Download Self Tour: Native Plants 2015
Please follow the green numbered signs for this self-guided tour. As you enter to the garden, a grove of #1 Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas Fir) welcomes you. This is one of the most common conifers native to the Pacific Northwest. The name comes from David Douglas, who introduced this tree into cultivation. One way to identify this tree is by its buds that look like pointed bullets. Take a left and look to your immediate left to visit #2 Rhododendron macrophyllum. This native rhody tolerates woodland conditions and produces white to pink flowers in late spring to early summer from southern British Columbia to the redwoods of California. Follow the path and you will find #3 Blechnum spicant* (Deer Fern). This shade loving evergreen fern has flat spreading sterile fronds and distinct upright spore-bearing fertile fronds.’
Continue on the path and visit another native fern #4 Gymnocarpium dryopteris (Oak Fern). This fern is a slowly-spreading, deciduous groundcover for shade. Take the center path and visit #5 Coptis laciniata* (Goldthread). This is a very slow-spreading evergreen groundcover. The common name comes from the golden yellow rhizomes that creep just beneath the surface of the ground. A little further down, you will find #6 Iris douglasiana. This native wildflower is easily grown in sun or shade. There are two native huckleberries to your left. #7 Vaccinium ovatum is an evergreen shrub that thrives in sun or shade. It produces black shiny fruits in the summer. #8 Vaccinium parvifolium is deciduous shrub with bright red fruits that make a great jelly. Further down the path is #9 Dryopteris expansa (Wood Fern). This is a widespread fern found in evergreen forests throughout the Northern Hemisphere. At the end of the path, look up to observe the three most common conifers of the lowland Puget Sound region:
#10 Thuja plicata (Western Cedar)
#11 Tsuga heterophylla (Western Hemlock)
#12 Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas Fir)
Now take a left on the main road and go downhill. Follow the sign to the Big-Leaf Garden. As you follow the path to the far side of this garden section you will find #13 Cornus Canadensis* (Bunchberry) on your right. Cornus is the same genus as a dogwood tree, but unlike its rela-tives, this is an evergreen creeping groundcover. Small dogwood-like flowers are produced in late spring followed by red fruits. Walk back to the main road and take a left. Pass the Blue Poppy Meadow on the left and you will find a very common shrub in our region, #14 Gaultheria shallon (Salal). Its foli-age is thick and leathery, and its dark blue fruits are edible. Across from the Salal is #15 Mahonia nervosa (Dwarf Oregon-Grape). This plant was collected by Lewis and Clark during their expedition to the west. This plant spreads very slowly and has bright yellow flowers and blue fruit.
Take the next left and enter the Pond Garden. On your right, #16 Ribes sanguineum* (Flowering Currant). This large deciduous shrub adds great color to the woodland garden in late winter when few things are in bloom. This tough native thrives even at the base of a tree. A little way down on the left is #17 Lysichiton americanus (Skunk Cabbage). The name comes from the strong odor of the foliage and flowers when crushed or bruised. These plants are found in swamps or wetlands throughout the Pacific Northwest. A little further down the path, you can enjoy the scenic view of Hardy Fern Foundation’s “Victorian Stumpery” across the pond. Take the next right, and then another right at the main road. Along the front edge of the stumpery is a mass planting of another native fern, #18 Polystichum munitum (Western Sword Fern). This fern occurs as a dominant understory plant throughout the low-elevation coniferous forests of our region.
Enter the stumpery from the far end where you see the sign. A stumpery is a Victorian period garden design that romanticizes nature. The design uses tree roots, placed on their sides or upside down. The tree roots are exposed creating a “Wild Scene” and then planted with ferns and other woodland plants. Explore the stumpery and visit several natives here:
#19 Polypodium scouleri—An evergreen fern that grows on coastal bluffs, rocks and trees.
#20 Adiantum aleuticum* (Western Maidenhair)— A delicate-appearing deciduous fern with bright green fronds on black stems.
#21 Darmera peltata (Umbrella Plant)— Pale pink star shaped flowers followed by large lobed leaves resembling an umbrella. Have a seat on the cut cedar-log bench at the top of the stump-ery and enjoy the view of the pond garden.
Exit the stumpery from the other end and take a right at the main road. Go up the road and to your right is a native dogwood tree, #22 Cornus nuttallii. A better choice in your own garden is a hybrid between Cornus nuttallii with the eastern flowering dogwood (C. florida) called ‘Eddie’s White Wonder’. This hybrid dogwood is much less susceptible to diseases which can disfigure or even kill our native species. Take the next right, and then another immediate right. Follow the sign to the Alpine Garden. Here, you will find #23 Tsuga mertensiana (Mountain Hemlock). This is a native conifer with a narrow, upright, and asymmetrical growth habit which can create a beautiful focal point in your garden. Its blue-green needles are attractive all year long.
At this point, go uphill then past the Gazebo on your right. Follow the sign to the Rutherford Conservatory. Right outside the conservatory back door is a planting of #24 Arctostaphylos (Manzanita). These evergreen shrubs have exceptionally gorgeous, smooth and reddish bark when mature. They tolerate sunny dry conditions.
Enter the Rutherford Conservatory. (A separate self-guided handout is available to tour the Rutherford Conservatory) Because native plants do not require protection from our weather, we do not feature them in the conservatory.
From here, you can walk back to the Visitor Center where you started. Many of the plants you viewed today are available in the RSBG Nursery. We hope you enjoyed the self guided tour today. Please come back and visit the garden soon—there is always something new to see!
*For sale at the RSBG Nursery