Backyard Birds: Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Chestnut-backed Chickadees:  These birds frequent backyard bird feeders regularly where they eat black oil sunflower seed, hulled sunflowers seeds, suet, nyjar seeds and some fruit, but 65% of their diet is made up of insects and other arthropods, including aphids, caterpillars, spiders, leafhoppers, tiny scale insects and wasps. Chestnut-back Chickadees are found up and down the West Coast and in the Pacific Northwest. Their habitat is dense wet coniferous forests of Douglas firs, Monterey pine, Ponderosa pine, Sugar pines, White firs, Incense-cedar and Redwoods. But, while these social noisy little birds prefer dark wet forests they have moved into cities where they utilize stands of willows and alder trees along streams, madrone trees, shrubbery along the edges of oak woodlands and ornamental shrubs in parks and gardens.

Photo by Kathy Munsel, ODFW https://myodfw.com/wildlife-viewing/species/chickadees-and-nuthatches

Article by: Carlotta Lucas, AGC Member

Firewise Plant: Penstemons

Plant Name:  Penstemon species
Common name:  Penstemon or Beardtongue
Plant Type:  Perennial
Plant Height: 4” – 48”
Plant Width:  6” – 36”
Bloom Time: June – August
Flower Color:  Pink, Purple, Blue, Red, White
Exposure:  Full Sun
Soil Requirements: Fast Draining; Gravelly/Sandy;
Water Needs: Deep, but Infrequent Watering
Fire Resistant:  YES:  Zone 1 – Plant 30’+ from Structure
Attributes: Nectar-Rich Flowers for Pollinators;
Uses: Rock Garden; Cottage Gardens; Borders; Pollinator Gardens; Wildlife Habitat Gardens; Native plant areas; Perennial gardens. 
Note: Leave Some Seeds to Ripen When Deadheading;
Native to: Continental US
Oregon Native:   YES
USDA Hardiness Zone:  3 – 8

Report by: Viki Ashford AGC Member & Master Gardener

Photo by: JerryFriedman, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons

Firewise Plant: Lonicera ciliosa

Plant Name: Lonicera ciliosa

Common names:  Western Trumpet Honeysuckle, Orange Honeysuckle, Climbing Honeysuckle

Plant Type: Twining vine, twigs hollow

Plant Height: 10-30 ft

Plant Width:  10-inch +

Bloom Time: Late Spring

Flower Color:  Orange/Red

Exposure: Full Sun to Part Shade

Soil Requirements: Organically Rich, Well-Drained, Moist Soil.

Water Needs: Moderate

Fire Resistant:  YES; Zone 1 – Plant 30’+ From Structure.

Attributes: Not Fragrant; Pollinated by the Rufous Hummingbird, Attracts Hummingbirds; Orange-Red Berries Attractive to Wildlife. Native range: British Columbia South to California, East to Montana and Utah.

Uses: Covering Fence or Trellis.

Note: Prone to Aphids, Powdery Mildew

Oregon Native or Naturalized in Oregon:  Yes

 USDA Hardiness Zone:  5

Resource: https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/lonicera-ciliosa

Oregon Native: Pacific Wax Myrtle

Botanical Name: Morella californica
Common Name: Pacific Wax Myrtle
Bayberry–Family  Myricaceae


Plant Type: Broad leaf Evergreen
Water use: Moderate -High
Growth: moderate rate to 10-30 feet (3-10m) tall and wide
Habitat:Usually occurs in wetlands but occasionally occurs in non-wetlands.
Characters: The leaves of Pacific Wax Myrtle are a bright, glossy green with black dots, pleasantly aromatic, pointed at the tip, with occasional teeth along the margins.  The flowers are tiny, but the fruit is attractive in clusters of dark purple, bumpy berries.
Native Plant: Yes 
Firewise: Yes
Attributes: The leaves of Myrica californica have a spicy aroma that can be used like bay leaves to season food, hence the plant is often referred to as California Bayberry.
Uses In the Landscape: The Pacific Wax Myrtle is our best native shrub for screening.  Several can be trimmed into a hedge or it can be mixed with other evergreens to create an informal screen.  Wax Myrtle also is able to fix-nitrogen in association with the bacteria, making this shrub especially useful for habitat restoration in soils with low fertility
Bloom Period:  May-June.
Fruit ripens November. Used by Wildlife:The fruit is eaten by many kinds of birds, most notably the “Myrtle” (Yellow-rumped) Warbler, but only in small quantities.
Use by People: Although Pacific Wax Myrtle is related to the Northern Bayberry, attempts at boiling the fruit to extract wax produces so little, to make it hardly worthwhile. A gray-brown or maroon-purple dye may be obtained from the berries.  Although the wood is reported to be heavy, very hard, strong, brittle and close-grained, this species is different than the Oregon Myrtlewood, Umbellularia californica, (AKA California Bay Laurel) used for artistic endeavors found in gift shops all along the Oregon coast.

Propagation:  Seeds collected in fall should be abraded or soaked in warm water to remove the waxy coating; they then require 3 months stratification at 40ºF (4ºC).  Heel cuttings of half-ripe wood in July or August reportedly have fair to good success.  Layering in the spring is the quickest method.

Larval Host to:

Banded Hairstreak
(Satyrium calanus)

Photo Credit: Megan McCarty, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Red-banded Hairstreak
(Calycopis cecrops)

Photo Credit: John Flannery from Richmond County, North Carolina, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

http://nativeplantspnw.com/pacific-wax-myrtle-morella-californica/

Report provided by: Lynn Kunstman, Jackson County, Oregon Master Gardener and Wildlife Management

Posted by: Carlotta Lucas, AGC Board Member

Oregon Native: Blue Elderberry

Plant Name:  Sambucus nigra caerulea
Common name: Blue Elderberry
Plant Type:  Deciduous Shrub or Small Tree
Plant Height: 6’ – 20’
Spread:  6’ – 20’
Bloom Time:  Spring to Fall
Flower Color: Cream or Yellow Flowers & Blue Berries in Fall.
Exposure: Part Shade to Full Sun.

Soil Requirements:  Tolerates a variety of moist soils,
but prefers well-drained.
Water Needs: Regular Irrigation.
Attributes:  Food Source for Birds; Deer Resistant; Attracts Bees & Butterflies.
Note: Accepts Pruning Easily; Susceptible to Canker, Powdery Mildew, Leaf Spot, Spider Mites, Aphids, Borers.
Uses: Bee, Bird, Butterfly Gardens; Bank Stabilization; Hedge; Pond/Steam Edge Planting.
Native to:  Western North America
Oregon Native:  YES
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4 – 9

Report by: Viki Ashford

Photos from: Oregon State University https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/sambucus-nigra-subsp-cerulea

Wildflower: Helianthus mollis

Plant Name:  Helianthus mollis
Common name: Ashy Sunflower, Hairy Sunflower, Downy Sunflower
Plant Type:  Rhizomatous Perennial Sunflower
Plant Height: 2’ – 4’
Spread:  1’ – 3’
Bloom Time: July – September
Flower Color:  Ray & Disk Flowers are Yellow.
Exposure:  Full Sun
Soil Requirements:  Average, Sandy, Poor Rocky Soil that Drains Well.
Water Needs:  Dry to Medium
Attributes: Attracts Birds & Butterflies; Tolerates Dry, Rocky Soil.
Note:  Plants spread by rhizomes & self-seeding to form colonies; Caterpillars & Beetles often chew foliage.
Uses: Showy Flower for Arrangements; Naturalized Areas, Border Gardens, Wildflower & Native Plant Gardens.
Native to:  Central & Eastern North America
Oregon Native:   NO
USDA Hardiness Zone:  4 – 9