Tag Archives: Oregon Native Plants

Attracting Pollinators

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Pollinator populations have declined significantly in recent years, mainly due to habitat loss. Homeowners can help by creating pollinator-friendly gardens. Knowing plant traits such as flower color, shape and scent will guide you to which plants to choose for pollinators.

Hummingbirds are attracted to flowers of vivid shades of red, yellow, and purple with a tubular shape that they can access with their long narrow beaks.

Bees prefer purple, blue, orange, or yellow flowers with short tubes or no tubes which they can easily access.

Butterflies are drawn to white, pink, red, yellow, or purple flowers with a place they can perch while sipping on nectar.

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ANISE HYSSOP (Agastache foeniculum)
Attributes: Hyssop supports a wide range of pollinators, including hummingbirds, honey bees, bumble

bees, carpenter bees, butterflies and night flying moths.
Bloom time: June until first frost
Exposure: Full sun
Habit: Upright habit with flower spikes blooming throughout summer.
Height/Spread: 2 to 4 feet tall, 1 to 3 feet wide
Flower color: Varieties available are purple, lavender, red, pink, orange-yellow
USDA Zones: 5-9, for most varieties
Native: North America
Firewise: Yes
Important Note on fire resistant plants: It’s crucial to remember that fire resistance can vary within the same plant species depending on local conditions and specific varieties and some plants considered fire-resistant, may produce flammable dry material that can negate their fire resistance. 

Photo from University of Wisconsin Horticulture Extension: https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/anise-hyssop-agastache-foeniculum/

Posted by: Carlotta Lucas, AGC Member

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

Firewise and Native Plant: Golden Chinquapin

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Plant Name: Chrysolepis chrysophylla

Common name: Golden Chinquapin
Plant type: Broadleaf, Evergreen Shrub or Tree
Height: 30’ – 148’;  slow growing
Bloom Time: February – July
Flower Color: White
Exposure: Sun to Light Shade
Soil Requirements: Well-Drained; Clay-Loam, Loam, Sandy Loam, Sand, Bedrock
Water Needs: Low
Attributes: Leaves are dark yellow-green above, the lower side is coated with shiny golden to pale yellow
scales; The Species is Monoecious, with Individuals Bearing both Male and Female Flowers; Supports
Butterflies & Caterpillars; Birds & Rodents Disburse the Seeds; Small Mammals eat Nutritious Nuts; Hosts
Golden Streak Butterfly
Note: Fruit is a Spiny Bur in the Fall; Slow Growing; Transplants with Difficulty; Flowers have Strong Odor.
Uses: Specimen Tree; A Chinquapin is best grown as a specimen tree in drier parts of your garden.
Firewise: YES
Native To: California & Oregon
Oregon Native: YES
USDA Hardiness Zone: 6 – 9

Report by: Viki Ashford, AGC Member

Photographer: Zoya Akulova ID: 0000 0000 0716 1182 (2016-07-11) Copyright  @CalPhotos