Willamette Valley Gumweed (Grindelia integrifolia)
Willamette Valley Gumweed is a tough and beautiful plant for the native garden, as well as, a valuable late season food source for native pollinators! It's super easy to grow from seed and can tolerate a wide variety of soil types (hard rocky soil, sandy/rocky/salty shorelines, clay soil, watered garden beds, fence lines, roadsides, etc). It prefers full sun, and once established will happily survive on rainwater alone (will also happily accept irrigation). This short lived perennial grows 3-4 ft tall and 1-2 ft wide. It's life cycle is more closely related to a biennial than a perennial. It blooms long and vigorously with a high seed production (for many a grateful song bird). Despite the heavy seed production this lovely plant is never aggressive in the garden.
Willamette Valley Gumweed can be found in the wild West of the Cascades from British Columbia to Northern California. As the name implies, Gumweed has a sticky resinous/gummy texture to the leaves and flower buds. The resin has a pleasant smell to most people, and is beneficial (similar to Calendula) as an addition to oil infusions for salves. This resin also seems to effectively discourage deer browse!
Each seed packet contains 100 seeds and germination instructions are included.
Willamette Valley Gumweed at a glance
- Average growth dimensions - 3-4 ft tall x 1-2 ft wide
- Dormancy - Winter deciduous
- Plant type - Short lived perennial herb
- Sun - Full sun - part shade
- Water - Wet - dry
- Flowering time - June - September
- Flower color - Yellow
- Soil preference - Highly adaptable