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KAREN BROWER'S FAVORITE PLANTS
There wasn’t space in the Winter issue to include all the plants that Karen Brower has grown at her Southwest Montana home. For the full story, see “A High-Country Cottage Garden” on p. 20 of Zone 4 No. 16.
Karen’s favorite plant varieties, as she said, “are easily grown from nursery plants, or often from seed, and add a lot of color and interest to the garden.” She offers a few seasonal plant suggestions that can grow well in many zone 4 gardens.
Early Spring
• Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa spp.)
• Creeping veronica (Veronica pectinata)
• Japanese peony (Paeonia japonica)
• Drumstick primrose (Primula denticulata)
• Pasque flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris)
• Species tulip (Tulipa sp.)
Late Spring
• Darwin and lily-flowered tulips (Tulipa spp.)
• Columbines, many hybrids and species (Aquilegia spp.)
• Dwarf and intermediate bearded iris (Iris spp.)
• Alyssum (Aurinia saxatilis) ‘Basket of Gold’
• Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata)
Early Summer
• Siberian and German iris (Iris spp.)
• Penstemon Eatoniiand P. ovatus
• Mediterranean Pinks (Saponaria Ocymoides)
• Oriental poppies (Papaver orientale)
• Bellflowers (Campanula cochleariifolia and C. carpatica)
• Fleabane (Erigeron speciosus )‘Pink Jewel’
Mid-Summer
• Delphiniumspp. ‘Pacific Hybrid’ and ‘Connecticut Yankee’
• Yellow columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha)
• Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp. ‘Stella d’Oro’, ‘Hyperion’, and Candy series)
• Common peonies (Paeonia spp.)
• Bee balm (Monarda didyma) ‘Marshall’s delight’
Late Summer/Fall
• Sedum‘Autumn Joy’ and ‘Matrona’
• Coneflowers (Rudbeckia fulgida and R. nitida (6 feet tall in my garden!)
• Aster novi-belgii‘Professor Kippenberg’
• Chrysanthemumx rubellum ‘Clara Curtis’
• Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
• Blazing-star (Liatris punctataand L. spicata)
MAKING XMAS AT CARAS NURSERY
Just as Santa's elves are busy making presents for Christmas, the elves at Caras Nursery in Missoula, Montana, are hard at work decorating trees and arranging goodies for the opening of the Christmas Shop the first week of November. Andra and I visited third-generation nurseryman Bill Caras today, who took us behind the scenes–actually, curtains hung throughout the retail area to hide the elves' activity–and were duly impressed with their care and craftsmanship. Bill said the chief elf will let him do small projects in the back but is not allowed to work on the trees.
Ah, the trees! Several, such as the one in the adjacent photo, look like they belong in the Fezziwigs' Victorian parlor (conjure up a remembrance of the Christmas Carol), with crimson and green and gold ornaments covering every cluster of needles.
If in the Missoula area this holiday season, stop in to visit Bill and his elves 2727 S. Third. "I'm really a plant person," he says, "but the Christmas Shop has become a tradition. And a fine tradition it is. www.carasnursery.com. — Dan Spurr
Lewis & Clark Native Plant List
The following is a list of plants collected by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their 1804-1806 expedition from St. Louis, Missouri to the Pacific Ocean and back. An article in Zone 4 No. 13 on the Lewis & Clark Native Plant Garden, part of the Idaho Botanical Garden, in Boise, Idaho, did not have space for the entire list, which is herewith presented.
|
Common Name |
Scientific Name |
|
Grand fir |
Abies grandis |
|
Subalpine fir |
Abies lasiocarpa |
|
Vine maple |
Acer circinatum |
|
Rocky Mountain maple |
Acer glabrum |
|
Big-leaf maple |
Acer macrophyllum |
|
Yarrow |
Achillea millefolium |
|
Western red baneberry |
Actaea rubra ssp. arguta |
|
Bluebunch wheatgrass |
Agropyron spicatum |
|
**Taper-tip onion |
Allium acuminatum |
|
**Aase's onion |
Allium aaseae |
|
White alder |
Alnus rhombifolia |
|
Sitka alder |
Alnus sinuata |
|
Western serviceberry |
Amelanchier alnifolia |
|
Big bluestem |
Andropogon gerardii |
|
Western columbine |
Aquilegia formosa |
|
Kinnickinnick |
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi |
|
Silver sage |
Artemisia cana |
|
Fringed sage |
Artemisia frigida |
|
Big sagebrush |
Artemisia tridentata |
|
Longtailed wild ginger |
Asarum caudatum |
|
Four-wing saltbush |
Atriplex canescens |
|
Arrowleaf balsamroot |
Balsamorhiza sagittata |
|
Water birch |
Betula occidentalis |
|
Blue camas |
Camassia quamash |
|
Redstem ceanothus |
Ceanothus sanguineus |
|
Buckbrush ceanothus |
Ceanothus velutinus |
|
Netleaf hackberry |
Celtis reticulata |
|
Green rabbitbrush |
Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus |
|
Clarkia, ragged robin |
Clarkia pulchella |
|
Spring beauty |
Claytonia lanceolata |
|
Sugar bowls |
Clematis hirsutissima |
|
**Bunchberry dogwood |
Cornus canadensis |
|
Pacific flowering dogwood |
Cornus Nuttallii |
|
Red twig dogwood |
Cornus sericea |
|
Douglas hawthorne |
Crataegus Douglasii |
|
White prairie clover |
Dalea candida |
|
Purple prairie clover |
Dalea purpurea |
|
Purple coneflower |
Echinacea angustifolia |
|
Silverberry |
Eleagnus commutata |
|
**Gray rabbitbrush |
Ericameria nauseosa |
|
Cut-leaf daisy |
Erigeron compositus |
|
**Shaggy fleabane |
Erigeron pumilus |
|
**Wyeth buckwheat |
Eriogonum heracleoides |
|
**Oval-leaf buckwheat |
Erigonum ovalifolium |
|
**Strict buckwheat |
Eriogonum strictum |
|
**Sulphur buckwheat |
Eriogonum umbellatum |
|
Oregon sunshine |
Eriophyllum lanatum |
|
Western wallflower |
Erysimum capitatum |
|
Yellow glacier lily |
Erythronium grandiflorum |
|
Idaho fescue |
Festuca idahoensis |
|
**Virginia strawberry |
Fragaria fragaria |
|
**Woodland strawberry |
Fragaria vesca |
|
Oregon ash |
Fraxinus latifolia |
|
Chocolate lily |
Fritillaria affinis |
|
Yellowbells |
Fritillaria pudica |
|
Blanketflower |
Gaillardia aristata |
|
Prairie-smoke, |
Geum triflorum |
|
Broom snakeweed |
Guiterrezia sarothrae |
|
Creambush oceanspray |
Holodiscus discolor |
|
**Mountain hollyhock |
Iliamna rivularis |
|
Scarlet gilia |
Ipomopsis aggregata |
|
Rocky Mountain iris |
Iris missouriensis |
|
Common juniper |
Juniperus communis |
|
Creeping juniper |
Juniperus horizontalis |
|
Rocky Mountain juniper |
Juniperus scopulorum |
|
Prairie junegrass |
Koeleria macrantha |
|
Winterfat |
Krascheninnikovia lanata |
|
Western larch |
Larix occidentalis |
|
Bitterroot |
Lewisia rediviva |
|
Great Basin wildrye |
Leymus cinereus |
|
**Twin-flower |
Linnaea borealis |
|
Lewis' blue flax |
Linum Lewisii |
|
Fernleaf biscuitroot |
Lomatium dissectum |
|
**Canbyi biscuitroot |
Lomatium canbyi |
|
Nineleaf biscuitroot |
Lomatium triternatum |
|
Orange honeysuckle |
Lonicera ciliosa |
|
Twinberry honeysuckle |
Lonicera involucrata |
|
Silky lupine |
Lupinus sericeus |
|
Hoary aster |
Machaeranthera canescens |
|
Osage orange |
Maclura pomifera |
|
Mahonia |
Mahonia aquifolium |
|
Pineapple weed |
Matricaria matricarioides |
|
Fool's huckleberry |
Menziesia ferruginea |
|
Yellow monkeyflower |
Mimulus guttatus |
|
Lewis' monkeyflower |
Mimulus lewisii |
|
**Miner's lettuce |
Montia perfoliata |
|
Scapoose evening-primrose |
Oenothera caespitosa |
|
Prickly pear |
Opuntia polyacantha |
|
**Turkey peas |
Orogenia linearifolia |
|
Oregon boxwood |
Paxistima myrsinites |
|
Shrubby penstemon |
Penstemon fruticosus |
|
Wilcox' penstemon |
Penstemon wilcoxii |
|
**Silverleaf phacelia |
Phacelia hastata |
|
Lewis’ mock orange |
Philadelphus Lewisii |
|
Engelmann spruce |
Picea Engelmannii |
|
Whitebark pine |
Pinus albicaulis |
|
Lodgepole pine |
Pinus contorta |
|
**Limber pine |
Pinus flexilis |
|
Western white pine |
Pinus monticola |
|
Ponderosa pine |
Pinus ponderosa |
|
Sandberg mluegrass |
Poa secunda |
|
Narrow-leaved cottonwood |
Populus angustifolia |
|
Black cottonwood |
Populus balsamifera trichocarpa[BaC1] |
|
Quaking aspen |
Populus tremuloides |
|
Shrubby cinquefoil |
Potentilla fruticosa |
|
Bittercherry |
Prunus emarginata |
|
Chokecherry |
Prunus virginiana |
|
Douglas fir |
Pseudotsuga menziesii |
|
Bitterbrush |
Purshia tridentata |
|
Oregon crabapple |
Pyrus fusca |
|
Oregon oak |
Quercus garryana |
|
**Sagebrush buttercup |
Ranunculus glaberrimus |
|
Cascara buckthorn |
Rhamnus purshiana |
|
Oakleaf sumac |
Rhus trilobata |
|
Golden currant |
Ribes aureum |
|
Wax currant |
Ribes cereum |
|
Sticky currant |
Ribes viscossissimum |
|
Nootka rose |
Rosa nutkana |
|
Cluster rose |
Rosa pisocarpa |
|
Wood's rose |
Rosa woodsii |
|
Thimbleberry |
Rubus parviflorus |
|
Salmonberry |
Rubus spectabilis |
|
Peachleaf willow |
Salix amygdaloides |
|
Lance-leaved stonecrop |
Sedum lanceolatum |
|
Worm-leaved stonecrop |
Sedum stenopetalum |
|
Silver buffaloberry |
Shepherdia argentea |
|
Cascade mountain ssh |
Sorbus scopulina |
|
Scarlet globemallow |
Sphaeralcea coccinea |
|
Munro globemallow |
Sphaeralcea munroana |
|
**Sand dropseed |
Sporobolus cryptandrus |
|
Needle-and-thread grass |
Stipa comata |
|
Blue-eyed grass |
Sisyrinchium Douglasii |
|
Common snowberry |
Symphoricarpos albus |
|
Mountain kittentails |
Synthyris missurica |
|
Mountain goldenbanner |
Thermopsis montana |
|
Western red cedar |
Thuja plicata |
|
Western white trillium |
Trillium ovatum |
|
Mountain hemlock |
Tsuga mertensiana |
|
Evergreen huckleberry |
Vaccinium ovatum |
|
Death camas |
Zigadenus sp. |
|
Beargrass |
Xerophyllum tenax |
|
|
** = non Lewis & Clark Species |
|
|
|
|
|
|
[BaC1]P. balsamifera is balsam populous and P. trichocarpa is black cottonwood. Does au intend to have both of these trees i.e. two entries? It is incorrect as shown here.


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