Olympic Peninsula Chapter Washington Native Plant Society August-October 2016 Newsletter. Special Presentation

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1 Olympic Peninsula Chapter Washington Native Plant Society August-October 2016 Newsletter To promote the appreciation and conservation of Washington s native plants and their habitats through study, education and advocacy Special Presentation Tuesday, Oct. 18, Port Townsend community center Uptown Port Townsend; 620 Tyler St. 6:30 pm social time; program at 7:00 pm Claytonia megarhiza Study weekend, Iron Mt. Photo by Abe Lloyd Botanizing in China Among the Roots of Northwest Natives Sue Milliken and Kelly Dodson of Far Reaches Farm will take you along on their Oct-Nov 2015 plant hunting trip to China s Chongqing, Hubei, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces. Among the many obviously exotic species, they will point out surprising parallels in shared genera among our own native flora. China has a staggeringly complex flora with over species of vascular plants and many familiar genera got their evolutionary start in the botanical petri dish of China s complex geography and diverse climatic influences. This will be more fun than technical and sorry to say, no sedges will be shown. We are indeed fortunate that Sue Millikan and Kelly Dodson have agreed to give us a presentation at our October program. If you have not seen a presentation of theirs you will want to be there; if you have seen a presentation of theirs you will really want to be there. Their collecting trips are reminiscent of the travels of early botanists in our area--think of people like David Douglas and Archibald Menzies. Sue and Kelly own and operate a specialty nursery called Far Reaches Farm in Port Townsend. A visit to their nursery, which is occasionally open for retail sales on weekends, is a worthwhile plant experience in its own right. 1

2 More Events Friday, August 12, Hurricane Ridge Klahhane Ridge Switchback trail loop. Meet at 9 am at the Olympic National Park Visitor Center. We plan to drop off cars at the Klahhane Switchback Trail and start hiking from the Hurricane ridge visitor center parking lot. We will walk the ridge trail 3.7 miles to the Switchback Trail junction, ascend to the ridge, then descend on the Switchback Trail for a total of ~6 miles. A car shuttle will provide return transportation to Hurricane Ridge. Wildflowers should be at their peak, including some Olympic endemics. Contact Sharon Schlentner at sschlentner@olypen.com for details and specifics. Hurricane Ridge upcoming hike Aug. 12 Eriophylum lanatum along road to the ridge Pinquicula vulgaris along the switchback trail Car Camping at Lake Ozette third or fourth week in August. This year we will really hike out to the old homestead on Roose' s Prairie, plus botanize the two trails to the coast, and perhaps take a botanical swim. I'm looking at Monday through Friday, either the third or fourth week in August depending on what works best for folks and the weather forecast. Come out for all or part of the time. Contact Wendy McClure at or wendymac3@embarqmail.com if you are interested. Kul Kah Han Native Plant Demonstration Garden All County Picnic- Sunday August 21st The garden will be represented at our educational booth. Fall Plant Sale- The huge success of our Spring Plant Sale clearly illustrated the flourishing interest in using natives in home gardens. Our fall sale will be held at HJ Carroll Park in the smaller kitchen shelter on September 18th from 1-4 pm, the day of the County Farm Tour. Educational Volunteer Opportunities at the garden: Plant selection meetings- 4 consecutive Wednesdays August 24th through September 14th. 12:30-1:30. Bring your lunch and join us as we study plants and choose new species to add to our collection. Planting of new species- 4 consecutive Wednesdays Oct 5th thru Oct 26th 10:30am-2:30 pm We will be weeding, planting, watering and mulching. Contact: Linda Landkammer wild4nature@q.com website: nativeplantgarden.org Mt Townsend Hike - Sedum divergens and Gentianella amarella 2

3 Botany Washington Comes to the Olympic Peninsula Sixty botanists collected at Fort Worden in May for the 20th Botany Washington. Field events took us from the site of one of the most rare and beautiful plants of Washington (Castilleja levisecta at Whidbey Island) to the unusual assemblage of parasitic and mycoheterotrophic plants at Fort Townsend State Park. At Fort Worden headquarters in workshop settings participants studied plant families (the Fabaceae for example) and were introduced to the new keys being constructed for the update of Hitchcock and Cronquist's Flora of the Pacific Northwest. Attendees were also impressed with the diversity and success of the Kul Kah Han Native Plant Demonstration Gardens. We appreciate the cooperative sponsorship of Botany Washington by the Burke Museum Herbarium and the state office of WNPS. Photos: Searching for mycoheterotrophs; Castilleja levisecta, Corallorhiza mertensiana, Pterospera andromodea 3

4 2016 Study Weekend Convenes at Leavenworth Over 100 botanists convened June in Leavenworth, WA for our annual Study Weekend. The botany, both social and technical, was excellent. The weather was erratic--sunny on Friday, rain and snow for field trips on Saturday, sunny and warm for field trips on Sunday. Many of us were able to add a few species to our life list of plants seen in Washington; and if that is not your interest there was plenty of flower looking, sedging and other botanical paths to follow. Aside from botany, the fabulous barbeque on Saturday night will be long-remembered. I believe there is an intent to post aftermath summaries on the WNPS web site. Our thanks are due to Don Schaechtel and multiple members of the Wenatchee Valley Chapter for their planning and execution of this memorable event. Clay Antieu gives new WNPS Fellows Awards to Pam Camp and Gary Smith Don Schlaechtel Wenatchee Chapter Chair host of the 2016 Study Weekend Field trip to see Lomatium knokei 4

5 Come out and help save our land with the Jefferson Land Trust Summer Stewardship with Jefferson Land Trust: Every other Tuesday, August 9-September 20, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Land Trust nature preserves. We will help preserve native plant communities by removing invasive weeds that threaten native ecosystems. No commitment necessary just drop in for a brief visit, or stay the whole time. The Land Trust provides gloves and tools; be sure to dress for the weather! August 9 and August 23: Come help remove noxious weeds from a streamside native plant buffer at Lower Donovan Creek Preserve. Directions: From Center Rd, turn onto East Quilcene Rd; take the first left onto McInnis Rd; proceed approximately 0.3 miles and park on the road shoulder near the top of the first driveway on the right. On September 6 and September 20, come help destroy scattered patches of ivy before they get out of hand at Upper Snow Creek Forest Preserve. Directions: Follow Hwy 20 to Hwy 101 South. Turn left on Hwy 101 S for about 13 miles. Turn right onto Snow Creek Way, before the Crocker Lake parking area. Park at the old grain silos. Please carpool if possible; parking is limited. For more information, visit saveland.org, or contact Carrie at cclendaniel@saveland.org. Matt Albright Native Plant Center: Greetings to friends of the Elwha Revegetation Project: We would love to see you at the nursery! Please continue to visit us at the nursery for volunteer drop-in days on Mondays and Wednesdays between 9am and 4pm. We are busy harvesting seed from our seed increase field, and starting to sow herbaceous perennials; and of course we are still busy transplanting thousands of growing seedlings into larger pots. Please feel free to contact me by phone or if you have questions: (Macy House), (nursery) or laurel_moulton@partner.nps.gov Note: our programs next fall will take place on the 3rd Tuesday of the month instead of the 2nd Tuesday. Chapter Apparatus Co-Chairs: Ann and Fred Weinmann ; aweinmann@cablespeed.com Vice Chair (Programs and Web site) : Dixie Llewellin ; dixie@cablespeed.com (for the Web site go to wnps.org and click on the link to Chapters) Treasurer: Dan Post ; danpost254@gmail.com Secretary: Eve Dixon ; evefdixon@gmail.com Conservation Chair: Wendy McClure ; wendymac3@embarqmail.com Board members at large: Sharon Schlentner, Linda Landkammer, and Luzi Pfenninger Newsletter: Fred Weinmann: ; fweinmann@cablespeed.com If you would like to continue to receive a paper copy, please let us know. The next newsletter will be for : November-January Submit information in PROPER FORMAT (see examples under event schedule) no later than October 20, Include details including time, place, and the name and contact information for the coordinator/leader of the event. Send input to Fred Weinmann at fweinmann@cablespeed.com. Items submitted after October 20 will not be included. 5

6 Name: Address: City: State Zip Phone: Membership Category Individual $35.00 WNPS Special friend $ Budget (Sr./Student)$20.00 WNPS Best friend $500 Family $45.00 Sustaining Member $1000 Club/Institution $65.00 WNPS Patron $5000 WNPS Friend $50-99 Outside USA please add $5 to dues Please remit by check payable to WNPS and mail to: Washington Native Plant Society 6310 NE 74 th St., Suite 215E, Seattle, WA Phone: or ; Olympic Peninsula Chapter, WNPS c/o Fred Weinmann 242 Cedarview Drive Port Townsend, WA