Plants I should be growing

Mark McDonough's picture

Sometimes I come across a plant in my internet meandering, and i think, what the heck, why am I not growing this fine plant.  And, too often we look to plants from China and other far-flung locales with mystical reverence, when in fact fine plants abound closer to home.

In this first entry, I just came across Stenanthium occidentale, in the Liliaceae, and I'm struck by how utterly charming this American native plant is, now I want it :-)  The common names Mountainbells and Bronze Bells suggest a plant worth growing.

Here are some link to this plant, does anyone grow it?

Stenanthium occidentale:
http://www.pnwflowers.com/flower/stenanthium-occidentale
http://nwwildflowers.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/bronze-bells-stenanthium-occidentale/#comment-389
http://qualicumbeachgardenclub.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/stenanthium-occidentale.jpg?w=700&h=
http://home.comcast.net/~tdhagan/photos/flowers/Stenanthium_occidentale.html
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0707+1670
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+1010+2022
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0707+1674