5 Flowering Trees and Shrubs for Your Landscape
The Pacific Northwest is known for its lush vegetation and more specifically evergreen trees. What many homeowners forget, though, is that there are many beautiful flowering trees and shrubs native to Oregon and the surrounding area. The following are a few landscaping contractor approved native flowering shrubs that work well in both home landscaping designs and HOA landscaping:
1. Oregon Grape
This low-growing shrub is perfect for shorter landscaping designs, property edges or lining the house. The leaves of the Oregon grape can be enjoyed all year, and during spring and summer the plant offers bright yellow blossoms and purple berries.
2. Pacific Dogwood
This small flowering tree features showy white flowers in the spring, which can start to appear as early as March. If you suffer from seasonal allergies, watch out – dogwood trees can often trigger reactions.
3. Pacific Rhododendron
Who doesn’t love a rhododendron tree? Rhododendrons native to the Pacific Northwest feature large, pink blossoms that bloom during May and June. This evergreen is a great fixture for most landscaping designs at any time of year.
4. Salal
The salal is best known for its big, leathery leaves, used worldwide by florists for complex arrangements. But the salal’s broadleaf evergreen leaves are only the tip of this flowering iceberg. Salal also produces beautiful, white blooms that resemble bells. In the late summer they are replaced by deep blue berries, making this plant one of the most hardworking flowering shrubs native to the Northwest.
5. Red Huckleberry
The huckleberry shrub is a landscaping contractor favorite. It can be found all over the northwest, growing out of the trunks of fallen trees in forests and fields. The delicate pink flowers and green leaves that bloom in the spring are just the start – soon you’ll have bright red berries that are perfect for pies, jams and other sweet treats.
