Information on Washington Native Flowers

Rhododendrons grow wild all over Washington.

Washington is a land of dense rain forests and arid deserts, glacier-capped mountains, and muddy bogs. Ancient Douglas firs and cedar trees tower over nearly microscopic wild blooms, rhododendrons color the coast, while lupines and buckwheat stretch along eastern vistas. A 2004 publication from Columbia County alone lists 1,861 plants that grow in the area; a similar publication lists more than 2,500 plants for Skagit County. From Whatcom to Klickitat and Pend Oreille to Gray's Harbor counties, Washington state bursts with colorful flowers native to the Northwest. Many of these plants work well in home gardens, and others are best enjoyed in their pristine natural settings.

Rhodies

The most famous Washington state flower is the one approved by the state government. The beautiful, pink-flowered Pacific or coast rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum) blooms from May to July. Many types of rhodies bloom in Washington from February until summer, growing as small bushes or as trees to more than 30 feet tall. A trip to nurseries like Whitney Gardens in Brinnon is worth it to check the array.

Trees

Red currant produces berries in the fall.

Washington features many native trees, not all of which flower. The bitter cherry has clusters of small white flowers that bloom along the branch in spring. The Pacific dogwood has six-petaled white blooms, and grows densely along low-elevation streams.

Shrubs

Fireweed grows in the wilds of Washington.

The small pinkish bell-like flower of kinnikinnick grows in sandy or well-drained areas. Salal, found from the Cascades to the the coast, has tiny white hanging cup flowers. Oregon grape has yellow flower bunches in spring.

Twinflower ( Linnaea borealis) has small bluish-white blooms from late spring to mid-summer and is nice in the garden. Also good for Washington gardens is the Amelanchier Alnifolia or Western serviceberry, which grows in open areas or dense forests, and attracts hummingbirds. Salmonberry is another native plant that attracts hummingbirds with its five-petaled dark pink bloom. It grows in wetlands or moist areas, spring to summer. The red flowering currant features clusters of bright pink blooms in spring in many habitats.

Other flowering shrubs include the white-flowered rhododendron with its cuplike white flowers; shrubby cinquefoil, with five-petaled yellow blossoms; and Lewis' mock orange, with white flowers in early summer.

Perennials

Wild hyacinth, blue anemone, ladyslipper and several kinds of paintbrush are a few of Washington's native flowers. Others that are nice for the garden include Sitka columbine, with red flowers in summer, the pink fawn lily with its hanging light pink blooms in spring, and Tellima grandiflora or fringecup, which grows in moist areas, spring through summer, sending out tall, slender stalks of tiny flowers. Wild ginger (Asarum caudatum) with tri-pronged dark salmon-colored blooms on heart-shaped leaves, blooms spring to early summer. Penstemon grows in rocky areas and has light purple blooms.

Other perennials to enjoy are the dark purple blooms of monkshood, wild hyacinths east of the Cascades, the orchid-like blossoms of the fairyslipper, rockslide larkspur, avalanche lilies, and the profuse wild fireweed, from which honey is made in Snoqualmie Falls.

Other

Two plants that must be included in Washington's native list are the western trillium, a three-petaled white flower found in woodlands, and Lysichiton Americanum, otherwise known as skunk cabbage. This wetland native has yellow blooms on a cup surrounding a sheath, and a scent for which it is named.

References

• Washington Native Plant Society
• Washington State University: Gardening in Western Washington: Native Plants
• Burke Museum: Plants of Washington
• Desert Bloom
• Whitney Gardens and Nursery

Resources

• King County: Native Plant Guide
• King County: Native Plant Nurseries in Washington State
• The Nature Institute: Skunk Cabbage
• "Ethnobotany of Western Washington: The Knowledge and Use of Indigenous Plants by Native Americans;" Erna Gunther; 1973
• "A Field Guide to the Common Wetland Plants of Western Washington and Northwestern Oregon;" Sarah S. Cooke; 1997