Great plant picks

If you’ve ever been overwhelmed by all the choices at a nursey, the folks over at Great Plant Picks have made the decision-making process easy. Every year, the staff gets together and comes up with a list of great plant picks.

We at Ecoyards rely on their picks because they weed out fussy perennials, trees, and shrubs that require a lot of water and lots of maintenance.

The Great Plant Picks staff chooses only plants that are hardy to the Seattle area (USDA Zones 7 and 8). The plants are vigorous, easy to grow by the average gardener, and mostly drought-tolerant and disease-resistant.

Check out their booth at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show Feb. 18-22 at the Washington State Convention Center. They usually provide free posters with pictures of their picks for each year.

One of our favorite plants from the list is the flowering currant, a native deciduous shrub that is a magnet for hummingbirds. This plant tolerates poor soil, is drought-tolerant once established, and requires little maintenance or pruning.