Nature Walk

This area is considered to be an “ecologically sensitive area.” When we took over this property, were many land use issues from the prior owners that had to be mitigated to protect the wildlife.

We’ve spent the past three years (with additional plans forthcoming) rehabilitating a large section of wetland, removing and preventing the spread of invasive plants, re-introducing native plants, and monitoring the animal life that depend on this land.

We are working to create a plant walk to share our efforts with our AirBnB guests. Below you’ll find info about each of the young plants that are being established to rehabilitate the land and wetlands.


Common Name: Dwarf Blue Leaf Arctic Willow

Scientific Name: Salix Purpurea Nana

The exact origin of this cultivar is not clear. The common name "osier" comes from the Middle Ages and refers to any willows with long shoots that are used for basketry. This plant is locally used to reduce soil erosion and stabilize stream bank slopes. In the local ecosystem, it provides coverage for small animals and birds.

(3 planted in this project)


Common Name: Kelsey's Dwarf Red-Osier Dogwood
Scientific Name: Cornus Sericea Kelseyi

Cultivated from the red twig dogwood- which is native to much of North America- into a more compact form. Indigenous populations used Red-Osier Dogwood for many purposes historically, including food, medicine, dyes, tool making, and basket weaving. In the local ecosystem, it serves as larval host for butterflies and supports bees, and the fall berries provide food for birds.

(6 planted in this project)


Common Name: Osoberry
Scientific Name: Oemleria cerasiformis

A member of the rose family, also known as Indian plum, this plant was important to many indigenous populations. The Salish tribes used this plant to make a medicinal tea. In our local ecosystem, the Osoberry is one of the first to bloom, making it’s nectar important to pollinators. And, the cherry sized fruit serves as food to many animals.

(3 planted in this project)



Common Name: Western Spicebush
Scientific name: Calycanthus Occidentalis

Native to the foothills, this plant was used by some tribes to make the shaft of arrows. In our ecosystem, it is used for erosion control and bird life- birds love the seeds! 

(3 planted in this project)



Common Name: Evergreen Huckleberry
Scientific Name: Vaccinium Ovatum

Native to the Cascade region (foothills & coast). Huckleberries are delicious eaten raw, but also make great jams, and pies; the leaves are lovely in floral arrangements. Huckleberries were important to many local tribes cultural traditions. In our local ecosystem, the flowers are an important attractor for native pollinators, and the berries are a food source for birds.

(12 planted in this project)


Common Name: Twin Berry
Scientific Name: Lonicera Invoucrata

A member of the honeysuckle family. Grows along moist open wooded areas, and along streams. The berries are an important food source for birds. Native populations used the berry to create purple paints and dyes. Locally, it is important for erosion control, and food for birds, and restoration of waterfronts ecosystems.

(4 planted in this project)


Common Name: Rose Spirea
Scientific Name: Spirea Douglasii

Named after David Douglas, this plant is native to much of the West coast. There are actually two sub-varietals of this plant- one with fuzzy undersides of the leaves, and one with smooth leaf undersides. It’s use as a revegetation plant makes it important in eco system rehabilitation, with easy seed starting requirements, and ability to regrow from roots after wildfire devastation- interestingly, it was one of the early species to start growing after the eruption of Mt St Helens. It makes a great shelter for small animals and birds. Native Americans used this plant historically to make twig brooms and to hang salmon for cooking.

(12 planted in this project)


Common Name: Western Red Cedar
Scientific Name: Thuja Plicata

Beautiful giants of the PNW. These trees are important to the local ecosystem and to Salish peoples. Also knowns as giant arborvitae and the “tree of life.” Native populations used the lumber to build many things- from long houses to cradles, the bark for rope-making, and the roots for basket weaving. As it matures, it becomes a carbon sink - absorbing more CO2 than it releases; the tree itself is an ecosystem and in forests, providing habitat for many animals and insects, and even other plant life for many generations- often living over 1000 years. Not actually a true member of the cedar (pine) family of trees.

(5 planted in this project)


Common Name: Salal
Scientific Name: Gaultheria Shallon

Salal is an important native plant in our local habitat. The leaves are used by many animal populations for food, including elk, deer, voles, beavers. The berries are eaten by birds, and the flowers are important to native pollinators, and it provides shelter for many small animals. Many PNW tribes used the berries as a raw food source, and the leaves in cooking, and also used the plant in a medicinal tea.

David Douglas, the famed Royal Horticultural Society explorer, took many trips to the PNW in the 1800s, sending various plant samples, including salal back home. It was then introduced in Britain, naturalized quickly, and now outcompetes many native plants in that region as a weed.

Described in the journal of Meriweather Lewis (of Lewis and Clark) ““The Shallon is the production of a shrub which I have heretofore taken to be a species of loral and mentioned as abounding in this neighbourhood and that the Elk fed much of its leaves. It generally rises to the hight of 3 feet but not unusually attains to that of 5 feet. It grows very thick and is from the size of a goos quill to that of a man’s thumb, celindric, the bark of the older or larger part of the stock is of a redish brown colour while that of the younger branches and succulent shoots are red where most exposed to the sun and green elsewhere…”

(9 planted in this project)


Common Name: American Cranberry
Scientific Name: Viburnum Opulus

Native to many scattered regions in North America. In the summer, this plant has lovely lacey white flowers. In the fall the red berries bring beautiful color to the landscape. Known to be eaten by deer, foxes, raccoons, squirrels, and other small animals, and the mature large shrub provides cover and nesting sites for many small animals. It is a larval host for butterflies. It was used by Native Americans, both for fresh and dried berries, and interestingly, for medicinal purposes thanks to its antispasmodic properties - with the bark has been to treat menstrual cramps and many other ills. In the summer, this plant has lovely lacey white flowers. In the fall the red berries bring beautiful color to the landscape.

(2 planted in this project)


Common Name: Quaking Aspen
Scientific Name: Populus Tremuloides

Native to wide swaths of North America. Grows quickly in areas after wildfires of floods, making it great for restoration. This tree contains compounds, salicylates that help with anti-inflammatory purposes. Native tribes used to drink a tea of the bark, or used as a compress to apply to sore joints or cuts. It was even used for pain relief during childbirth. Two cool facts: A grove in Utah was found to be 80,000 years old (but most do not live nearly this long)! And, groves of quaking aspen are often referred to as “clones” because it is common for every one in a grove to be a clone.

(6 planted in this project)


Common Name: Mock Orange
Scientific Name: Philadelphus lewisii

Thanks to the leaves (and flowers) being rich in saponins- which is an organic compound that creates a lather in water, Native populations used this plant to make something similar to a soap bar for body/hair washing. It has sweet, lightly orangey, scented, white flowers, thus the name. Provides forage for deer and elk, and seeds for birds.

(6 planted in this project)


Common Name: Red Osier Dogwood
Scientific Name: Cornus Sericea

Used by some native populations as a tobacco substitute. The flowers in spring provide nectar for pollinators, birds eat the berries, as well as nest in the twiggy covering. Great for soil stabilization in ecosystem rehabilitation. Beautiful red bark provides winter color, but equally lovely when the greenery and white flowers emerge.

(5 planted in this project)


Common Name: Golden Currant
Scientific Name: Ribes Aureum

The nectar and pollen serve as food to early-emerging pollinators—such as queen bees who must secure a nest and provide for offspring all by themselves—and have little else to eat. PNW native populations collected the berries were and ate fresh, stewed, canned, boiled, or dried and saved for winter months, sometimes they would be added to soups for flavoring.

(6 planted in this project)


Common Name: Vine Maple
Scientific Name: Acer Circinatum

The Quinalt tribe referred to vine maples as the “basket tree.” They used this tree to make fish traps, baskets, cradle swings, and also as firewood which was then used to make black paint from the charcoal. Used in many restoration projects to stabilize hillsides, especially along banks of water. The summer leaves are a preferred food source for deer and elk. Seeds, buds and flowers provide food for many bird, and squirrels and chipmunks stockpile the seeds.

(8 planted in this project)


Common Name: Pacific Ninebark
Scientific name: Physocarpus Capitatus

Named ninebark for the interesting bark that peels forming many “barks.” Clusters of white flowers and red fruits in the summer and fall. Local tribes made children's hunting bows, needles, and small items from the wood of this plant. When planted early in the restoration process, it can shade out invasive species like reed canary grass and Himalayan blackberry (one of the the most notorious invasive species of the PNW); additionally serves as a soil stabilizer and a “generalist” food source feeding a variety of animals.


Common name: Canoe Birch
Scientific Name: Betula papyrifera

Native across the Northern US. Beautiful papery white bark (these trees are still young, and it takes a few years before the paery bark develops). Native populations have historically used these trees to made canoes. It also makes a delicious sap for syrups. Relatively short lived trees, but they continue to contribute to the habitat as a home to many beneficial small animals, mosses, and more even after they die off. All parts of the plant provide food to many species, including Hummingbirds and squirrels feeding on the sap created by sapsuckers. 


Common Name: Sweetgale
Scientific Name: Myrica Gale

Grows in bogs, swamps, and the edges of lakes. An important nitrogen-fixing species. Sweetly scented plant that also acts as an insect repellent. It is a favorite food of beavers and provides good habitat for salmon and water birds. Some native tribes have used the branch tips or seeds to create brown and yellow dyes.


Common Name: Red Flowering Currant
Scientific Name: Ribes Sanguineum

Cherry-like blossoms in the spring that attract hummingbirds to the area. Technically, the fruits can be harvested to eat, but they are not favored by people, and are commonly grown to support bird habitats. Flowers are pollinated by insects and hummingbirds. The pink and red flowers are appear very early in the season, and act like beacons to migrating Hummingbirds, and the foliage is eaten by butterfly larvae. Many PNW tribes collected berries to eat fresh, stewed, or dried and saved for winter months, sometimes they would be added to soups for flavoring.


Common Name: Black Hawthorn
Scientific Name: Crataegus Douglasii

The thorns from Black Hawthorn were used by native populations for rake tines, and fishhooks. Black Hawthorn are excellent habitat for wildlife, providing cover and nesting sites. The fruit is consumed by birds and many types of mammals.