The Indispensables

In picking his Top 10, a veteran editor leans toward the tried-and-true

IN SETTLING ON his list of favorite plants for our occasional series on Northwest Indispensables, Steve Lorton worried that his 10 top choices were too pedestrian. Nevertheless, he describes each with intimate fondness. Recently retired from his job as Northwest bureau chief of Sunset magazine, Lorton has had a 30-years-and-counting love affair with plants. No one has chatted up more gardeners around the world, and Lorton has incorporated all those lessons learned into both his gardens. Whether he's at home in Madison Park or dug into his Skagit Valley retreat, Lorton has found that these are the plants he can't imagine doing without:

Vine Maple (Acer circinatum). This garden-sized Northwest native tree is Lorton's favorite plant. "I heard someone say that if vine maple had been in cultivation as long as Japanese maple, we'd have just as many stunning cultivars. Perhaps so, but who needs them?" Lorton says he can never move from his Seattle home because its west side is shaded by a decades-old clump of shapely vine maples.

Geranium macrorrhizum. Lorton chose this hardy geranium for its foliage, exclaiming, "The flowers are so beside the point." He appreciates its reliable ways and the scent of the leaves, which is so pleasing he thinks it should be bottled. This weed-proof groundcover spreads, but not invasively, has good autumn color, and is evergreen mild winters.

Iris foetidissima. "Easy to grow in sun or shade, easy to propagate, robustly clumping but not invasive, this wonder plant produces great bouquets of glossy spears," Lorton says in describing this blade-like iris. The exuberant seed pods in late fall and winter are a bonus.

Clematis montana 'Grandiflora.' Lorton planted one of these to grow up a Western red cedar at his Skagit Valley place, and it raced 60 feet up the conifer. "I do not exaggerate," he says. "Most books say it will climb 30 feet . . . but this thing just keeps climbing and stretching."

Lobelia tupa. This flamboyant perennial is a surprise among Lorton's other more native-looking choices. He describes its seasonal progression: "In March, rosy buds pop out of the ground, followed by large, woolly grayish leaves. The clumps of foliage are handsome enough, but in midsummer the budded flower spikes tower 7 to 8 feet." The buds open to scarlet tubular flowers for a late-summer show.

Sweet Bay Magnolia (M. virginiana). Lorton chose this statuesque magnolia for its long, glossy evergreen leaves and smooth black bark. For a long spell in the summer, the tree puts out thick, waxy-petaled flowers redolent with the scent of lemon. "I have one shading the south window of my third-floor home office. I open that window and savor the fragrance that blows in with even the slightest breeze. Heavenly!"

Mahonia 'Arthur Menzies.' How to choose among the mahonias? Here's Lorton's take: "Half a dozen other winter-blooming mahonias have been the horticultural Paris Hiltons of the day, but none — not one — measures up to this magnificent 'made by nature' plant." Last winter, his 'Arthur Menzies' flowered before Christmas, attracting eager Anna's hummingbirds.

Korean Stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia var. koreana). "What really nails this tree to the indispensable list is its bark," says Lorton admiringly of the tree's mottled gray, green and silver patterning. "It looks like the colors were torn and pasted to the trunk by Horiuchi," he notes. Stewartia's virtues include a delicate scale, noble form and three seasons of attractive foliage.

Paeonia delavayi 'Black Panther.' This tree peony is a dramatic choice, for its leaves are a deep purplish red, and the flower is an almost black-red. Lorton says, "With their strong, upright stems in clusters and their big, plump buds, I enjoy this plant in the winter garden, especially with a background of evergreens. It has an earthy power like the naked branches of Rosa rugosa."

Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum). If Lorton spies a hole anywhere in the garden, he plugs in a sword fern. Though they prefer shade, he also grows them in full sun. Lorton describes his idea of paradise as "a little cedar house in the middle of a sprawling grove of vine maple underplanted with a sea of sword ferns."

Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and contributing editor for Horticulture magazine. Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net. Julie Notarianni is a Seattle Times news artist.