Arnica chamissonis
This arnica is native to western North America and is as potent as Arnica montana. It is a low growing, slowly spreading herbaceous perennial that prefers full sun to part shade and... 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!
Attracts pollinators
Lavandula angustifolia 'Vera'
'Vera' is a cold-hardy heirloom English lavender. It is considered the original and true variety traditionally grown at high elevation in the French alps. In our garden, 'Vera' produces tall... 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->
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->
Monarda didyma
This variety produces 3-foot tall displays of crimson red inflorescences composed of tubular flowers. It is a sight to see! A favorite for hummingbirds. more->
Sidalcea virgata
We love this late spring blooming native wildflower that we often find on the edges of meadows. In the hollyhock family, this perennial grows only about a foot to two feet tall at most. It sends... more->
Agastache urticifolia
Native to moist and sunny meadows and slopes of the Pacific Northwest, this perennial herb makes a fine garden specimen. Bees and butterflies flock to its showy purple flower spikes held above... more->
Fragaria vesca
Native throughout most of the northern hemisphere, alpine strawberry is that amazingly sweet wild strawberry you remember from childhood. Small fruits pack superb flavor. Plants are vigorous in... more->
Potentilla fruticosa
This hardy deciduous shrub is easy to grow in our climate. Deer tolerant and drought tolerant, it blooms for a very long time through spring into fall. We have two varieties- one that blooms... more->
Aronia melanocarpa 'Viking'
Viking has been selected for delicious flavor raw and cooked. Some seedlings can be extremely astringent but this one will just give you a little pucker. more->
Levisticum officinale
Lovage is an excellent addition to a perennial vegetable garden. Bursting forth in spring, this plant can shoot up to six or seven feet tall each year. The aromatic leaves have a flavor similar to... more->
Rosa rugosa
Rugosa rose is a suckering shrub native to Asia. It has large and beautiful blooms and the largest rose hips of any rose we know. The rose hips are high in vitamin C and can be eaten fresh or... 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->
Monarda fistulosa
This wild variety of beebalm produces showy light pink flower clusters on two foot tall stems. more->
Sisyrinchium idahoense var. idahoense
A small but beautiful perennial native wildflower that prefers moist soil and sun, blue eyed grass grows less than a foot tall and makes clusters of small purple flowers in early summer. A great... more->
Allium cepa proliferum
This onion has the funny habit of creating bulbs atop its flowering scapes that grow so big and heavy that the stems bend down and plant the bulblets in the soil about a foot away from the mother... more->
Fragaria x ananassa 'June'
We have grown this early fruiting variety for many years with success. We harvest lots of large sweet fruits starting in late May until near the end of June. Its easy to grow and prefers full... more->
Ribes rubrum 'White Imperial'
White currants are the sweetest of the European currants and White Imperial has great flavor. Almost all currant lovers that we talk to choose white currants for sweet flavor. These shrubs are... 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->
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->
Rosmarinus officinalis 'BBQ'
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->
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->
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->
Allium cernuum
Nodding onion is a showy native onion that is also a great addition to a perennial vegetable garden. The grass-like leaves can be harvested any time and eaten raw like chives or cooked as green... more->
Gaultheria shallon
Salal is an evergreen shrub in the heath family with glossy leaves, white urn-shaped flowers, and edible purple berries. Salal prefers moist shade, but it often bears the most fruit in sunny... more->
Ribes laxiflorum
This currant is native to the Northwest, growing along streams in partial shade. The delicate pink flowers bloom in spring and the delicious purple fruit ripens in early summer. It does not have... 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->
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->
Rubus leucodermis var. leucodermis
Blackcap raspberry is one of the most delicious native fruits in our area. It is also not well know because it is not as common as the wild blackberries. The blackcap is a cane fruit that grows... more->
Calycanthus occidentalis
A wonderfully fragrant native shrub, western spicebush is an open, deciduous shrub that tolerates part shade and is deer resistant. Burgunday flowers bloom late spring to early summer and smell... 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->
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Lingonberry is a low growing evergreen shrub/groundcover with delicious tart red berries, Very popular in cooking and food preservation in Scandinavia, where they are wild harvested and cultivated... more->
Allium fistulosum
This purple and white onion grows round bulbs in clusters that are firm, crisp, and have delicious savory flavor. more->
Gentiana tibetica
Native to the hills of western China and Tibet, this medicinal perennial likes rich, moist soil and sun. In mid-summer, it grows up to 2 feet tall with showy white blossoms. While so many... more->
Ribes menziesii
This prickly and upright gooseberry shrub is native to California and Oregon. It produces profusions of intricate red and white flowers that look like they are turned inside out. If you are... 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->
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->
Rubus parviflorus
Native to the Pacific Northwest, thimbleberries produce delicate, thimble shaped raspberry-like fruit atop canes up to 5 feet tall. The pretty white flowers in spring brighten up shady corners of... more->
Ceanothus gloriosus
A broadleaf evergreen native to coastal California, this shrub is an excellent ground cover for sunny slopes, especially rock walls and rock gardens. It grows up to 2 feet tall and will grow 5-6... more->
Oxalis oregana 'Klamath Red'
A beautiful shade-tolerant ground cover, the native Oregon wood sorrel spreads happily on the forest floor, or a shady garden floor. It likes lots of organic matter and shade. If it does not... more->
Valeriana officinalis
Valerian is an herbaceous perennial with flowering stalks up to 6 feet tall, bearing tiny white flowers with a fragrance like honey. The musky sweet roots are used in tea or tincture as a nervine... 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->
Geranium oreganum
A beautiful perennial native to Oregon, Oregon geranium is very showy. Growing about a foot in height and wide, it has profuse pink blooms in late spring and early summer. It thrives in full sun... more->
Ribes nigrum 'Black September'
European black currants have a very distinct musky flavor which is prized by many in Europe and the U.S. We love these fruit and make a honey and currant jam that our toddler eats by the spoonful... more->
Asclepias incarnata
Unlike some milkweed species, swamp milkweed is a clumping perennial and does not spread by rhizomes. It has deep pink flower clusters on a two to three foot stalk. It is a host plant for monarch... 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->
Rudbeckia occidentalis
A rudbeckia native to Oregon, this wildflower has a unique bloom that resembles Echinacea or Rdbeckia but with no petals. A perennial plant, when grown in full sun and garden soil, flower stalks... more->
Ceanothus thrysiflorus
Blue blossom, also known as California lilac, is a fabulous showy broadleaf evergreen shrub. Lilac colored flowers bloom in mid to late spring and have a wonderful fragrance. Native to coastal... more->
Passiflora caerula
Fabulous flowers on this semi-evergreen vine. The complex blue flowers bloom mid summer to fall. This vine is reasonably hardy and can grow a lot in one season. During cold winters it may die... more->
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