Living on a Finite Planet: natives

Sharon spent quite a bit of time during the last week planning the area behind the garage. We have taken to calling it our hidden garden. Sharon did most of the research because it's the kind of thing she likes to do.

We don't have any kind of software that helps with this process, so we winged it with pictures of the plants laid out on photographs. Excuse how unprofessional they look. LOL

We ended up choosing a Japanese maple to plant in the planting bed in front of the wall. Our current plan is to get an Acer palmatum ‘Sherwood Flame,’ but we could probably be persuaded by a 'Bloodgood.' We like them both.

We're going to go ahead and list the plants because it helps us later when we go shopping, or have questions about the plan, so here goes...

The Japanese maple is mostly transparent so you
can sort of see the plantings behind it.

In the planting bed directly behind the garage—in keeping with the color scheme—we're hoping to put in two hellebores: one burgundy, and one apricot. Of course, since most of the varieties out are patented, we're not really sure what we'll be able to find this fall when we go shopping. At the moment, Sharon thinks she could buy:

Apricot Blush Group

Red Sapphire Group

We're also going to plant quite a few Heucharas because they provide some great color and tolerate mostly shade. Sharon actually already ordered some on clearance (oops); she could not resist $6 a plant. She ordered the Heuchera ‘Cajun Fire’ because she liked that the color changed throughout the season. Also, the color change will be out of sync with the Japanese maple, which will hopefully be really fun.

She also ordered a couple of Heuchera x 'Carnival Peach Parfait'. And if we run across them, she'll probably buy a couple of Heuchera x 'Caramel'.

The iris in the corner is an Iris x pacifica ‘Big Wheel’.

The larger shrubs we plan to plant along the back fence:

On the right side, we're planning to plant a Rhododendron 'Seaview Sunset' OR Rhododendron ‘Honey Butter'. (The picture is of the Seaview Sunset Rhododendron.)
To the left of that, we're thinking about putting in a Ribes x gordonianum (Flowering Currant). It has coral-colored flowers that are really pretty.

In front of the wall, to the left of the maple, we plan to plant a Physocarpus opulifolius 'Hoogi018' (Angel® Ninebark).

We would also like to install some sort of trellis on that ugly cinder block wall. If we manage to get something put up, we're expecting to plant a Lonicera ciliosa (Orange Honeysuckle) because it is a native, and will tolerate dry shade once it's established.

The rest of the beds will be filled in with a variety of plants, as we can find them. (This is a list of possible plants, we won't end up with all of them. This is just a starting point for when we go shopping.):

Adiantum x tracyi (Tracy's Maidenhair Fern)
Aquilegia caerulea 'Swan Pink-Yellow' (Columbine, wild honeysuckle)
Aquilegia oxysepala (Oriental Columbine)
Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Bordeaux Barlow’ (Columbine)
Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata 'Ruby Port' (Columbine)
Asarum caudatum (Wild Ginger)
Athyrium filix-femina (Lady Fern)
Blechnum spicant (Deer Fern)
Cyclamen persicum (Dreamscape™ Deep Burgundy Cyclamen)
Dicentra x Hybrida 'Sulpher Hearts' (Bleeding Heart with yellow flowers, if we can find them)
Dryopteris erythrosora (Autumn Fern)
Epimedium × rubrum OR Epimedium x ‘Supernova’ OR Epimedium x versicolor 'Sulphureum' (Bishop's Hat)
Gymnocarpium dryopteris (Northern Oak Fern)
Polypodium glycyrrhiza (Licorice Fern)
Polystichum munitum (Sword Fern)
Polystichum setiferum var. divisilobum (Soft Shield Fern)

We'll be adding more as we go shopping and as we find more plants that tolerate dry shade. We might also try a few plants that prefer full sun just to see how they do.

We went on an exploratory adventure to a new-to-us nursery in Oregon City, Echo Valley Natives. It was hidden in the forest at the edge of Oregon City (18883 S. Ferguson Road Oregon City, OR 97045). It was a really beautiful setting and their prices are excellent for being so close to Portland. (Most one gallon pots are $7; we were paying more than that for 4-inch pots at the other nurseries we've been to this spring.)

If it's a native, they probably carry it; they have an extensive selection. They were out of a stock of a couple of larger shrubs we were looking for, but the helpful employee, Renee, said they'd have them back in stock later this summer, which works fine for us because we'll be buying the bulk of the natives in time to do a fall planting.