Red Valerian

Red valerian is not exactly a wild plant, but it seems to grow without any care on the curbs where it was planted for decoration. It is a garden escape and can grow wild. It is a very attractive plant. It is not closely related (i.e not the same genus) to the garden valerian (Valeriana officinalis) though it does belong to the same family Valerianaceae.

Red and white varieties of red valerian growing at the curb

The Latin name for our friend red valerian is Centranthus ruber. You can see plants with red or white flowers. Oddly enough, even species with white flowers are still considered Centranthus ruber (ruber means red, in case you didn't know).

Close-up of flowers of red valerian

The flowers are fairly small and grows in (typically) round clusters. The flowers have peculiar shape which makes plant easy to identify. The leaves are opposite. Presumably the plant is edible (leaves and roots) but I haven'r tried it yet. Unlike true valerian, this plant is not considered to be medicinal.

White form of red valerian

Centranthus ruber makes an excellent garden plant. It attracts pollinators like bees and butterflies, takes minimum care and is attractive to look at.

Pacific Ninebark

 Pacific ninebark behind twinberry

Pacific ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus) is not a herb but a shrub. The common name gets its name from the fact that the bark is peeling away in layers but I haven't really looked at the bark because I did not know what the plant was at the moment. Notice on the above pictures that the plant in the front is twinberry.

Pacific ninebark flowers and leaves

It's a shrub that puts forward round clusters of white attractive flowers. The plant belong to the Rose family (Rosaceae) so expect to see 5 petaled flowers with lots of stamens. The flowers and the leaves do indeed remind those of Rubus (thimbleberry, etc) except they are small and form round clusters.

This plant likes wet habitat so it can be most often found along the rivers. However it is drought-tolerant and therefore became a popular garden plant. Personally I have not seen this plant often.