Oregon sunshine is a widespread and immensely variable perennial in the Aster family. It’s usually easy to identify by its silvery leaves with cobweb-like white hairs and cheery yellow daisy flowers. Found over a wide area in the western states and British Columbia, Oregon sunshine has 10 recognized botanical species, numerous natural hybrids, and a chromosomal soup of diploids and tetraploids within its ranks. This free-love explosion of genetics was surely the inspiration for the 1967 Cream song “Sunshine of Your Love.”

We most often encounter Oregon sunshine as small prostrate mats in drier situations here in western Washington. Its favorite spots include the alpine zone of the Olympic Mountains and sea-level sunny cliffs at Deception Pass Bridge on Whidbey Island. The latter is a bit of a safety hazard; rather than watching the road as we drive by, we crane our necks to see the scattered plants lighting up the rock ledges with foliage or flowers.

The straight species is an excellent plant for the rock garden requesting good drainage and fairly xeric conditions. The cultivar ‘Takilma Gold’, however, is regular Oregon sunshine gone nova. This stellar explosion of a selection is from southern Oregon and was introduced by plantsman Sean Hogan, a cheerful bit of sunshine himself. ‘Takilma Gold’ is a mega-robust variety, very tolerant of moist, rich soils common to cultivated gardens. In such conditions, it will make an impressive wide mound of silver-green leaves, which become nearly smothered by larger-than-usual golden yellow flowers. We prefer to grow it in less luxuriant, drier situations, as its carriage and posture are improved, but we might be an outlier with that opinion.

Oregon sunshine is the perfect plant, because we could all use a little more sunshine in our lives. And it’s always better to go big, so go with ‘Takilma Gold’.

‘Takilma Gold’ Oregon sunshine Eriophyllum lanatum ‘Takilma Gold’ Zones: 5–9 Conditions: Full sun; dry to moist, well-drained soil Native range: Western North America

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Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken grow some of the coolest plants on the planet at Far Reaches Farm Nursery and Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy in Port Townsend, Washington.

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