Leycesteria formosa
This is a special and very ornamental deciduous shrub. Bright green branches and stalks display elegant clusters of dark brown berry clusters. When ripe, these berries taste like chocolate. ... more->
Fern Hill Nursery and Botanical Sanctuary
Edible, medicinal, and native plants for the Pacific Northwest
We spent 13 years building an abundant fruit forest, annual veggie beds, perennial medicinal herbs, and a healthy mixed hardwood-coniferous forest and now we've sold our property to the next stewards so that we can begin a new homesteading project in Vermont closer to our best friends and their kids.
Don't worry - we plan to keep this website up and running so that our customers can reference what we've written about our plants!
We'll let you know once we re-start a farm in Vermont!
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Ribes sanguineum var sanguineum
This is one of the earliest blooming and showiest shrubs in the Pacific Northwest! Red flowering currant is a very popular plant for a variety of reasons. The large clusters of pink-red flowers... more->
Allium fistulosum
This purple and white onion grows round bulbs in clusters that are firm, crisp, and have delicious savory flavor. more->
Monarda fistulosa
This wild variety of beebalm produces showy light pink flower clusters on two foot tall stems. more->
Sagittaria latifolia and cuneata
Wapato is a perennial plant that is native throughout North America. Historically, it was a staple food crop for people wherever it grew and continues to be a popular native food plant. Tubers... more->
Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa
There is no substitute for fresh tarragon - drizzled with butter on fresh bread, sprinkled on mild flavored fish or chicken, or adding body and aroma to herbal vinegars - it's hard to get enough... more->
Grindelia integrifolia
This native perennial in the sunflower family grows into a small shrub each season, bearing yellow flowers covered in sticky white resin. It thrives in sunny spots with moisture and tolerates... more->
Penstemon serrulatus
We have had great success growing this native penstemon in our gardens. A perennial with striking purple flowers stalks that bloom in mid-summer, Cascade penstemon is easy to grow in our climate.... more->
Thymus x citriodorus 'Aureus'
Beautiful, culinary, medicinal - no herb garden is complete without this variegated, lemon scented thyme. The yellow and green leaves give way to pink flowers in summer. This thyme forms a short... more->
Baptisia australis
A perennial in the pea family, false indigo sends up 3-foot tall inflorescences with breathtaking deep blue pea flowers. Though not as good as true indigo, a blue dye can be made from the leaves... more->
Ligusticum apiifolium
Native oak woodlands and meadows throughout the Pacific Northwest, licorice root, also known as celery-leaved lovage, is an herbaceous perennial in the carrot family. The leaves are edible and can... more->
Ribes uva-crispa 'Invicta'
'Invicta' produces high yields of large dessert quality green fruit, and is considered by many to be the best variety in North America. It has excellent flavor, is mildew resistant, and is more... more->
Allium tricoccum
Ramps are a wild onion native to the eastern US and Canada. They grow in the thick duff of the dappled shade in the understory of somehat open forest canopies. Ramps appreciate the moist summers... more->
Echinacea purpurea
This is the easiest to grow of all the Echinacea species in our area. It is very cold hardy, and sends down a multitude of pencil-sized roots. The bees and butterflies frequent the bright purple... more->
Nepeta cataria
Although most people think first of the way that cats go crazy from the aroma of the flower spikes of catnip, it's also a wonderful herbal medicine. But it has the opposite effect on people - it'... more->
Salvia officinalis
No herb garden is complete without this fragrant and savory leaf to add to pasta sauce, soup stock and more. Sage also produces beautiful and edible pink flowers that attract pollinators.... more->
Artemisia ludoviciana
Native to Oregon and much of North America, western mugwort is a rhizomatous perennial with beautiful gray-green foliage composed of long, strap-like leaves. Its yellow-white flowers bloom in... more->
Hemerocallis fulva 'Orange'
This is the orange flowered variety of daylily. So pretty in the garden or on a plate! more->
Tolmiea menziesii
Pig-a-back plant is a trailing perennial ground cover native west of the Cascades that prefers moist forests and shady stream sides where soil is moist throughout the year. It blooms in late... more->
Belamcanda chinensis
This leopard lily has now had its botanical name changed to Iris domestica. This is somewhat more accurate as it is an iris, not a lily. Leaves look like gladiolus and grow just over a... more->
Linnaea borealis
Twinflower is a sweet native wildflower less than a foot tall with elegant bell-shaped white and pink flower clusters. It tolerates full shade and grows as a ground cover in woodlands. more->
Ribes x nidigrolaria
Jostaberry is a cross between european currants and gooseberries, taking the best from both. It is a thornless shrub producing dark fruits with a mild black currant flavor. The fruit is larger... more->
Aloysia triphylla
Lemon verbena is one of our favorite tea plants. Fast growing in warm weather, aromatic leaves have a strong lemon flavor. We steep it fresh or dry it to enjoy all winter. It prefers full sun... more->
Eleagnus multiflora 'Sweet Scarlet'
Goumi plants are well known in the Northwest permaculture community for being great nitrogen fixing shrubs with a much lower chance for spreading by birds. These shrubs can grow up to 12 feet or... more->
Oenothera biennis
Evening primrose is a great edition to a pollinator garden because it blooms at night and attract the nighttime pollinators. Every summer evening at dusk, you can watch each pale yellow flower... more->
Salvia sclarea
With the sweet and spicy aroma of grapefruit and pine, clary sage brightens our day with its scent as well as with its spikes of white and purple flowers. This biennial starts out the first year... more->
Artemisia vulgaris
This is the official mugwort native to temperate Europe, Asia, and north Africa often referenced in witches spells and potions. It is a very strong cooling bitter that I like to use in apple... more->
Hierocloe odorata
Sweetgrass is native to northern North America and Eurasia. It is a very hardy spreading perennial grass that his a history of multiple uses by native Americans and Europeans. We reccomend that... more->
Phlomis fruticosa
A showy evergreen shrub, Jerusalem Sage is an easy to grow plant for a sunny location. Deer tolerant and drought tolerant, it grows quickly but never gets more than a few feet high when blooming... more->
Urtica dioica ssp. gracilis
Stinging nettle is an herbaceous plant that grows in wet soil, often along river beds and stream sides. It spreads below ground by rhizomes but will not spread where it gets dry. Nettles are an... more->
Berberis aquifolium
Tall Oregon grape is a woody perennial shrub in the barberry family that is tough enough to survive in many conditions and yet provides edible and medicinal yields. It grows 2-7 feet tall in well... more->
Lomatium californicum
Native to dry, brushy and forested hill slopes in northern California and southern Oregon, this is the largest species of biscuitroot that we grow. I've seen it up to 4 feet tall and several feet... more->
Rosa nutkana var. nutkana
This native rose shrub has the largest pink flowers of the Oregon species. They perfume the woods when they bloom in May! more->
Althea officinalis
This perennial herb has soft leaves, beautiful hibiscus-like white and pink flowers, and provides a healing herbal medicine. Marshmallow roots are the original source of the slimy mucilage used... more->
Eriophyllum lanatum
A beauty for a native wildflower garden, Oregon sunshine lives up to its name, bearing profuse quantities of deep yellow blooms. Gray green foliage is ornamental. This plant blooms no taller than... more->
Opuntia ficus-indica
This is a compact variety of prickly pear cactus that has edible green pads with no thick spines and small clusters of tiny hair-like prickles. Unlike prickly pear shrubs, this variety stays... more->
Satureja douglasii
A native perennial in the mint family, yerba buena likes dappled shade and handles a wide variety of soil from deep rich organic matter to nutrient poor clay. Once established, it can handle... more->
Asarum caudatum
A beautiful native forest ground cover, wild ginger likes to grow in moist soil in shady areas. You will find it wild near creeks and on wet hillsides in the shade. Glossy heart-shaped leaves... more->
Humulus lupus 'Nugget'
"Nugget" is popular for brewing because of its strong bitterness and fruity aroma. It's often added late in the process to impart its unique flavor.
Hops are a wonderful choice for summer... more->
Vaccinium ovatum
Evergreen Huckleberry is a great northwest native evergreen shrub. It has delicate white and pink flowers, evergreen leaves and glossy, black berries. In the WiIlamette Valley, shrubs grow to 4... more->
Achillea millefolium
Yarrow is a flowering perennial in the sunflower family. Feathery green basal leaves are present in our climate throughout the year. Taller leaves begin to grow in early spring, and flower stalks... more->
Brassica oleraceae 'tree collards'
Like other non-heading collard greens, this sturdy and cold-hardy vegetable produces large smooth, oval-shaped leaves that are really nice to harvest in fall, winter, and spring. It then grows... more->
Lomatium nudicaule
I really like the parsley-like taste of this edible perennial in the carrot family. Another common name is pestle-parsley. It's also native to wet meadows and well-drained hillsides in the... more->
Rosa pisocarpa
Clustered wild rose is native to the Willamette Valley and other parts of the Pacific Northwest. It is a spreading woody shrub, growing up to 6 feet tall. It is a great and easy to grow wildlife... more->
Anaphalis margaritacea
An Oregon native wildflower with gray green foliage and pretty dried pearly white flowers, pearly everlasting is an easy plant for a native garden. At the height of summer, plants grow up to 3... more->
Ficus carica 'Negronne'
A fig that performs very well in the Northwest with cooler summers, Negronne is also generally more compact. It can grow over 15 feet but is happy to be pruned for ease of harvest. These figs... more->
Origanum compactum
Compact oregano has a great flavor! Low growing and spreading, it makes a great ground cover underneath taller herbs. Flowers are bright pink and usually bloom in mid summer. We have found this... more->
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