Tag Archives: butterflies

Fire-wise Native Plant: Green Rabbitbrush

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Plant Name: Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus

Common names: Green Rabbitbrush, Yellow Rabbitbush

Plant type: Evergreen to Deciduous Shrub

Height: 1’ – 4’

Spread: 3’

Bloom Time: August – October

Flower Color: Yellow

Exposure: Sun

Soil Requirements: Dry, Well-Drained, Medium to Coarse Textured Soil

Water Needs: Low

 

Attributes: Adapted to Drought; Larval Host and Nectar Source to Sagebrush Checkerspot; Attracts Native Bees & Butterflies; Provides Cover & Nesting Habitat for Birds & Rodents

 

Note: susceptible to infestations of the larvae of hairy yellow-marked buprestid (Acamaeodera pulchella) which bore tunnels through the stems resulting in plant death

 

Uses: Rapidly establishes in disturbed open sites, including burned sites, rockslides, flood washes.  A valuable shrub for re-vegetating damaged land, such as overgrazed rangeland and abandoned mining areas.

 

Firewise: YES

Native To: British Columbia to Southeastern CA East to North Dakota to Texas

Oregon Native: YES

USDA Hardiness Zone: 5b – 8b

 

 

Report by: Viki Ashford & Carlotta Lucas, AGC Members

Sagebrush Checkerspot  photo by: Scott Paige, Pacific Southwest Region U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Backyard Birds at the Feeder

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Dark-eyed Junco is a common bird found in Oregon at bird feeders. Juncos are primarily seed-eaters, with seeds making up 75% of their year-round diet. At feeders they eat millet, hulled sunflower seeds, nyjar seeds and cracked corn. During the breeding season, Juncos also eat beetles, moths, butterflies, caterpillars, ants, wasps, and flies. Their habitat includes conifer and pine forests, deciduous forests of aspen, cottonwood, oak, maple, and hickory and during the winter they can be seen in open woodlands, in fields, along roadsides, and in parks and gardens.

Photo by: DKRKaynor, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons