EPA Level III Ecoregion
Puget Lowland
496 native plants for the Puget Lowland ecoregion (Seattle area).
The Puget Lowland is the glacial trough between the Cascades and the Olympics, covering Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Olympia, and Bellingham. Winters are mild and wet, summers are genuinely dry, and the glacial soils drain fast, which catches out anyone assuming the Northwest is wet year round. Natives such as flowering currant, broadleaf stonecrop, and Oregon gumweed are built for that soaking winter and rainless summer, and they want no irrigation once established.
Conditions: Fast-draining glacial outwash and till, 30–50 inches of rain falling mostly October through April, mild winters, dry summers.
Cities and areas: Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Olympia, Bellingham, Bremerton.
496 Native Plants for the Puget Lowland
HOA-friendly picks listed first. Pet-safety status varies by species; each plant page shows its sourced ASPCA status. Native range data from vouchered herbarium specimen records and regional native plant society lists.
Common Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Nodding Onion
Allium cernuum
Soft rush
Juncus effusus
American Fox Sedge
Carex vulpinoidea
Scarlet Strawberry
Fragaria virginiana
Red-osier Dogwood
Cornus sericea
Prairie Junegrass
Koeleria macrantha
Bear-grape
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Wild Woodland Strawberries
Fragaria vesca
Goat's-beard
Aruncus dioicus
Solomon's-plume
Maianthemum racemosum
Tufted Hairgrass
Deschampsia cespitosa
California-poppy
Eschscholzia californica
Canoe Birch
Betula papyrifera
Western Columbine
Aquilegia formosa
Flowering Currant
Ribes sanguineum
Pacific Serviceberry
Amelanchier alnifolia
Canadian Goldenrod
Solidago canadensis
Crevice alumroot
Heuchera micrantha
Star False Solomon's-seal
Maianthemum stellatum
Common Juniper
Juniperus communis
Blue Thimble-flower
Gilia capitata
Broadleaf Stonecrop
Sedum spathulifolium
California Honeysuckle
Lonicera involucrata
Woolly Sedge
Carex pellita
Pink Honeysuckle
Lonicera hispidula
Seep Monkeyflower
Erythranthe guttata
Blue Wild Rye
Elymus glaucus
Tomcat Clover
Trifolium willdenovii
Prairie Goldenrod
Solidago missouriensis
Beaked Filbert
Corylus cornuta
Red Fescue
Festuca rubra
Bleeding-heart
Dicentra formosa
Splitawn Sedge
Carex tumulicola
Oregon Gumweed
Grindelia stricta
Rocky Mountain Juniper
Juniperus scopulorum
Godetia
Clarkia amoena
Canadian Buffalo-berry
Shepherdia canadensis
Early-blue Violet
Viola adunca
Black Hawthorn
Crataegus douglasii
Golden Blue-eyed Grass
Sisyrinchium californicum
Tall Oregon-Grape
Mahonia aquifolium
Pacific Maple
Acer macrophyllum
California Oat Grass
Danthonia californica
Chick Lupine
Lupinus microcarpus
Baltic Rush
Juncus balticus
Washington Hawthorn
Crataegus phaenopyrum
Creeping Snowberry
Symphoricarpos mollis
Showing 48 of 496. Enter your ZIP for the natives matched to your yard.
Fall care in the Puget Lowland
What to do right now for plants commonly grown here. Each links to the full regional care guide for that species, with sources.
- Baltic rush
Fall is the second planting window.
- Yerba buena
Fall is easy, with flowers continuing.
- Beach strawberry
Fall is planting season for beach strawberry around Seattle, since it goes into the ground right as the rain returns and settles in over the wet months ahead.
- Idaho fescue
Fall is prime planting time here, the rain comes back in October and gives new roots months to settle in before next summer's dry spell.
- Prairie goldenrod
As the fall rains return, keep an eye on drainage and let the seed heads stand for wildlife.
- Broadleaf stonecrop
As the rain returns, cut back spent stems and let the plant settle in for winter.
- Graceful cinquefoil
Fall rain returns to the Puget Sound and gives this plant a second good window for planting and dividing.
- Spotted lily
Foliage dies back naturally after bloom as the bulb stores energy for next year.
- Prairie junegrass
Fall is when Puget Sound rains return and start doing most of the watering job again. It is also the season WSU Extension points to as the best time to actually plant this grass west of the Cascades, since a fall-planted grass gets a full wet season to build roots before next summer's dry spell.
- Scarlet strawberry
Fall is a quiet, good season for wild strawberry. The foliage turns shades of red and maroon before the plant slows down for winter, and this is a good window to divide crowded patches or move rooted runners to a new spot. No pruning is required, the color change is part of the plant's normal cycle, not a problem to fix.
Build a plan for the Puget Lowland
The Pollinator Patch App turns plants like these into a front-yard plan tuned for the soil, climate, and HOA expectations of the Seattle area.