Tag Archives: Creating a natural habitat

Oregon Native & Firewise: Amelancier alnifolia

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Oregon Native Firewise Plant

Amelancier alnifolia

Plant Name: Amelancier alnifolia
Common name: Pacific serviceberry
Plant type: Deciduous Shrub/Tree
Height: 15’ – 30’
Spread:   15’ – 20’
Bloom Time:  Spring
Flower Color:  White
Exposure: Sun or Part Shade
Soil Requirements: Good Drainage; Sandy or Loamy
Water Needs: Irrigate 1x/Month after establishment

Attributes:  Easily Pruned to More Erect Form or Flatter, Rounder, Open Shape; Food Source Birds; Attracts Bats, Caterpillars, Larval Host for some Butterflies; Berries for Mammals; Shelter for Animals; Fragrant Flowers; Flavorful Edible Fruit used fresh or in baked goods

Note: Fruits in Summer; Fall Color Foliage; Root Suckering is Common; Diseases/Insects:  Rust, Leaf Spot, FireBlight, Powdery Mildew; Aphids, Thrips, Mites,

Uses:  Hedge; Pollinator Garden; Shrub Border; Woodland Gardens; Naturalized Areas
Native to: Some Canadian Provinces; Midwest to West United States
Oregon Native: YES
USDA Hardiness Zone: 2 – 7

Just say NO to Fall Clean Up

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While diseased plants and leaves should be removed from your flowerbeds,  leaving plant debris, seed heads, plant stalks, and leaf litter provides much needed winter shelters and food for beneficial insects and birds. 

Forging urban birds like juncos, sparrows and chickadees need your plant’s seeds for food, and beneficial insects, like butterflies and moths, winter over on flower and ornamental grass stalks. So, by cutting and cleaning out flowerbed debris you are doing more harm than good by disrupting your garden’s natural habitat.

Rethink fall clean up, resist the urge to remove all the debris, keep it until spring because the wildlife depends on it! It also provides mulch to protect plants during cold weather. 

Carlotta Lucas, AGC Member  

Photo by: Carlotta Lucas – Caterpillar on Salvia Stalk (10/22/2020)