Category: Native Plants Pacific Northwest
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Those Difficult-to-Tell-Apart Yews of the Puget Lowlands
This blog began with a photo of a Pacific yew that I posted here, on the Facebook group page of the Washington Native Plant Society. One of the group members who responded asked if I was positive that it was Taxus brevifolia and not Taxus baccata. I could not answer the question, so I did…
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The Incredible Adaptations of Plants to Conserve Nutrients
Though the fall colors of leaf senescence in our native trees, shrubs, and other perennial plants may be less than spectacular visually, what the colors indicate is stunning — the incredible adaptations of plants to conserve nutrients through resorption.
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Snowberries and Roses in the Backyard Forest
As the leaves begin to turn, the hard, waxy fruits of fall catch my eye, including the bright red rosehips and the contrasting white snowberries.
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Why I Cut Down the Cherry Tree
Last summer, I noticed a cherry tree growing in the backyard forest. Since it had come up wild, I thought it might be the Pacific Northwest native Bitter cherry, Prunus emarginata. But after some help from Arthur Lee Jacobson on two of his excellent plant tours, I concluded it was the naturalized non-native Mazzard cherry,…
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Weed Proof Groundcover
Walking in Forest Park recently, admiring an area of dense native groundcover that was devoid of weeds, I wondered how it came to be.
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Noxious Weeds and Native Plant Berries
As July winds down in the Puget Lowlands, there is good news and bad news. The berries are ripening on the native plants, but many of the flowers blooming are noxious weeds.
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Ten Flowers of May in the Pacific Northwest
Like the return of migrant birds, the flowering of native plants in spring reassures me that the circle of life is going to keep on rolling. In this post I look at ten flowers of May in the Pacific Northwest.
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April Flowers and Singing Birds in Everett’s Forest Park
While you wander the forest paths admiring the native flowers this April, don’t forget to listen for birds — the year-round residents, the newly-arrived summer-only residents, the soon-to-leave winter-only residents, and the migrants just passing through – they’re all singing in April.
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Bud Break
I learned recently (here) that changes in daylight hours determine when buds set and dormancy begins in winter, but temperature is the main factor in determining when the buds break in spring and leaves unfurl. A close look at Red Huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) reveals that the white features on the stems are not flowers but…
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Spring Begins in Forest Park
Inspired by several blogs I follow (“In the Company of Rocks and Plants,” “Tuesdays in the Tallgrass,” and “The Prairie Ecologist”), I’m venturing into the realm of the photo essay.
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Legacy Forests in the Puget Lowlands
If your backyard forest was last logged over 75 years ago, it may be a “legacy” forest.
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The Seeds of September
By September, virtually all of the native plants in the Puget Lowlands that spread by seed have gone to seed. In this blog I take a closer look at eight of them arranged by their means of seed dispersal. In recent weeks I took some pictures in the field and under a microscope at home.…
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The Future of the Mature Douglas Fir Trees in Forest Park
In this blog I look at some of the recent research on how trees have been responding to the decreased moisture levels and higher temperatures associated with climate change.
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Baneberry, Hedge Nettle, and Hedge Mustard
The Amazing Ability of Plants to Spread Far and Wide
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Establishing Groundcover
Ideally, backyard forest restoration results in “working ourselves out of our jobs,” or at least significantly reducing our annual maintenance needs. Establishing robust native groundcovers helps achieve this by deterring unwanted plants. Native groundcovers may regenerate naturally over time, but we can assist by installing plants in gaps. Though we can get most of these…
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Removing or Allowing Plant Siblings
As we weed our backyard forests and their edges, we are constantly making decisions about which plants to remove and which to allow. For some plant species those decisions are complicated by various factors, and different restoration practitioners may have different, legitimate opinions.
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Should We Still be Planting Native Trees?
I knew that because of climate change there were no longer any perfect native trees to plant in our region, but I thought that planting a mix of native trees in appropriate sites was a reasonable climate adaptive strategy. Recently, however, my confidence was shaken by a list suggesting that our most important native conifers…
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A Fall Walk through Everett’s Forest Park
Forest Park was still surprisingly green last week despite three months without significant rain. Taking a break from restoration work, I went for a leisurely walk and took some pictures, including the following group of ten.
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Watch for Pathfinder and White-Flowered Hawkweed
If you are ridding your backyard forest of weedy Nipplewort and/or Wall Lettuce, try not to inadvertently remove any indigenous Pathfinder or White-Flowered Hawkweed. All four plants have similar structural appearances, their ranges overlap, and they can all survive on “sunflecks.”
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Seven Spring Forbs
With the return of spring to our backyard forests, we welcome the native forbs as they awaken from their winter slumbers. In this blog I write about seven species that help fill gaps in the understory.