Plant Selection

When selecting plants it’s always best to see them at their best

I frequently get asked about which plants are best for Central Oregon. It’s one thing to rattle off exotic sounding names no one will ever remember, and it’s another to direct them to a local nursery or have bookmarked pages in the Sunset Garden Book (which is a must have if you embark on selecting your own plants). It is imperative if you aren’t sure about what you want to proceed slowly. Plan on visiting nurseries (there are numerous high quality nurseries all over Bend) multiple times each year, ideally mid season of all 4 seasons so you’ll have an idea of how everything will look on a seasonal basis. If you visited only once in spring and chose all plants based on what you saw you might be disappointed to find they won’t have the same color when temperatures change. In short, you want a balanced landscape with color and texture year round, and until you’re familiar with which plants do best locally spend some time and add some new friends at the nursery!