Beautiful Native Shrubs

While on a walk today on First Hill in Seattle, I was enjoying the dry day and observing spring unfolding in a warmer area of the city. This is a very urban neighborhood, mostly paved over with very commercial-type landscaping of non-native ornamentals. There were very few native plants anywhere around but then I stumbled on this:

Oregon grape and red-flowered currant next to a brick apartment building on First Hill.
This is a particularly floriferous form of the native currant–brilliant color and form.

Of course, the flower show will be short-lived with this currant–just a few weeks. I’d take two weeks of this native’s beauty over six weeks of plastic-looking camellia flowers every time! And so would hummingbirds and native pollinators.