Douglas's sagewort is a three-four foot perennial that forms a 3-4 foot wide patch and has the fragrance of sage. It is found on woodland edges, stream banks, ditch banks, road cuts or other disturbed areas. It also tolerates sand and seasonal flooding. The flowers are wind pollinated
Asarum caudatum f. album (White-flowered Western Ginger)
Forming dense evergreen mats, this super ground cover shines all year round in shade. Adaptable to some drought, it looks even better if given a little summer irrigation. Short, to only 4 in., tall.
Sitka brome is a shade-tolerant native brome often found in the Willamette Valley in woodlands with Blue-Wildrye. It has long flowering stems and nodding flower stalks.
Chamisso sedge is natives to western North America and is found in many types of habitats. It can tolerate drier conditions than most of our native sedges. It grows in wet prairies but also on forest edges.
This tall (up to 5 feet in flower) perennial grass is native to many western states and does well in a variety of habitats. The flowers are in spikes with long awns and turn golden brown in our mid-summer prairies looking impressive as they wave in the breeze. This is not a dominant grass of our Willamette Valley prairies but an important component to add diversity to a site
Because this is the dominant native bunchgrass in the upland prairies west of the Cascades from southern British Columbia to central California it is an easy choice for mass plantings. With its fine thread-like leaves of steely blue-gray that form tussocks 10 in. height, it is very beautiful too, even planted individually in the landscape. No concern over ecological invasiveness. Drought and deer resistant.
Gunnera is one of South America's best contributions to our gardens, with leaves easily reaching 5 ft. across and 7 ft. high, sometimes more! It is easy and rapid-growing in moist soil, blossoming annually with tiny flowers on large 2 ft. club-like structures. Our liners finish fast in a #2 or #3 container. (Note: For a plant that loves water, it seems oddly averse to the high summer humidity of the East and Southeast).
Although the flowers are not showy, this plant is a must for a restoration site due to attracting many, many species of native bumblebees. The slender flower stems produce flowers for weeks; increasing its value for pollinators. It is found in upland prairies and mixed woodlands.
Western sweetroot is an erect woodland perennial in the carrot family. It has dark-green, divided leaves all the way up the stem topped with a delicate, flat-topped flower heads with many small, yellowish flowers. The seeds ripen into black, needle-shaped seeds while the leaves are still green and full, making it an outstanding plant for a woodland garden.
Medium-height bunch grass with thin, blue-green leaves, flowers in soft, tufted spikes, 3-4 ft in flower. Forms of pine-bluegrass can be found on dry, rocky bluffs as well as wet prairies.
Willow dock is native to many moist habitats throughout the west. Its habitat value in our native western Oregon prairies is not as a pollinator plant (it is wind-pollinated) but as a larval host-plant for butterflies such as the rare Great Copper. Restoration efforts are underway in the Willamette Valley to restore populations by providing both the nectar source, Grindelia integrifolia (gumweed), and the host-plant willow dock.
This annual can often overwinter as a perennial in mild winters. It can be found in a variety of wet habitats from meadows to vernal pools to bogs where other vegetation is sparse. It has delicate, finely dissected leaves with blue-green cast, flowers are green. Sanguisorba sp. are known for their high forage value for wildlife species.
Thalictrum fendleri var. polycarpum (Mountain Meadow-rue)
Tall meadowrue is found it mixed forests, oak woodlands, and along streams in shaded moist forests. It is a striking plant growing over 6 feet tall with bluish columbine-like leaves that stay green until late-summer then turn yellow in autumn. The plants have separate male and female flowering stalks.