Originally published Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print
Share
Plant Life
Wildlife biologist Russell Link picks 10 native plants as his 'indispensables'
Wildlife biologist Russell Link chooses his list of top 10 indispensable plants for the Northwest — settling entirely on natives that have stood the test of time.
Create your own haven
You can learn how to create your own backyard wildlife sanctuary at http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/backyard, or read Link's "Living With Wildlife" series at http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living.
WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST Russell Link is the author of two books on gardening and living with wildlife, so no wonder he looks at gardens a little differently than the rest of us. He sees thickets as safe havens, plentiful life in dead wood and meal tickets in our native plants.
While he may not be a native-plant purist in his own garden, every plant on Link's list originates right here in the Northwest. Besides working for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Link has a degree in landscape architecture. His Whidbey Island garden is an artful sanctuary with ornamentals, vegetables and fruit trees. The kitchen garden and orchard are fenced, but the rest of the four-acre property, including two creeks, a golden foliage garden and 400-foot hedgerow, are planted to feed and shelter creatures great and small.
Dead trees, upright or downed — Link's first indispensable — haven't been mentioned by any other gardener in this series. He treasures dead trees because they've been part of our ecosystem for 15,000 years, and species from bats to woodpeckers depend on them. Downed logs that Link has salvaged and integrated into his garden act like big sponges soaking up water for salamanders. Wrens forage for insects in the bottom of the logs, while overhead, cavity nesters such as chickadees make their homes in old snags.
Vine maple (Acer circinatum) is, in contrast to dead trees, one of the most frequently chosen indispensables. Link loves these small, multitrunked natives not just for their easy care and good looks, but because their flowers feed the earliest bees and other flying pollinators. Grosbeaks and chipmunks gobble up their seeds. He's salvaged many from construction sites and not a one has died. In Link's forested ravine, vine maples form a leafy understory for the bigger trees; the maples especially showy when they blaze orange and red in autumn.
Cascara or buckthorn (Rhamnus purshiana) is a mid-sized native tree that grows to about 30 feet, with large leaves and pretty gray and brown bark. Woodpeckers and other fruit-eating birds love its red fruit that matures to dark purple over the season. Speaking from experience, Link warns to plant cascara away from the house a bit because its dropped fruit can stain decks and patios.
Evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) is a tidy evergreen shrub that thrives in both sun and shade, with red-tinted leaves and blue berries. The birds, however, have to share the tasty fruit — the Link family bakes the berries into muffins.
His second evergreen-shrub pick is the low-growing Oregon grape (Mahonia nervosa), with early flowers to attract mason bees to your garden.
Flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) has spectacular hot-pink flowers that are the first nectar source for hummingbirds in earliest spring. This tall, deciduous shrub is one of Link's favorite plants to weave into hedgerows.
Goat's beard (Aruncus dioicus) is a statuesque perennial, forming a fat, 5-foot mound of foliage topped with white, plumy flowers in summer. "It is filled with little flying pollinators," says Link admiringly. "You know it has to be important in the food web because other things are likely eating those insects."
Sword fern (Polystichum munitum) is a drought-tolerant, dog-proof, tough and hardy evergreen fern that contributes year-round structure to the garden. What's not to love? Link has salvaged more than a hundred sword ferns from construction sites, and they grow thickly along pathways and down into the ravine at the back of his garden.
Nodding onion (Allium cernuum), our native ornamental onion, is the single bulb on Link's list. It grows happily in rock gardens or flower borders, where its pretty lavender flowers provide nectar for bees and hummingbirds.
Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritime) is a low-growing, honey-scented annual, ideal for edging beds, borders and walkways, where its masses of white flowers light up the night. "When you go through a nursery tapping flats of annuals, all the little insects fly up off the alyssum," says Link, who considers this to be a strong recommendation.
Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and author of "A Pattern Garden."Check out her blog at www.valeaston.com. Whitney Stensrud is The Seattle Times assistant art director, graphics.
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
![]()
Seattle's parks in peril: the choices are to shrink, skimp or pay up
Taste: Muffuletta sandwiches are the Big Easy's best
Plant Life: Seattle's Fisher House offers a place of peace
NEW - 7:00 PM
Wine Adviser: Some good Washington wineries got away
Destinations - A Traveler's Glimpse: Earth Hour: lights out to make a difference

nwautos
Turismo upgrade "Gran Turismo 5: XL Edition" for PlayStation 3 has features such as new car-tuning settings, new NASCAR vehicles, better replay video...
Post a comment
- Lakewood cop accused of embezzling $150K meant for slain officers' families
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Agency set to investigate handling of 911 call about Josh Powell
- Quick decisions: How Washington hired its new football staff
- Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looms
- Justin Wilcox's versatile defensive style is the right fit for Huskies | Jerry Brewer
- It's Terrence Time: Enigmatic Ross leads Huskies
- Social worker recounts minutes before Powell fire
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- Club promoter convicted in brutal 2010 murder of Des Moines prostitute
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature
434 - Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looming
346 - Sheriff's office unhappy with 911 dispatcher in caseworker's call
282 - 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
235 - Source: NY, California to sign mortgage settlement
210 - Oregon live game thread
153 - Pac-12 picks ... including the UW game
140 - Lakewood cop accused of taking donations for slain officers' families
114 - Department of Justice owes the Seattle Police Department an apology
88 - Council members get briefing on arena proposal, minus details
74
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- One man's audacious pursuit of sailing history
- Darren Berg gets 18-year sentence for Ponzi scheme
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- A wandering gene's destructive path | Book review
- 'Gauguin and Polynesia': dazzling mix-and-match | Art review
- UW opening incubator facility for startups
- Controversial principal at Lowell Elementary takes job in Tacoma
- Lakewood cop accused of embezzling $150K meant for slain officers' families



















