Tag Archives: plants for full sun

Oregon Native: Antennaria rosea (Pink Pussy Toes)

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Plant Name:  Antennaria rosea
Common name:  Pink Pussy Toes
Plant Type:  Evergreen Groundcover
Plant Height:  .33’ – 1.3’
Plant Width: 8’ – 12’
Bloom Time:  June – August
Flower Color:  Cream to Pink to Red
Exposure: Full Sun
Soil Requirements: Dry, Good Draining Soil.
Water Need:  Low
Firewise: Yes, 30’ from house
Attributes: Host Plant for Caterpillars & Moths; Attracts Bees & Butterflies.
Uses:  Native Wildflower Groundcover; Butterfly & Pollinator Gardens; Rock Garden.
Native to:  Western US, Great Plains, Alaska
Oregon Native: YES
USDA Hardiness Zone:  4 – 7

Report by: Viki Ashford, AGC Member, Master Gardener

Photo Credit: Meneerke bloem, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Post by: Carlotta Lucas, AGC Board Member

Southern Oregon Native: Ceanothus thyrsiflorus

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Plant Name:  Ceanothus thyrsiflorus
Common name:  Blue Blossom Wild Lilac
Plant Type:  Evergreen Groundcover or Shrub
Plant Height: 4’ – 12’; Creeping Blue Blossom grows slowly 2’ – 3’ high & 15’ wide. 
Plant Width:  5’ – 6’
Bloom Time:  April – June
Flower Color: White, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Purple
Exposure:  Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil Requirements: Tolerates Clay or Sand, but Needs Good Drainage
Water Need:  Low
Firewise: Very Flammable; within Defensible Space, keep individual plants trimmed back with no dead material & separate plants. 
Attributes: Attracts, Bees, Birds, Butterflies, Parasitoid/Predatory Insects; Pleasant Fragrance; Shade Tolerant; Nitrogen Fixer.
Uses:  Ground Cover; Hedge; Bee/Bird/Butterfly Gardens.
Note:  Do Not Fertilize; Tip Pruning maintains compact shape; Remove Leafless Interior Branches to Encourage New Growth; Prune in Dry Season.
Native to:  California & SW Oregon
Oregon Native: YES
USDA Hardiness Zone:  5 – 9

Report by: Viki Ashford

Photo Credit: Hedwig Storch CC BY-SA 3.0 – NC State Extension website https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ceanothus-thyrsiflorus/

Posted by: Carlotta Lucas

Oregon Native:  Solidago californica ( Goldenrod)

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Plant Name:  Solidago californica
Common name: Goldenrod
Plant Type:  Evergreen Perennial
Plant Height: 1.5’ – 2’
Plant Width:  .5’ – 1’
Bloom Time:  Summer -Fall
Flower Color:  Yellow
Exposure: Full Sun to Full Shade
Soil Requirements:  Medium Draining, Tolerates a variety of soils
Water Needs:  Wet in Winter/Spring, Dry in summer
Fire Resistance: Score 8, Plant 30 feet from structures
Attributes: Attracts Birds & Pollinating Insects.
Note:  May become Invasive due to Creeping Root stock; Deadhead or Leave Faded Flowers for Seed.
Uses: Bee/Butterfly Gardens, Native gardens, Pollinator Gardens
Native to:  Oregon & California
Oregon Native:  YES
USDA Hardiness Zone: 6 – 10

Report by: Viki Ashford and Carlotta Lucas

Photo by:  Stickpen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Crabapples Add Winter Interest

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Crabapples are an excellent choice for creating winter interest in a landscape and their small fruits are a desirable food source for birds. Crabapples have a reputation of being messy, but if you purchase trees with “persistent” fruit, then the fruits stays on the tree longer, making less of a mess on the ground and leaving more fruit on the tree for birds. Persistent fruits also provide longer winter interest with red, pink, orange or yellow fruits hanging on trees.

Crabapple blossoms come in white, light pink, deep pink and rose-colored, which attracts butterflies and bees in the spring.  Some varieties have fragrant flowers and some have purple foliage.  Crabapples come in various sizes to accommodate small, medium or large yards.  In this first posting I am listing three dwarf varieties for small spaces and ones with excellent to good disease resistance; there are many more. (*chart)

Hardiness Zones 4-8.  Sun Exposure:  Full Sun 6+ hours, Part Sun 4-6 hours, Full Shade up to 4 hours.  Note: Where fire blight is a concern, avoid spring pruning (when bacterium can enter fresh open cuts).

Dwarf Crabapples

Lollipop Crabapple:  10 ft H x 10 ft W; Neat formal compact dwarf tree with rounded head, fine texture with small leaves and dense growth habit and symmetrical form. Foliage: Green. Flowers: White with yellow stamens. Fruit: Bright red, 3/8-inch. Disease resistant ratings- Excellent: Mildew & Cedar Apple Rust. Good: Fire Blight & Scab.

Sargent Crabapple: 8 ft H x12ft W; Natural forming dwarf tree with horizontal spreading branches. Foliage: Dark Green. Flowers: Profuse ½-inch white fragrant flowers. Fruit: 1/4-inch Bright Red, Profuse, Persistent. Disease resistant ratings- Excellent: Mildew, Cedar Apple Rust, Fire Blight & Scab.

Pink Princess Crabapple: 8 ft h x 12 ft W; Natural dwarf tree with low spreading branches. Foliage: Purple turning to Bronze-Green. Flowers: Rose Pink. Fruit: Deep Red, ¼ -inch. Disease resistant ratings-Excellent: Cedar Apple Rust, Mildew, Fire Blight & Scab.

Article by: Carlotta Lucas, AGC Member

*Chart by: J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co https://www.jfschmidt.com/pdfs/JFS_CRAB_CHART.pdf

Today in the Garden; Gaillardia x grandiflora

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Here’s a new favorite for a sunny spot:  Long-blooming, pollinator friendly and brightly colored, Gaillardia x grandiflora has been blooming in my West-facing garden since June, and is still putting out new buds.  It’s a hybrid on a Western native, Gaillardia aristata.  The common name is Blanket Flower.  The colors often remind me of the state flag of Arizona:  yellow, scarlet, bronze. The flowers are 2-3 “ across, and the seed heads are attractive, too. Gaillardia is easy to grow and to maintain.  I just prune off the dried seed heads when they look tatty.  Another option, though, is to leave at least some in place at the end of the season, because these plants reseed, so you can have more for free next Spring.  There are several cultivars available.  I have the original, which is about 24” x 24”.  I also have the dwarf form, called ‘Goblin’, which is about  1 foot high and wide.  Needs full sun, moderate water and  fast drainage.

~Sherri Morgan, AGC Member