Why choose native plants? Pacific Northwest native plants know how to live here and how to thrive here. They often need much less water and less fertilizer. They spread slowly and are not invasive. They support a wide diversity of wildlife. And best of all, they look great!
Yampah is a native perennial in the carrot family that was used as an important food source for first nation people. All parts of this plant are edible and the roots are high in vitamin C, protein, and Potassium. Eaten fresh it has a juicy crispy texture and tastes similar to a water chestnut. Cooking yampah root yields a nutty flavor with a sweet consistency of sweet potato. The large green seeds have a flavor very similar to Caraway and were eaten fresh or dried. It can vary in appearance, but always flaunts a compound umbel of many spherical clusters of small white flowers, in late spring and early summer, that resembles Queen Anne’s lace. Native from extreme southwest Washington, much more common in Oregon and northern California. Full sun to very light shade in average to rich soil. Irrigate for the first season, in subsequent years it can survive on rainfall alone. Winter deciduous. Great plant for butterflies and pollinators. Does well in cottage gardens and vegetable gardens. Blooms May-July. Makes a very pretty cut flower and was once a common component of Willamette Valley meadows (mainly on hillsides). Grows to 20″ tall. Photo courtesy of Xera Plants.
