hendersonii), Prairie stars (Lithophragma parviflora) and western buttercup (Ranunculus occidentalis) and mission bells (Fritillaria affinis) – a really cool native vignette. Wonderful annual for many kinds of native pollinators. Native bees favor this plant and if you look diligently they will be visited over and over. It will resow itself very reliably if foreign invasive plants are kept away. Mixes really well with (Collinsia grandiflora) Giant Blue Eyed Mary and (Plectritis congesta) Rosy plectritis. A truly exquisite west coast and Oregon native that is adapted to life between clumping grasses. Non native turf grasses will quickly over run and out compete this plant. So, invasive weed control is paramount in maintaining consistent years. In my own backyard it grew between (Festuca californica) California fescue and California three awn (Danthonia californica). Water in potted plants.Protect seedlings in spring and fall from slugs. Oregon native plant.
Fever tree is an extraordinary rare endemic in Georgia to South Carolina. Its a monotypic species.. And in a family that is decidedly tropical. We’ve carefully tested this cultivar and we are happy to say it performs here beautifully. Conical spreading small tree to 15′. Large tropical looking mid green leaves are opulent. In July to October it blooms. The real flowers are tubular and white and about 1″ long you only notice them as an after thought because you are immediately drawn to the large and colorful pink fading towhite bracts that surround the tiny flower. Its a wonderful effect, a bit like a pink poinsettia. Deciduous with no appreciable fall color. Locate in rich soil in full hot sun to very light shade. Regular water for at least the first two years to establish- then at least once a month. Beautiful rare tree that has been known to take years to commence bloom. This ‘precocious’ cultivar blooms when its barely 1′ tall and from then annually. Cold hardy to near 0ºF. Not for perpetually cold gardens or hot and dusty dry. Average conditions at least. A tree covered in these bracts/flowers is truly spectacular for weeks. Spectacular and something your neighbors WILL NOT HAVE. Thank you too my friend Mike See for sending me this tree to test in our climate. Its a real stunner and not difficult in any way. Limited qualities.
Celery leaved Licorice root is a subtle native perennial that is widespread in the western third of the state. In late spring umbels of white flowers are symmetrical and beckon to a host of pollinators. Especially attractive to native wasp species that are good and that predate bad caterpillars. The arrow shaped glossy deep green divided leaves provide a handsome collar for the subtle flowers in bloom. The entire plant tastes and smells very strongly of anise and as children on hikes we would eat the green seeds before they ripened for a blasting hit of licorice. To 2′ x 2′ forming long lived clumps in part shade to full sun. Prolific in the Willamette Valley and able to compete somewhat with non-natives. Water to establish plants from containers in rich soil with consistent irrigation until about the Fourth of July. then it can go dry. Self sows moderately. A common component of Oregon oak woodlands. Often found with Phacelia heterophylla and Polysticum minutum (Western Sword Fern). Oregon native plant.
Tomcat clover is one of our showiest native clover species. A tough hardy annual that is found from about Salem to Newport south to California. Its a common component of waste places and dry rocky environs. In poor soil it is a somewhat meager plant with just a little fertility its a completely different animal. To 12″ tall but usually half that this sparse but showy clover beckons pollinators when its pink to red and white delicate looking flowers that erupt into bloom in May-July. Very easy to grow in containers with other native annuals. This shares the fecund trait of other clovers and it will already have shed seed by the time you see it in bloom. Excellent forage for native bees- and purported to supply a tangy taste to Tomcat Clover Honey. Water plants from containers to establish, self sown plants get by on natural rainfall alone. Leave the plant well past bloom to shed the following years crop. Give it open disturbed spaces to self sow. The leaves are very much like a clover but the leaflets are a lot thinner. Also found on dry stream banks and with native clumping grasses. Full all day sun. Oregon native plant.
Wonderful dense, arching and low growing conifer for full sun and only occasional water when established. This cold hardy conifer is native to the highest elevations of Tasmania up into eastern Australia. In the summer the fine but substantial needles turn to dusty blue. The arrival of colder weather brings a distinct and beautiful soft purple cast. To 2′ tall and arching to 5′ tall in 7 years. Long lived and carefree conifer for full sun to very light shade. Dense and blocks weeds. Excellent large scale, weed supressing low water shrub. This cultivar originated in New Zealand and was released as a cultivar in 1994. Very good deer and rabbit resistance. Excellent appearance year round. It has been hardy slightly below 0ºF. Easy to grow.
Mudgee Wattle or simply showy wattle this is an extremely pretty small tree that requires a very protected location to thrive. Blue/green bipinnate leaves are intricate and pretty. In very late winter to early spring a stunning show of electric yellow puff ball flowers. It covers the whole tree weighing down the limbs in full bloom. To 12′-15′ tall in rich to average soil and it absolutely requires full sun. Excellent against a south facing wall. The flowers truly are showy and glow from quite a distance. Native to New South Wales and southern Queensland on table lands. Cold hardy to at least 18ºF- it should take colder temperatures if sited correctly. As with all Acacias it is extremely fast growing when young. Consistent summer water. Loved by hummingbirds and insects in general. This special small tree can begin its life in a spindly way. Full sun and regular water strengthens this growth. Excellent, and best adapted for the Oregon coast. It adapts to life on sand (with supplemental water) as well as well developed soils. Not bothered by deer. The large delicate leaves are blue/gray and are pretty year round. This Acacia is not as cold hardy as Acacia covenyi and is hardier than Acacia pravissima. Following bloom long dusty purple seed pods contrast against the blue/gray foliate. Bark is black to dark brown. Inland it is considered experimental. Eastern Australia.
Passaflora x ‘Betty Myles Young’
Stellar passion vine with distinctly purple tepals and deep black to blue on the interior of the flower. Vigorous vine for a protected location in full sun. To 12′ in a season and blooming continuously from June to October. Attaches itself by winding tendrils. The flowers appear on new wood, as the vine grows it produces new flowers. Average to rich soil with REGULAR irrigation during the first season and then occasionally. Passafloras must be well established going into their first winter. In half of the winters (below 20ºF) it can freeze to the ground. It will then rapidly break from the base when truly warm weather arrives. Mulch heavily the first winter, Place on a trellis against warm, sunny wall for the best performance. The intricate and beautiful flowers are about 4″ across. Sometimes sets inedible fruit. Passion vines are loved by everybody but especially children. The toy-like flowers enchant. Sweetly fragrant flowers up close. Loved by hummingbirds. One of the best hybrid Pnassafloras for our gardens. Moderate deer resistance
A very mysterious Gardenia that I got from the east coast and whose flowers are ENORMOUS and powerfully fragrant. Everything about this hardy Gardenia is big. The leaves are 5″x 3″ and are forest green and delightfully glossy. A moderately fast growing evergreen shrub to 6′ x 6′. Full sun but best in dappled shade in a protected location. Regular, consistent water is crucial. Gardenias like heat and water. Poorly irrigated plants will show yellow leaves on the interior of the plant before wilting. This is especially important since we’ve had consecutive dry springs and most likely you will need to water this plant beginning in April. Rich soil with regular water. Protect from subfreezing wind, and plant in rich soil with ample compost. Apply a handful of all organic fertilizer in early summer. The enormous flowers begin i July and continue to October. The only information I can find on this cold hardy cultivar is that it is particularly resistant to pests. Since Gardenias in our climate aren’t really pest magnets this is moot, but good to know. Spectacular flowers are 5″ across and semi-double. Excellent for corsages and even for floating in a bowl, one flower will perfume a wide area. It is crucially important that this shrub be well established going into winter otherwise its hardiness to cold will be compromised. Limited quantities.