Salal (Gaultheria shallon)
Salal is a gorgeous native evergreen shrub and a common understory plant in forests of the West Coast. It has dark green, rounded, thick leathery leaves that are prized in the florist trade. Pretty pink-white urn shaped flowers that appear in late Spring and continue through Summer. These cute flowers mature into edible tasty berries that can be eaten fresh or made into jams, jellies, and cakes etc. Flowering often continues even after the bush is heavy with ripe berries! Salal is easy to grow in the home garden, but it is slow and requires patience. Once established to its satisfaction Salal's growth rate will pickup substantially growing up to 6 feet tall in shade - part shade and often as wide or wider. It spreads out via rhizomes and makes a great ground cover. Salal prefers shade - part shade and moist to dry soil. It can tolerate full sun with occasional irrigation, though it may experience some sunburn periodically. In full sun Salal generally only grows to ~3 feet tall.
Salal supports a wide range of wildlife and pollinators. Hummingbirds, bees and butterflies feed from the flowers. Song birds and a wide array of mammals relish the berries and deer, elk, and beaver enjoy the foliage. Salal is excellent for erosion control and grows wonderfully with other understory plants like Oregon Grape, Vine Maple, Oregon Oxalis, and Sword Fern etc.
Because the seeds are so small it's impossible to count out individual seeds and are instead sold in weight increments of 50mg (150+ seeds) and germination instructions are included.
Salal at a glance
- Ave. growth dimensions - 1-7 feet tall x 3-12 feet wide
- Dormancy - Evergreen
- Plant type - Shrub
- Sun - Part shade - full shade (can tolerate full sun with irrigation though might experience some sunburn in summer heat spells)
- Water - Moist - dry (more moisture if in full sun, especially in summer drought)
- Flowering time - April - July
- Flower color - Pretty pink - white bell shaped flowers
- Soil preference - Will tolerate clay, prefers soil rich in organic matter (loamy forest floors)