Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus)

The plant: Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus)

Why it's choice: This shrub charms in all four seasons. Spring brings its glossy maple-like leaves and flowers in snowy puffs. Summer sees the flower heads turn to papery red fruits with yellow seeds. Fall touches the leaves with rosy-brown. And in winter the bare branches show off shredding, bronze-colored bark.

What it can do in the garden: Tolerant of sun or shade, so-so soil, and wet to dry sites, Pacific Ninebark will help fill out a hedgerow, stabilize a bank or perk up a mixed border. It forms thickets that shelter birds. Butterflies and their larvae both find it inviting.

Where to see it: Pacific Ninebark grows mostly at low elevations: in open forests, along creeks and in damp shrubby places, often with thimbleberry, salmonberry or red-osier dogwood. In Seattle, it has been planted at Ravenna and Magnuson parks. In Pierce County, look for banks of this pleasing shrub in the forests along Highway 410 — amid the strip malls — between Bonney Lake and Buckley.

The facts: Pacific Ninebark is a deciduous shrub that grows 10 to 15 feet tall. Overall shape can be upright or spreading, depending on how you prune the arching branches. Especially in a dry, sunny site, water it well for the first two growing seasons.

And, hey, what's in a name? It's called Physocarpus capitatus because of its puffy, inflated fruits (physo = bladder, carpus = fruit) and crowded, round flower clusters (capitatus = head-like). And "Ninebark" because the shaggy bark seems to go on and on, even into nine layers.

You can find out more about native plants, including where to buy them, from the Washington Native Plant Society, www.wnps.org.

Sarah Gage is a writer and botanist who gardens in Seattle. sgage@seanet.com. She is affiliated with the Washington Native Plant Society.