Category Archives: Native Plants

Giant Sequoia

Giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) are the world’s largest trees by volume. In the wild, mature trees can reach up to 350 feet tall with trunks 20′-40′ in diameter, supported by broad, shallow roots spreading out 150′ in all directions. These trees are medium to fast growers, reaching heights of 30 feet at 10 years old, and 100-150 feet in 50 years. Trunks can be 1.5′ wide after 10 years and 8′ in diameter after 50 years–and given that these trees can live up to 3,000 years old, they’re just getting started!

Giant sequoias do best in sunny, protected areas with moist, fertile, well-drained sandy loam soils. Though older trees have some drought resilience, young trees need moist roots all year. They will sometimes discolor temporarily in the winter after a hard cold snap, but will return to green with warmth and sufficient water.

These impressive trees provide many benefits. They shade urban landscapes, create windbreaks in open areas, and provide shelter for many birds and small mammals.

Like their cousins the coastal redwoods, plant these enormous trees far away from paved areas, buildings, and power lines. With enough room to grow, giant sequoias are hardy, magnificent plants that bring grace and beauty to any large landscape.

Light Requirements: Full sun
Water Requirements: Moist
Ease of Growing: Easy to grow
Growth Rate: Fast
Spreads: No
Wildlife Support: Birds or Mammals
Mature Height: 200 feet (in urban areas)
Mature Width: 40-65 feet

Coastal Redwood

The coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is an iconic species of the Pacific coast. In the right conditions these are the world’s tallest trees, growing over 300 feet high and stabilized by wide-spreading roots. Though they do not tend to get as big in urban areas, young trees still grow 3-5 feet per year and need plenty of room to grow upwards.

Young trees have dense branches and a graceful pyramid shape. Leaves are needle-like and spread out flat on either side of branched, drooping limbs. The beautiful red bark is fibrous and shreddy, providing interesting visual texture and soft nesting material for birds and small mammals. Birds find refuge in the dense foliage, squirrels nest in cavities, and insects and amphibians make their homes in the moss-covered branches.

These large trees require a lot of water to stay healthy. They do best (and grow the biggest) in humid areas protected from the wind, and prefer deep, moist, acidic, well-drained soil. Plant these magnificent trees well away from structures and power lines where they have room to safely attain their glorious size.

Light Requirements: Full sun to partial shade
Water Requirements: Moist
Ease of Growing: Easy to grow
Growth Rate: Fast
Spreads: No
Wildlife Support: Birds or Mammals
Mature Height: 150 feet (in urban/inland areas)
Mature Width: 50-100 feet

Long-leaf Oregon Grape

Long-leaf Oregon Grape (Mahonia nervosa) is also commonly known as low or dull Oregon grape. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub, often wider than tall, that is great for filling in empty spaces and underneath taller shrubs, especially in combination with sword ferns and salal. It spreads gradually by underground runners.

This plant produces dense clusters of fragrant yellow flowers from early spring to early summer. They are not only a welcome splash of color, but also a very important source of early season nectar for many native bees and other small pollinators.

The sour berries are a favorite of birds and other wildlife. The foliage turns a deep red color in the cold or sun.

Light Requirements: Full shade to full sun
Water Requirements: Dry to moist
Ease of Growing: Easy to grow
Growth Rate: Moderate
Spreads: Yes
Wildlife Support: Pollinators, Pest-eating insects, Hummingbirds, Birds or Mammals
Mature Height: 2 feet
Mature Width: 2 feet

Snowbrush

Snowbrush (Ceanothus velutinus) is a low-growing, attractive evergreen shrub. The broad leaves are very slightly sticky on top, soft below, and have a spicy, aromatic fragrance on hot days (this bush is also called tobacco brush, for its scent). Clusters of fragrant white flowers appear in June to August.

Many butterflies lay their eggs on snowbrush, including pale swallowtail, spring azure, Lorquin’s admiral, California tortiseshell. Birds and small mammals eat the seeds, and in the wild it’s an important winter food source for deer and elk.

This hardy shrub thrives in moist to dry, sunny spots, and tolerates drought and poor soils well. It makes a good screen or low windbreak, as well as a backdrop for other showy natives like golden currant, snowberry, and red-stem ceanothus.

Light Requirements: Sun to Part Shade
Water Requirements: Moist to dry
Ease of Growing: Easy
Growth Rate: Fast
Spreads: No
Wildlife Support: Birds, Mammals, Pollinators, Beneficial Insects
Mature Height: 2-10 feet tall
Mature Width: 6-10 feet wide

Red Stem Ceanothus

Red Stem Ceanothus (Ceanothus sanguineus), also called Oregon Tea Tree, is a medium to large deciduous shrub that does well in sunny dry locations. This attractive plant also adds interest to the garden year-round with glossy dark leaves, fragrant white flower clusters that bloom from late spring to mid summer, and reddish or purple stems in the winter.

This plant attracts many pollinators in the spring, including solitary bees and spring azure butterflies. The California tortiseshell and pale swallowtail butterflies lay their eggs on red stem ceanothus. The seeds are important food for many kinds of wildlife including birds, small mammals, ants, and other insects, and the foliage provides excellent cover for small animals.

Light Requirements: Full sun to part shade
Water Requirements: Dry
Ease of Growing: Easy to grow
Growth Rate: Moderate
Spreads: No
Wildlife Support: Pest-eating insects, Pollinators, Birds or Mammals
Mature Height: 8 feet
Mature Width: 3-10 feet

Bitter Cherry

Bitter Cherry (Prunus emarginata) is an attractive deciduous shrub to small tree, varying in height from 6 to 45 feet tall. These trees typically live about 30-40 years.

The bark of bitter cherry is smooth reddish brown to grey. Small white flowers bloom in clusters from mid spring to early summer. The fruit ripens from bright red when young to almost black when fully ripe in late summer, and the leaves turn golden in fall.

The bitter fruit is a favorite food for small mammals and birds, and the leaves provide forage for deer. Many pollinators are attracted to the flowers, including the admiral, azure, orange-tip, and elfin butterflies. This tree also provides food for the young of pale swallowtail, spring azure, Lorquin’s admiral butterflies.

Light Requirements: Part shade to sun
Water Requirements: Moist
Ease of Growing: Easy to grow
Growth Rate: Medium-fast
Spreads: Yes
Wildlife Support: Pollinators, Pest-eating insects, Hummingbirds, Birds or Mammals
Mature Height: 30 feet
Mature Width: 20 feet

Black Gooseberry

Black gooseberry (Ribes divaricatum)
Ribes divaricatum

Black gooseberry (Ribes divaricatum) is a deciduous shrub that grows up to 8ft tall with arching stems. The white flowers usually bloom in mid-spring and are a favorite of hummingbirds and butterflies. The berries are small and offer a great food source for wildlife.

The plant prefers moist soil and can grow in both full sun and semi-shade. Please note that the plant does have sharp thorns, and precautions should be taken if planting in areas used by young children and pets.


  • Light Requirements: Full Sun, Part Shade
  • Water Requirements: Moist
  • Ease of Growing: Easy to grow
  • Growth Rate: Moderate
  • Spreads: Yes
  • Wildlife Support: Pollinators, Hummingbirds, Birds or Mammals
  • Fire-resistant: No
  • Edible: Yes
  • Mature Height: 5-8ft
  • Mature Width:3-5ft

Red Alder

Red alder (Alnus rubra)
Alnus rubra

Red alder (Alnus rubra) is a fast-growing deciduous tree that does well in open areas and along streams. This slender, medium-sized tree can grow 5′ or more a year for the first few years, and generally grows to 40-50 feet tall, sometimes reaching as high as 80 feet.

Red alder blooms in March, putting out long, rounded, dangling clusters of reddish-orange flowers called catkins. Leaves turn a slight golden color in the autumn. In the open, alder crowns form a lovely rounded shape with spreading branches.

This tree plays many roles in forested landscapes. Deer and elk browse on the leaves, buds, and twigs. The seeds are important winter food for birds such as redpoll, siskins, goldfinches, and others. Red alder provides food for the young of swallowtail and mourning cloak butterflies, and stands of this tree provide shade for a variety of forest understory plants such as osoberry, vine maple, and sword ferns.

This tree does best in sun to part shade with moist soils. Plant it for fast-growing shade and screening.


  • Light Requirements: Full Sun, Part Shade
  • Water Requirements: Moist
  • Ease of Growing: Easy to grow
  • Growth Rate: Moderate
  • Spreads: No
  • Wildlife Support: Pollinators, Pest-eating Insects, Birds or Mammals
  • Fire-resistant: Yes
  • Edible: No
  • Mature Height: 40-50ft
  • Mature Width:40-50ft
1 2 3 10