Olympic Peninsula Chapter Washington Native Plant Society June-September 2020 Summer Newsletter

To promote the appreciation and conservation of Washington’s native plants and their habitats through study, education and advocacy

Staying home, staying healthy. Who would have thought, in January, that we would have such a directive, to slow down, stay put? Yet here we are, approaching June, unsure how our summer and year will play out. So this chapter’s “summer newsletter” is incomplete. We have yet to know when group events will be offered and what form they may take. But look what’s here, when we look around! For those of us attuned to our rich native flora, it gives us an opportunity to look more closely to what’s growing in our backyards, as John found; “ It's been a really good year for Kopsiopsis/Boschniakia hookeri it seems, or maybe I'm paying more atten- tion. This is the first one I've seen in full and riotous bloom at our place. That's a giant vetch tendril lurking next to it..”

Ground cone Kopsiopsis hookeri (John Haskins)

WNPS Shelters in Place On March 23, due to the rapidly spreading Covid-19 coronavirus, Governor Inslee directed Washington residents to “shelter in place,” asked “non-essential” businesses and state parks to close and prohibited gatherings of more than 5 people. WNPS was just gearing up for a month of taking people outdoors to see the array of native wildflowers in April, Native Plant Appreciation Month (NPAM). We had to make some quick decisions about how to acknowledge and celebrate NPAM without going on group hikes or gathering. Thanks to quick thinking and action on the part of our state office staff (Denise Mahnke and Elizabeth Gage), and the state NPAM coordinator Gail Sklar, we utilized Zoom and en- joyed a month of fascinating webinars that attracted audiences of dozens to hundreds of people each. With help from Kathy Darrow and several photographers who are members of our chapter, I was able to put together one webinar, Native Plants and Habitats of the Olympic Peninsula. I presented it on Zoom on April 14 to an audience of 165. This webinar and several others are now available to stream from the NPAM box on the home page of our website, www.wnps.org. In addition there were webinars about flora of eastern Washington and the Columbia River Gorge, about using the new Flora of the Pacific Northwest, and about gardening with native plants. What fabulous resources, all assembled and presented with very little lead time. On a local level, the flowers at Kah Tai Prairie in Port Townsend (and many other places around the Peninsula) have been blooming despite the governor’s orders. Kathy Darrow has written a couple of articles for the local papers to showcase these locations. Although we had to cancel our scheduled Native Plant Identification class and workshop, as well as several spring hikes, we look forward to offering them again in the spring of 2021. At this writ- ing, all WNPS activities are cancelled through May 31, 2020. Sometime after that (probably not until July) we hope to be able to start hiking in small groups. We are not sure if we will be able to offer the grass workshop in July or if it will need to be postponed. We will keep in contact via email notices and posting on the state website, www.wnps.org. Prairie plants broomrape and Fayla Schwartz, Olympic Peninsula chapter chair lomatium in their May splendor (Eve Dixon) Fourteen webinars on various aspects of native plants were offered during April, attracting a cumulative audience of over 2800 attendees. Thank you to all those who participated. Missed one or want to watch again? Most webinars were recorded; now available for viewing at https://www.wnps.org/ wnps-annualevents/virtual-events 1 Self-guided Wildflower Hikes for June & July 2020

We aren’t offering guided wildflower field trips until it becomes more logistically comfortable to carpool and gather in our traditional groups of a dozen or more people. Instead, we asked chapter board members to recommend some of their favorite wildflower walks on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula. You can find plant lists for each of these areas on the plant lists for Jefferson County at www.wnps.org/plant-lists Check out the local trail info before you head out. Kathy Darrow, OP chapter vice chair Here are the top five:

Indian Island County Park Kathy’s Pick: At low tide, this is an easy walk along the shore and through the forest on the east side of Oak Bay. You can see 200 year old Garry oaks (Quercus garryana) in the forest as well as newly sprouted acorns. It’s fun to explore the estuaries and dunes along the shore where you’ll find lots of seaside succulents like pickleweed (Salicornia depressa) and sea purslane (Honckenya peploides). https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/south-indian-island Garry oaks (Quercus garryana) at Isthmus Beach (Kathy Darrow)

Mt. Townsend, Olympic National Forest Sharon’s Pick: For alpine and subalpine flora, Mt. Townsend is a classic hike with sweeping views of Puget Sound. Several Olympic Mountain endemics can be found in this area, including alpine kittentails (Synthyris lanuginosa) and Piper’s Harebell (Campanula piperi) and Flett’s violet (Viola flettii). https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mount-townsend

Oplopanax horridus (Kathy Darrow)

Synthyris lanuginosa in May Mount Townsend (Willi Smothers) Tunnel Creek Trail, Olympic National Forest Dixie’s Pick: This challenging trail offers one of the best examples of old growth rainshad- ow forest on the east side of the Olympic Range. Douglas fir, western red cedar, western hemlock and silver fir are the dominant trees, surrounded by thick carpets of moss. Tower- ing thickets of Devil’s club (Oplopanax horridus) and delicate flowers of Hooker fairybell (Prosartes hookeri) can also be found. https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/tunnel-creek-1

Gibb’s Lake County Park Eve’s Pick: The wooded trails that circumnavigate Gibbs Lake are carpeted with wildflowers. In June and July. If you take a kayak or canoe, you can paddle around the edge of the lake and find waterlilies (Nuphar polysepalum), bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris), Labra- dor tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum) and cattails (Typha latifolia). https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/gibbs-lake Fort Townsend State Park Fayla’s Pick: This park has miles of peaceful, wooded trails with majestic old trees, plus a unique variety of parasitic and mycoheterotrophic plants from the orchid, broomrape and Rhododendron groenlandicum rhododendron families. https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/fort-townsend-historical-sp. ( Fred Weinmann) Take Fred’s self guided tour, next page!

Fort Townsend State Park: A Self-guided Walk through the Wilderness Within Fred Weinmann Take a quiet stroll among big trees and unusual plants which have adopted a parasitic life style. If you know where to look it is possible to see up to 9 of these curious plants in a 1- 3 mile walk. Pick up a trails map at the park entrance kiosk. The best trails to explore are Huckleberry Hill, Rhododendron Loop, Pumphouse and the short section of Big Tree between Fort Townsend Lane and Pumphouse. While 9 species are possible five or six can be easily seen along the trail margins. Species to look for include: In the orchid family, spotted coralroot Corallorhiza maculata and C. mertensiana; in the broomrape family, groundcone Kopsiopsis hookeri; in the heath family, candystick Allotropa virgata, Monotropa uniflora, M. hypopitys, Hemitomes congesta, Pterospora andromedea, and Pyrola asarifolia* (this last species can function either as a parasite or as an autotroph). In a typical year the best Candystick Allotropa virgata time for this hike is mid-June. For more (Fred Wienmann) information on these species see the bro- chures, The Plants of Fort Townsend State Park : A Unique Ecosystem or the brochure, Forest Wildflowers of the Quimper Peninsula. For fur- ther information contact Ann Weinmann at [email protected]

Pinesap Monotropa hypopitys (Fred Weinmann)

Sharing plant discoveries.. I was pleased to be asked to share what others have been working on through this quiet time.

Eli Glosser chose Weed Warriors for his school project. He created this brochure about "The Sneaky Seven" and we invite you to print it out.: https://montessoricountryschool.org/sneaky_seven_printable_brochure/ This description from Eli: "I'm a sixth grader at Montessori country school and I spent this year focusing on the removal of noxious weeds around the island. I chose this project because I'm interested in keeping the forest healthy and free of invasive species. I hope my brochure helps educate people about the species they should pull to keep our forests healthy." For more information on it, contact Bainbridge Island weed warrior Jeannette Franks [email protected] Adding to Burke herbarium photo collection. (through Master Gardeners) Master Gardener Christine Heycke is heading up an effort to provide images needed by the University of Washington's Burke Museum Herbarium. The Herbarium has a long list of plants for which they do not yet have images: https:// biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection/unphotographed.php?Classification=Vascular%20Plants.

Master Gardeners would be able to photograph some of these plants on nature hikes or even in their own gardens; in other cases we would be looking for images available online. After verifying the plant IDs, we would submit the images to the Burke Herbarium for their final review and posting in the gallery. The Burke Collections Manager and Research Bot- anist will provide an online training session for volunteers. The Burke Museum Herbarium's Mission is as follows: "The core mission of the Herbarium is to document, archive, and share information about the diversity and distribution of Pa- cific Northwest plants, fungi, and lichens.

Finding programs available to all of us via Zoom and YouTube.

Doug Tallamy, Entomology Professor at University of Delaware and author of several books on the importance of using native plants in your home landscapes, gave an excellent presentation in lieu of a book tour. Hosted by National Wildlife Federation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY4aV5hqkxY&feature=youtu.be. Author of Natures Best Hope and Bringing Nature Home.

3 Carl Purdy was passionate about California's native bulbs and plants and their place in a garden. He once wrote: "The joy of gardening is in always having something to look forward to, something to test our skill. My advice to the man with the perfect garden: 'Sell Out.' There would be no more fun. And too, the greatest advantage of a naturalistic garden over a strictly formal one is that the formal garden once well done is simply a beautiful picture, very lovely, but little more to do, while the naturalistic garden is always a picture being painted but never quite done." (Offered by Wendy McClure)

Kul Kah Han Native Plant Garden If you want to see native plants but cannot hike or don’t want to, the Kul Kah Han Native Plant Garden, at H J Carroll Park in Chimacum, is ideal and there is plenty of space for social distancing. Over 200 native plant speciess can be seen, in 8 different habi- tat types. Some that are blooming now include star-flowered Solomon’s-seal (Maianthemum stellatum), spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa) and stream violet (Viola glabella).

Viola glabella Phlox diffusa Maianthemum stellatum

penstemon

Later in the summer look for penstemon subalpine spirea stonecrop and subalpine spirea. After looking at the plants you can take a very short trail down to Chimacum Creek and sit by the gently flowing stream—good for reducing stress. The Native Plant Garden was envisioned twenty years ago, designed and cared for by Linda Landkammer and volunteers, in part to protect Chimacum Creek and its salmon runs. Eve Dixon Volunteers work at the garden on Wednesdays, from 10:30 till 2:00 More are always welcome! Kah Han Native Plant Garden normally holds a plant sale each spring. Socially distancing guidelines prevent us from doing so this year but we still have many plants to sell. Unfortunately, we cannot allow people to come to our nursery, but you can email Becky Stinson for a list and place an order—$25 minimum, cash or check only—and we have volunteers willing to deliver plants anywhere in East Jefferson. Email or text Becky Stinson, our nursery manager, to place your order and make arrangement for drop off and pay- ment. She will select plants for you and volunteers will deliver them. [email protected] or 360-770-6037 (no calls please—text only!!)

4 WNPS State Board Meeting Highlights Fayla Schwartz The WNPS state board usually meets twice a year, once in eastern WA and once in western WA. This year no one had to drive, as we utilized Zoom as our meeting venue. I represented the Olympic Chapter, and this is my report to the membership. If you would like more details about any of these items, please contact me: [email protected]. The first year of native Plant Appreciation month (NPAM) , as opposed to Native Plant Appreciation Week (NPAW) resulted in the multiple zoom webinars explained earlier.. WNPS is developing a new strategic plan. Early stages of this process included focus groups (including one in our chapter) to talk about the chapter and the whole organization. A strategic planning committee has recently announced a summary of the focus groups. June is membership renewal month. Please renew your WNPS membership so that our organization can continue its exceptional work promoting conservation of and education about native plants in Washington. WNPS has an outstanding website containing lots of information, calendar of events, photos and resources at www.wnps.org.This website is constantly being updated. At the meeting the Board approved a privacy statement and a terms of service statement that will protect the content on our website and protect its users Rhododendron macrophyllum from fraud.

General chapter info Our next board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday September 15. 2-4pm Contact Fayla Schwartz for details . The Grass workshop is currently still scheduled with Clay Antieau on July 17 . Contact Fayla for updates. Botany programs are scheduled for the third Tuesday of the month from October through April. Port Townsend Com- munity Center, 620 Tyler St. Chair: Fayla Schwartz [email protected] 206-883-2176 Vice Chair: Kathy Darrow [email protected] 623-533-0171 Secretary: Eve Dixon [email protected] 360-775-0470; Treasurer: Dan Post [email protected] 360-390-8635 Conservation Chair: Wendy McClure ; [email protected] 360-779-3820 Immediate Past chair: Ann Weinmann [email protected] Program liaison: Fred Weinmann [email protected] Web page/ newspaper liaison; Dixie Llewellin [email protected] 360-385-6432 Board members at large; John Haskins, Varn Brooks *Newsletter: Sharon Schlentner [email protected] 360-379-9810 *Email updates to events are posted monthly. Send input to Sharon [email protected]

The next newsletter will be for Fall 2020 October through January Submit newsletter information no later than September 20 Please include all pertinent info: Event, date, time, place, the name and contact information for the coordinator/leader of the event preferably in Times New Roman 11.

Name:______Address:______City:______State______Zip______Phone:______Email:______Membership Category Individual $40.00 WNPS Special friend $100-499 Budget /Student $20.00 WNPS Best friend $500 Family $55.00 Sustaining Member $1000+ Club/Organization $75.00 WNPS Patron $5000+ WNPS Friend $50-99 One chapter is included; please add $10 for each additional chapter

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 Sharon Schlentner 581 Saddle Drive Port Townsend, WA 98368