Here Are The Best Native Plants For University Place Gardens

UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA — Planting season, as University Place gardeners know, is officially upon us. And before you dig out those dusty trowels and gloves, take note of the plants that naturally grow in the area.

We’re talking about native plants, which grew here long before Europeans started building settlements. They’re the foundation of the region’s biodiversity, and provide key food sources and shelter to birds.

Fortunately, the folks at the National Audubon Society have done all the hard work to ensure gardeners have what they need to find the best native plants. The group has a database that includes perennials, shrubs, grasses, succulents, trees, vines and evergreens. Each entry also details what types of birds the plants attract.

The database allows users to filter results by plant type, resources and bird species they attract.
Regional Audubon experts hand-select the “best results” for each.

In University Place, some of the best flowers to grow this season include Beaked Hazelnut, Big-Leaf Maple, and Bitter Cherry.

Here’s a roundup of some other great local options, including a little about each one from Audubon:

Blue Elderberry

Large, perennial, and deciduous, this shrub or small tree can grow up to 30 feet tall. It produces yellow or cream colored flowers in the spring and purple berries in the fall that provide an important food source for birds. This plant grows in full sun and partial shade, and in moist, well-drained soils.

Birds they attract: Crows and jays, orioles, thrushes, woodpeckers, waxwings, and mockingbirds and thrashers.

Bluebell-of-Scotland

Common names for this plant also include Bluebell Bellflower, Harebell, and Witches’ Thimble. It is a herbaceous perennial that grows 1 to 2 feet tall, and produces nodding, blue or violet flowers on delicate stalks in the summer.

Bluebell-of-Scotland is adaptable, growing in full sun to shade, and in dry, sandy, and well-drained soils. Note that though the seedlings of this plant germinate quickly, it takes two years for them to flower.

Birds they attract: Wood warblers, mockingbirds and thrashers, hummingbirds, sparrows, waxwings, orioles, and vireos.

Cascade Oregon-Grape

A low-growing creeping shrub with dark green holly-like leaves and slender spikes of yellow flowers that produce purple fruits. It is tolerant of many conditions.

Birds they attract: Woodpeckers, waxwings, thrushes, orioles, crows and jays, and mockingbirds and thrashers.

Cascara False Buckthorn

Cascara False Buckthorn, or simply Cascara, is a deciduous shrub or tree that can grow up to 40 feet tall with a short trunk and stout branches. It produces small, yellow-green flowers in the spring, followed by purplish black, cherry-like fruits that attract birds and mammals, but are mildly toxic to humans.

Cascara tolerates shady conditions and a variety of moist soils.

Birds they attract: Orioles, waxwings, mockingbirds and thrashers, woodpeckers, crows and jays, thrushes, and nuthatches.

Common Yarrow

Also known as Western Yarrow and Milfoil, this spreading, perennial herb has feathery compound leaves and grows to 3 feet tall. Its flower heads are arranged in large, flat, compact clusters at the top of the stem.

There is some confusion over the categorization of this species in North America, as substantial hybridization has occurred between native and Eurasian strains. Common Yarrow forms spreading colonies and may be best suited for naturalized areas, growing in full sun to partial shade, and in dry soil.

Birds they attract: Woodpeckers, chickadees and titmice, orioles, waxwings, sparrows, mockingbirds and thrashers, wood warblers, finches, cardinals and grosbeaks, crows and jays, and vireos.

These plants are key resources for birds and are relatively easy to grow. Perhaps just as importantly, many are available at local native plant nurseries, which the organization also lists.

Here are the Audubon locations in Puget Sound:

Tahoma Audubon at Adriana Hess Audubon Center

• 2917 Morrison Rd. W. in University Place
• Call: 253-565-9129
• Email: mmega@tahomaaudubon.org.

Seward Park Audubon Center

• 5902 Lake Washington Blvd. S. in Seattle
• Call: 206-652-2444
• Email: edominguez@audubon.org

Eastside Audubon Society

• PO Box 3115 in Kirkland
• Call: 425-576-8805
• Email: president@eastsideaudubon.org

Americans spent a record $47.8 billion on lawn and garden retail sales in 2017, according to the National Gardening Survey. The average household spent more than $500 on gardening. And while older adults accounted for 35 percent of all gardeners, millennials were getting their hands and knees dirty at all-time high levels. Adults 18-34 accounted for 29 percent of all gardeners, the survey found.

Among the recent trends — more people are investing in raised beds as opposed to digging holes, and they’re spending money on apps rather than glossy gardening books.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.