Regional Picks: Summer Standouts – Northwest

1. Globe Artichoke

Name:Cynara scolymus

USDA Hardiness Zones:8 to 10

Size:5 to 6 foot marvellous and 4 to 5 foot wide

Conditions : Full sun ; well - enfeeble dirt

Unique grey - unripened foliage and dispirited water requisite make this artichoke an inhale option for an ornamental garden as well as a vegetable seam . The bud are eff for their use in herbal remedies and gourmet formula ; those that are not reap open into showstopping flowers . The iridescent periwinkle blooms tempt bee with their abundant nectar . Globe artichoke , a Mediterranean native , does well in Northwest garden but requires a thick stratum of mulch to protect it when temperatures lessen below freeze .

2. Yellow Storksbill

Name:Erodium chrysanthum

Zones:7 to 8

Size:6 inch tall and 1 groundwork wide

Conditions : Full sun ; regular to lean , well - drained soil

Some storksbill scatter their seed with abandon , but this toughened trivial gem stays in hefty mounds and grows under dry shape . Pale yellow flowers appear all summer and are a incentive to the lacy grayish evergreen plant foliage . icteric storksbill is well-fixed to propagate by separating segments and stick them in stain . The flora is equally at household in a rockery , in a hypertufa container , or at the front of a sunny perimeter .

3. Hedge Fern

Name:Polystichum setiferum

Zones:5 to 9

Size:2 to 3 feet marvellous and all-inclusive

Conditions : Partial to full shade ; fertile , well - drain soil

Though not usually remember of as a summer works , hedge fern has lacy frond that stand up beautifully to summer high temperature and drought . This plant will turn prominent in plenteous , moist grime but can adapt surprisingly well to poor soils , sometimes even acquire out of a crack in a wall . Its glum , evergreen leafage is much fine than aboriginal sword fern ( P. munitum , Zones 3–8 ) and blends graciously with cottage perennial , modern grasses , or woodland flowers . It is not gravel by pests and seems to thrive on neglect .

4. ‘Sunshine Blue’ Dwarf Blueberry

Name:Vaccinium‘Sunshine Blue’

Zones:5 to 10

Size:4 feet grandiloquent and all-embracing

condition : Full sunshine to partial tint ; moist , acidulent , well - drain soil

blueberry do well in the Northwest ’s acidulent soil and cool , wet atmospheric condition . ‘ Sunshine Blue ’ dwarf blueberry bush offers even more benefits : heavyset size ; attractive , light-green gloomy leaves ; and plenteous amounts of colored summer berries . It is pretty enough to be the focal point of a pot on a patio and practical enough to be mass together to make a crushed hedge .

Pat Reh is a landscape designer and worldwide manager of Northwest Botanicals in Seattle , Washington .

Photos : good manners of Doreen Wynja / Monrovia , courtesy of Pat Reh , Bill Johnson , courtesy of San Marcos Growers

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Regional Picks: Summer Standouts - Northeast

Regional Picks: Summer Standouts - Southern Plains

Regional Picks: Summer Standouts - Midwest

Regional Picks: Summer Standouts - Southern California

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