Enter your ZIP to see whether this is legal to plant in your state, and whether it survives your winter.
Northern bedstraw is rated fire resistant, although FireSmart BC retains a research qualification.
Idaho Firewise records Galium boreale at eight out of ten. Colorado's extension and forest service guidance also publishes an eight and recommends scores of eight, nine, or ten for defensible-space Zones 1 and 2. The placement threshold belongs to the Colorado guidance. Its credited use of Idaho materials also means the matching numbers should not be presented as wholly independent trials.
Oregon State's northern-bedstraw profile supplies a favorable recommendation for Willamette Valley growing conditions. FireSmart BC lists the plant as fire resistant but asks for further research, keeping that qualification alongside its approval.
For this groundcover, the sources support a favorable answer with a specific caution. The Colorado score meets its published selection rule; the Oregon recommendation has a regional growing context; and British Columbia's request for research remains part of its finding. The score and the two regional recommendations supply complementary information for choosing the groundcover.
Form
groundcover
Mature height
~3 ft
Water need
moderate
Rated in
British Columbia; Colorado / Rocky Mountain Front Range; Oregon (Willamette Valley); southern Idaho / Intermountain
On this lot
1. Fire evidence and conditions
Fire evidence
Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Colorado State University Extension and the Colorado State Forest Service publish Fact Sheet 6.305 for Colorado's WUI and varied ecosystems. FireApproved exposes all 114 exact source owners at Colorado publication scope while retaining score, elevation, water, and Idaho-carrier lineage. Publication scope is not suitability for every Colorado site or zone.
Southern Idaho (ID footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2013-11-08
The official database labels itself "For Southern Idaho" and describes Idaho residents at the urban-rangeland interface. FireApproved publishes 419 existing plant owners that cite its scored rows. This bounded Southern Idaho scope is regional context, not statewide coverage or a conclusion that the score transfers unchanged to every Idaho site.
Willamette Valley (OR footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2015-02-01
OSU Extension says EM 9103 highlights fire-resistant plants that thrive under Willamette Valley growing conditions. FireApproved publishes 172 exact owners only as valley context. The guide shares the PNW 590 lineage and is not a second independent vote or statewide site clearance.
2. Why this plant is relevant here
State distribution
Documented in AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, IA, ID, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY.
Native range
Introduced / established
USDA hardiness
2 applicable cited hardiness statements overlap but have different boundaries; compare each complete source row.
3. Legal, ecological, and broader status
Legal-list status
Seed-list status
Reported invasive here
Broader regional context
Federal context
How to read this page
The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.
Plant hardiness evidence
These values describe the plant source. Your ZIP zone comes from the separate 2023 USDA
Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Whole-zone values stay whole-zone, and a single unresolved value
is not treated as a tolerance range. Different source boundaries stay separate: overlapping
statements are compared independently, while only ranges with no shared zone are called a conflict.
Source location: PlantCharacteristics record 47786, Temperature, Minimum (°F).
Where its sources say to plant it
Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating.
They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.
Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database: plantable at 30' from home [Idaho minimum planting distance] (with its recommendation)
Fire-resistant Landscape Plants for the Willamette Valley: Northern Bedstraw profile (PDF page 71) [osu-em-9103-profile] (with its recommendation)
Ignition-Resistant Landscape Plants: suitable for defensible-space zones 1-2 (score 8+) [CSU defensible-space zone] (with its recommendation)
The evidence
Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself
(a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or
republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.
“fire-resistant plants that thrive in Willamette Valley growing conditions”
The perennials profile lists Galium boreale as Northern Bedstraw. The profile prints USDA Hardiness Zone: 4–8.
Ignition-Resistant Landscape Plants (Fact Sheet 6.305) — Colorado State University Extension / Colorado State Forest Service (Wildfire Mitigation Series) · 2025 · original sourcePrimary evidenceField programlineage: idaho-tree resolves to Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database
“ignitability score 8 of 10”
· score 8 (idaho-0-10)
CSU 6.305 table lists Galium boreale (northern bedstraw) with the preserved ignitability score.
