Gardening Answers Knowledgebase

This is a more difficult question than one might imagine. According to Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest, "almost 300 species of birds are native to the Pacific Northwest. Many of them could call your yard home for at least part of the year, depending on what you provide for them. So it depends on what species of birds you want to attract and what environments they need."
Source: Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest, by Russell Link (University of Washington Press, 1999, p. 48).
There is a lot of good advice on planning your garden with birds (and other creatures) in mind.

Washington Native Plant Society has a resource page devoted to native plants for wildlife.

The Miller Library has a booklist featuring titles on attracting wildlife to the garden: Information Resources for Gardening with Wildlife.

Valerie Easton, a local garden writer, mentioned several bird-attracting plants when she reviewed a Bellevue wildlife garden. Her article can be found at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2003/0504/living.html

Another good source for this information is Native Plants of the Northwest, by Wallace W. Hansen. Scroll down to Wallys Wildlife Habitat Recommendations.
Following is an annotated list of plants that attract birds for western Washington: the oaks, chinquapin, Oregon myrtle, western hazelnut, cascara, and all trees in the Rose family (hawthorn, bitter cherry, chokecherry and Pacific crabapple). Native shrubs include: serviceberry, salal, all Oregon grapes, Indian plum, bittercherry, roses, blackcap, thimbleberry, salmonberry, Pacific blackberry, red and blue elderberries, russet buffaloberry, mountain ash, snowberry, and all huckleberries.

Seattle Audubon's book and online resource, Audubon at Home in Seattle: Gardening for Life has a chapter on designing a garden to attract birds, and it includes a plant list.

Season All Season
Date 2008-01-24
Link to this record only (permalink)

I am guessing that you mean that you have seed for one of the native Pacific Northwest huckleberries, such as the evergreen (Vaccinium ovatum), or red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium). It would be helpful to know which species you are hoping to grow from seed.

The website of Plants for a Future has propagation information for propagating Vaccinium species in general:

Seed - sow late winter in a greenhouse in a lime-free potting mix and only just cover the seed. Stored seed might require a period of up to 3 months cold stratification. Another report says that it is best to sow the seed in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe. Once they are about 5cm tall, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a lightly shaded position in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.

Here are additional links to information:
Evergreen Huckleberry, or Vaccinium ovatum
Red Huckleberry, or Vaccinium parvifolium

Apparently, growing our native huckleberries from seed is challenging, as the information cited here, from a propagation course at the University of Washington, indicates: "Evergreen huckleberry can be propagated through hardwood cuttings or by seed, however seedling establishment is rare in most Western huckleberries."

The United States Department of Agriculture has this to say:

Seeds of most Vaccinium spp. are not dormant and require no pretreatment for germination. Seedlings first emerge in approximately 1 month and continue to emerge for long periods of time in the absence of cold stratification. However, seedlings of most western huckleberries are rarely observed in the field. Seeds of evergreen huckleberry usually exhibit fairly good germination under laboratory conditions, but early growth is generally very slow.

Season All Season
Date 2007-12-07
Link to this record only (permalink)