Viva la Vida Bona Vita - Washington Native Plant Society

Olympic Peninsula Chapter
Washington Native Plant Society
February –April 2014 Newsletter
To promote the appreciation and
conservation of Washington’s native
plants and their habitats through
study, education and
advocacy
Early Spring
Salmon berry
Rubus spectabilis
Viva la Vida
Bona Vita
It’s the end of an era! Our society is approaching 40 years
old and we will move forward, but it will not be quite the
same. When Catherine Hovanic became our only paid staff
person 17 years ago, she operated from her home. Since
then she has managed our affairs in a superb manner including a transition to an office at Magnuson, the addition of
other paid personnel, recordkeeping, institutional memory
and so much more. Catherine has always been alert to opportunities for new programs and the grant money needed
to run them. Her work has seen the Society through thick
and thin; and with our membership dispersed all across the
state, she often has assumed the role of both helmsperson
and rudder just to keep us on course. We will miss Catherine’s work, but we will not be without her. All of us look
forward to many years of Botany Washington, Study Weekends and other events where we can enjoy the pursuit of
native plant knowledge together. I encourage you all to
make a second reading of Catherine’s good-bye message in
the Winter, 2013 issue of Douglasia.
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WNPS Event Schedule
Making Friends with Plant Families; Tuesday, February 11, 7:00 pm Natural History Exhibit, Port
Townsend Marine Science Center at Fort Worden by Barbara Blackie.
Barbara Blackie is a botany instructor for Peninsula College. Plants have families and relatives, of course,
and it’s handy to know who’s related to whom. The secret is usually in the flower or other reproductive
structures. We’ll explore the key characteristics of some interesting plant families in our neighborhood
through presentation and activities. Bring your plant reference books, if you like, and take the time to
meet, or reacquaint yourself with, family characteristics, plant keys, and plant structures. Contact Dixie
Llewellin if you have any questions [email protected] or 360-385-6432.
Kah Tai Prairie Preserve Cleanup: Friday, February 14, (Valentine’s Day) 9:30 to noon.
This will be our annual prairie cleanup party. The prairie is located within the Port Townsend Golf
Course. We hope to jump on the early spring weeds and provide better fencing for our Garry Oaks. Meet
at the parking lot within the Port Townsend Golf Course by the Kah Tai Prairie sign. Contact Dixie Llewellin if you have any questions [email protected] or call 360-385-6432.
Indian Island Walk: Thursday, March 6, 1-3 pm. meet at the Isthmus Beach parking lot
(approximately 1/2 mile beyond the county park entrance) for this springtime low tide leg stretch.
We will plan to walk out onto the estuary and along the shore and return by the trail above. While most
plants will still be in their wintertime habit, it will be a celebration of a return of daytime tides and a
chance to reconnect with plant names. Contact Sharon Schlentner [email protected]
360-379-9810 for more info.
Artful Landscaping: Integrating Natives Plants, A Presentation by Three Professionals;
Tuesday March 11, 2014, 7:00 pm at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center at Fort Worden in
the Natural History bldg. Coca Sanchez, Dana Ecelberger, and Matt Berberich will present their
favorite native plants and how best to incorporate them into garden design with a spectrum ranging from a
few natives for wildlife interest to a fully native garden. Topics include appropriate soils and mulches.
Also placing natives appropriately, rain garden plant choices, buffers, hedgerow plants, and natives that
work best with traditional horticultural plant choices will be covered.
Point Wilson Work Party: Wednesday, March 12, 9:30-noon. Meet at the newer restrooms at the center parking lot along the beach side at Fort Worden State Park. We will have tools available for general cleanup. We will also be able to eliminate what scotch broom was missed at earlier weed
pulls. Weed wrenches will be available. Bring work gloves if you have some.
Contact Sharon Schlentner for more info. [email protected]. 360-379-9810
C. Leo Hitchcock's Legacy Lives on: Revising Flora of the Pacific Northwest by Ben Legler,
University of Washington. Tuesday April 8, 2014, 7:00 pm at the Port Townsend Marine Science
Center at Fort Worden in the Natural History Building. Published in 1973 by C. Leo Hitchcock and
Arthur Cronquist, Flora of the Pacific Northwest still remains the primary reference for identifying vascular plants in Washington and surrounding areas. Yet rapid increases in our taxonomic knowledge, driven
by molecular methods, coupled with the discovery of new species and arrival of new exotics, has rendered
the Flora increasingly dated. Clearly, a new flora is needed. We will learn about the University of Washington Herbarium's ambitious effort to produce a second edition of Flora of the Pacific Northwest. This
revised Flora will be fully updated with additional species, current taxonomy, and many new keys, while
retaining the original's familiar look and layout. Ben will also tell us about some of the many taxonomic
changes that affect our flora, including classifications from older floras that were ignored by Hitchcock
and his peers, but have now been resurrected by DNA!
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NATIVE PLANT APPRECIATION WEEK IS BACK FOR ITS ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY.
CELEBRATE OUR NATIVE PLANT HERITAGE BETWEEN APRIL 28 AND MAY 5.
TAKE A WALK WITH THE NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY OR A WALK IN THE WOODS. GO TO
WNPS.ORG FOR A COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF LOCAL AND STATEWIDE EVENTS
Quimper Peninsula Wildflower Hot Spots, A Celebration of Native Plant Appreciation Week:
Saturday, April 26, 10:30 am. Meet at the Port Townsend Golf Course at the Kah Tai Prairie Preserve
kiosk. Here Dixie Llewellin will be on hand to lead a tour of the oldest garden of Port Townsend with
its spring display of native flowers (a sea of blue camas and spring gold). Learn the history of the preserve at this relict prairie. At 12:30 we will meet at the main parking lot at Fort Townsend State Park
where we will hike among old growth trees and see several parasitic species that are signature plants for
the park. We will also see Calypso orchids that will just be finishing blooming. From the state park we
will go to the Kala Point beach strand, one of the most floriferous of the dune/beach strand communities on the Quimper Peninsula. If you have questions, contact Ann Weinmann at 379-0986, [email protected] or Dixie Llewellin at [email protected].
Port Townsend State Park
Big Tree
Kala Point Beach Strand
Kah Tai Prairie
Kul Kuh Han Garden Tour: Saturday, May 3, 2-4 pm at H.J. Carroll Park
The garden was designed by Linda Landkammer and has been developed over the past 14 years by volunteers with the support of various grants (WNPS being one of them). Last year was the “Grand Opening” with
the completion of the kiosk, map and most of the paths. Visit this spring to see the newest additions and see
how the garden will function as a self-guided native plant demonstration garden.
Watch for more details in the May newsletter. Contact Linda Lamdkammer at 360-379-8733 or
[email protected]
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Annual Teddy Bear Hike
New Years Day
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Save the dates
May 16-18 Botany Washington, Satus Pass
July 25 –27 Study Weekend, Lake Crescent
Watch for details in the next Douglasia
Other Events
Yard and Garden Lecture Series. This is a series of lectures on various aspects of interest to the
gardener. It is sponsored by the Master Gardener Foundation of Jefferson County. See jcmgf.org
for further information. All lectures are 10-12 am. See schedule below:
February 1: Mary Robson. The Unseen Garden: Lichen, Pollen, Spiderwebs; the
lesser known miracles.
February 8: Dr. Craig Cogger: Soils II-Digging Deeper
February 15: Marianne Elliot: What is Killing my Tree?
Book Review by Fred Weinmann
What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses
by Daniel Chamovitz
Remember when people made fun of people who played music to their favorite
plants; or perhaps people still make fun of such people. In any event What a
Plant Knows by Daniel Chamovitz brings us the current thinking about plants
and their senses. This is a serious science book, interesting, amusing and astonishing. Chamovitz considers each of the sentient attributes we generally attribute to animals and explores how plants have an analogous or similar ability.
Chapter titles include: What a plant hears, What a plant sees, What a plant
feels etc. Chamovitz also traces the history of research into the sentient nature
of plants to show the trajectory of the learning curve.
What does a plant feel? The burr cucumber can sense a string weighing.009
ounce (0.25 gram) which signals the vine to begin climbing a nearby object. On
the other hand most people cannot sense a light string on their fingertip if it
weighs less than .07 ounce or 2 grams. In the case of both plants and animals
the sensation invokes a response via electrochemical transmission of the sensation. Many other comparable examples and the response which is initiated are
explicated in the Chamovitz's guide to how plants respond to their environment.
Chamovitz is currently at Tel Aviv University, but the breadth of his knowledge and ability to understand both plant
and animal senses is evidenced by his stint at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute in Seattle. Unless you
are fully up to speed on the plant physiology literature you will be impressed by the current research into the ability of
plants to sense and respond to their environment. The final two chapters go one step further. They are: What a plant
remembers and an epilogue: The Aware Plant. I will leave the essence of those chapters for you to discover. The
book is relatively short at 159 pages. It was published in 2012 by Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux
(FCW).
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Eifert Mural Puzzles
The puzzles produced from the Eifert mural mounted at Fort
Townsend State Park are ready for purchase. The cost is
$15.00 and all profits go to the Olympic Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society. This is the first puzzle produced
from one of Larry Eifert’s murals that sports the WNPS logo.
They will be available at the monthly events as well as at
scheduled hikes. You can also contact Ann Weinmann at
[email protected] 360-379-0986 to purchase one
and have it sent. The price including postage is $22.00
(checks made to WNPS Olympic Chapter and sent to Ann
Weinmann, 242 Cedarview Dr., Port Townsend, WA 98368
Help Needed!
Study weekend 2014 will be hosted by our chapter and held at NatureBridge on Lake Crescent on the
weekend of July 25-27, 2014. This is a big project for our small group, and this is an excellent opportunity to get involved with our chapter. Currently, we are looking for help with preparing plant lists,
help preparing registration packets and help with multiple other administrative chores. If you would
like to get involved contact Sharon Schlentner: [email protected] 360-379-9810
Wendy McClure: [email protected] 360-779-3820 or Dixie Llewellin:dixie@cablespeed.
Harbingers
Of Spring
Thank you for the great response to our request for receiving a digital version of the newsletter. For anyone who would like to change to digital
please email Ann Weinmann at [email protected]. Also please
remember to keep both your membership and email up-to-date.
The next newsletter will be for May through July, 2014. Submit information in proper
format (see above examples) no later than 15 April, 2014. Include details including time,
place, and the name and contact information for the coordinator/leader of the event.
Send input to Fred Weinmann at [email protected].
Chapter Apparatus:
Chair: Sharon Schlentner: 360-379-9810; [email protected]
Vice Chair : Dixie Llewellin 360-385-6432; [email protected]
Treasurer: Dan Post 360-554-0417; [email protected]
Secretary: Ann Weinmann 360-379-0986; [email protected]
Newsletter: Fred Weinmann: 360-379-0986; [email protected]
Board members: Wendy McClure, Eve Dixon, and Linda Landkammer
Web site: Dixie Llewellin (go to wnps.org and click on the link to Chapters)
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Join the Washington Native Plant Society
Olympic Peninsula Chapter
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Please remit by check payable to WNPS and mail to:
Washington Native Plant Society
6310 NE 74th St., Suite 215E, Seattle, WA 98115
Phone: 206-527-3210 or 1-888-288-8022; email: [email protected]
.Olympic Peninsula Chapter, WNPS
c/o Fred Weinmann
242 Cedarview Drive
Port Townsend, WA 98368
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