Here is a list of bird-friendly native plants suitable for planting in Quiet Water.
The list was created by Craig Berdie, a local plant expert.
The following plants are easy to establish and are strongly recommended:
- Ribes sanguineum, Red Flowering Currant. Early spring flowers and berries. Looks worn out by mid-summer.
- Vaccinium ovatum, Evergreen huckleberry. Birds - and humans - love the berries that ripen in late summer.
- Myrica cerifera, Wax Myrtle. A great source of bird food in the fall.
- Symphoricarpos albus, Snowberry. Late berries, spreads fairly aggressively but controllable.
- Mahonia aquafolium, Oregon Grape. Summer berries, spreads once established.
- Arctostaphylos, Manzanita. Great ground cover. Needs well-drained sunny location.
- Holodiscus discolor, Ocean Spray. Little slow to establish but gets big. Food and shelter.
- Ceanothus (native) Another dry sunny plant. Not truly native to this area but global warming making it so, not for bird food but great cover, bee friendly - and gets big.
- Lonicera involucrata, Twinberry. Prolific and can get big.
- Cornus sericea, Red Osier Dogwood. Needs moist conditions. Berries are late.
- Baccharus pilularis, Coyote Bush. Good for shelter and late season flowers are critical for native bees.
- Gaultheria shallon, Salal. Berries are edible and good ground cover but hard to establish and then control.
- Philadelphus lewisii, Mock Orange. Been slow to establish.
- Rubus parviflorus, Thimbleberry. Slow to establish ground cover with limited food value.
