Swamp Milkweed, or Pink Milkweed, is a herbaceous perennial that typically grows 3 to 4 feet tall on branching stems. It bears clusters of small, fragrant, pink to mauve flowers that are highly attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. This plant is a valuable food source for Monarch caterpillars, though is poisonous to humans if ingested raw or in large amounts. Swamp Milkweed is a great plant for low spots or other moist areas in the landscape, as it grows in full sun to partial shade, and in rich and even muddy soil.
Big or Great Basin Sagebrush is an aromatic, many-branched shrub with evergreen, silvery gray foliage. Though it is the dominant shrub across the Great Basin region, this plant is unfortunately endangered by cheatgrass and wildfire in its native range. It can grow up to 10 feet tall in full sun and dry, rocky soils.
This plant has several common names, including Louisiana Sage, Silver Sage, Mugwort Wormwood, and Gray Sagewort. This perennial shrub grows to 3 feet in size, with attractive silvery foliage and small, yellowish flowers that bloom from July to October. White Sagebrush grows in full sun and has a medium to low water requirement, adapting to a variety of soils.
This deciduous, spreading shrub typically grows 3 to 6 feet in height and width. It grows clusters of showy white flowers that give way to black, bitter berries often used to make jams and jellies. This plant can grow in full sun to partial shade, and in moist, well-drained soils, though it grows fruits best in full sun.
Red Chokeberry or Red Chokecherry is a deciduous, perennial, 6 to 12 foot tall shrub that is native to both wet and dry thickets. During the spring, clusters of white flowers with red anthers appear, while bright red fruits ripen in the fall and persist on the shrub well into winter. It grows best in full sun, and in moist, rich soils.
This annual, deciduous grass often grows in large bunches and has attractive, purplish seed sprays. The culms of this grass grow 12 to 20 inches tall in full sun, and in dry, rocky soils. The seeds can be food for song birds, and the plant itself can provide nesting materials for some mammals.
A herbaceous perennial, it reaches a height of 1 to 3 feet, producing large leaves and a distinctive, hooded, green flower with brown stripes that blooms from March to June. It prefers full sun to partial shade and moist, rich soils. During late summer, this plant bears bright red berries that attract birds and mammals.
Also known as Kinnikinnick and Pinemat Manzanita, it is a mat-forming, evergreen shrub that grows 6 to 12 inches tall and up to 6 feet wide. In the spring, it produces lovely white and pink, bell-shaped flowers that later turn into red berries. True to its name, the fruits of this plant are enjoyed by bears, as well as birds and other wildlife. It can grow in full sun to shade, and in dry to moist rocky or sandy, acid soils.
Pacific Madrone, also known as Oregon Laurel and Laurelwood, is an attractive broadleaf evergreen with a twisting reddish trunk, peeling bark, and irregular branches that give the tree an overall rounded outline. In the spring it produces clusters of small, white flowers followed by red-orange fruit that are enjoyed by birds and deer. This tree reaches 50 to 100 feet tall in full sun to partial shade, and in dry to moist, sandy, well-drained soil.
Other names for this plant include Hercules Club, Angelica Tree, Pigeon Tree, and Prickly Elder. It is an upright, suckering, deciduous shrub that typically grows to 12-15 feet tall and gets its common name from the stout, sharp spines found on its leaf stalks, stems, and branches. Its whitish flowers are quite showy and very attractive to bees, and its purplish black fruits are enjoyed by birds. This shrub grows in partial shade and in moist, well-drained soils.
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