Gaultheria Shallon: Salal
Our native Salal is so common and adaptable to our region that it tends to be overlooked (if not totally ignored) by the gardener—but it definitely deserves a second look. It is a lush shrub, growing typically 3-6 feet tall, forming thickets (good bird habitat) in shade or partial shade.
Plant care & info
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Gaultheria
Common Name: Salal (the other Gaultheria, G. procumbens, aka wintergreen, is an east coast native)
Broad-leaved evergreen shrub. Typically growing 3-6′ tall. Flowers are white to pink, drooping bell-shaped. Fruits are small, blue-black round berries.
Grows best in shade to partial shade, with moderate water and good drainage. That being said, it is admirably tolerant of differing soil and moisture conditions, though it may not appear at its most lush; it will take well to neglect, no bad thing, though it is not tolerant of excessively dry conditions.
Salal is relatively pest and disease free; too much retained moisture and humidity without air circulation sometimes tends to bring on some leaf-spot, but nothing that seems to compromise the vigor of the plant.
The leaves are somewhat large (2-4″ long x 1-3″ wide), with an almost reptilian texture of the richest green hue. The flowers, abundant in spring and early summer, are clusters of drooping bell-shaped white-to-pinkish flowers, delicate and lovely in contrast to the tougher-looking foliage.
The blue-black berries that follow were at one time a staple food of the native people of this region, and can be a tasty berry to make into jelly or jam. Or, simply left in place to provide food for visiting birds to your garden. As an evergreen, it provides color and texture to the winter garden, and year-round is relatively pest and disease free.
Salal grows best in partial shade, but is perfectly adaptable to a more open, south-facing sunny location as long as it has good drainage and a dampish root run; but because it can form a thicket it can become aggressive in the garden.
Nevertheless, it is perfectly suited to a small garden if kept in check. For a thick ground cover, it is a much better choice than some more invasive and destructive non-natives. Easy to care for, once established, it can be a treasured foundation of the garden.
Find Natives for your garden
We offer a great selection of Northwest Natives from spring through fall. The plants featured are highlighted favorites, but they do not represent ALL of the plants we carry. For a more complete list, see our Northwest Native Plant List.
