Making a native garden in Washington State + some questions

Hi everyone! With winter really setting in, it’s given me time to think about what I want to do to pass the time over Spring. Besides school and iNatting, I’ve thought about maybe making a garden full of native flora of the PNW. I’ve seen an upkick in popularity of these ‘native gardens’ lately, and want to try my hand at planting one.

First though, I’d like to know what planting one of these gardens would mean for the local ecosystem. I’m sure the pollinators would love it. I have 2 mason bee colonies that would probably adore it. But aside from helping out our pollinators, what else do these gardens do for local wildlife?

I have a nice, roughly 8x8 ft circular area set aside for it. During spring and summer, it gets partial to full sun. Could anyone help suggest to me some native PNW flowers and other plants that I could put in the garden? Thanks.

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Hi hi! I love this idea! I looked at your iNaturalist profile and see you are on the Kitsap peninsula. Have you considered exploring the Kitsap County Extension Service at all? For example, when I peeked at their website, I saw they have a Self-Guided Rain Garden Tour that looks very informative and most of the gardens feature native plants. I am not sure if that is your county or if you are elsewhere, but generally I have been amazed at the offerings of extension services when I have looked at them.

As to what native gardens do for pollinators and other wildlife, this is an amazing read. It has a lot of wonderful links, too, so explore!

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Thank you very much for the imput! I’ll be looking into those :> I am indeed on the Kitsap Peninsula.

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(Oops, sorry, missed you’re in Kitsap! I’ll leave this up for others, though!)

I’ve done a fair bit of native plant gardening in the PNW, too! If you’re in the Puget Sound, I’d suggest these places to source plants:
-The Kruckeberg Garden - they have plant sales in early and late spring with lots of native species available
-Oxbow Nursery - they have a farm stand in Carnation that has a lot of native plants, as well as some veggies. Stop by Carnation Farms’ farm stand in the evening when you’re there, and you might get a nice elk observation for inat, too!
-Central Puget Sound WA Native Plant Society plant sale in Bellevue - they usually have a lot of experts there who can give good advice

Actually, in general, the WNPS has a lot of plant sales (usually each chapter has one) plus a native plant nursery/seed list on their website. I’d highly recommend checking them out.

Personally, I’ve had good luck with the following in sunny areas of about the same size as the one you’re describing:
-Cascade Penstemon
-Broadleaf lupine
-Great Camas and Common Camas
-Western Columbine
-Bluebell-of-Scotland
-Sea thrift
-Nodding onion
-Oregon stonecrop
-farewell-to-spring
-Solidago elongata
-Red-flowering currant (this does get large, and I prune mine regularly)

I grow a colorful cultivated “Paprika” yarrow, too, although you can also find the white native yarrow for sale some places. They’re the same species, but getting the local native is probably better. I grow toughleaf iris and Douglas’ iris despite the fact that they’re not native this far north in WA, just because I like them lol.

I’ve grown a few other species I would not recommend for your area, despite them being very popular with pollinators. I would not recommend Pacific aster because it tends to spread vigorously. If you have room for it (8’x8’ would be enough for one of them lol), it’s a favorite for all kinds of bees, wasps, and the seeds are a favorite for birds… but it’s just such a bully! I’ve also grown elegant madia, but while it is beautiful, the flowers close up in the morning and it’s rather large - which can cause it to look weedy, especially in late summer. It would be better in a larger space, in my opinion. I’ve grown shooting stars and checker lily from Kruckeberg, too, but have found them to be rather tender. The shooting star in particular requires a LOT of water.

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Hey, thanks for all the resources! Those are some beautiful plants too. Those Lupine flowers look gorgeous. Much appreciated! :)

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Sure thing! My personal favorites are the penstemons, which the hummingbirds just LOVE, too!

Be sure to keep an eye on when the different plants you’re using flower. I bought too many early-spring flowers my first year native gardening, and was left with a sad, dry, brown garden by August. That, and mind plant height, Some tall fellas will help balance out the little guys. I also bought too many shorties my first year, and had to expand and add taller ones so it didn’t look like an untended mess.

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That’s something I’m noticing a lot - these all look a little on the taller side (aside from the stonecrop). It’ll just come down to balance I suppose? Some are a bit taller than others.

Common camas, sea thrift, the bluebells, farewell-to-spring, and stonecrop are all very low to the ground. I forgot to mention another I grow, small-flowered penstemon, which is also little! I’d say it’s about “geranium height.” It’s a lot more blue than in that link. Here’s what it looks like in my garden:

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Oh okay! I see. Thanks

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https://www.sdhortnews.org/post/puget-sound-garden-fling-2024

The Garden Fling in 2024 was Puget Sound. Many blog posts - if you want to spend time reading. One to start with?
https://www.penick.net/digging/?cat=1172

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@song_dog hey, would adding a Salal bush or two work as well? I found some wild ones growing in the woods behing my house, so I can probably get away with growing them from seed.

Salal tends to do poorly in exposed areas that get a lot of sun. It can do okay if you water it a lot, but it’s a much better shade plant.

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