1 The Potent Teller

Newsletter of the Salal Chapter of the Native Society serving Northern Snohomish, Skagit and Island Counties

May 2018 www.wnps.org/salal/ Issue 2-18

Salal Chapter Spring Events

Saturday, May 5, 10 am – noon: Native Plant Sale at the Native Plant Garden.

Note: The Native Plant Garden is located in the SE corner of the Skagit Display Gardens adjacent to the WSU extension building, 16650 SR 536, west of Mount Vernon. February Chapter Meeting Karen Erickson

Saturday, May 19, 11:30 am – 4 pm: Chapter MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR picnic and plant walk at the picnic shelter in Brenda Cunningham Washington Park, Anacortes.

Report on the Chapter September Chapter Meeting: TBA Spring is the season of reports from chapters to the state office of Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS). It is my pleasure to report to you about the Salal Chapter in 2017. Not only did we have four excellent presentations at chapter meetings, one of which took place during our May picnic, but we also had a number of plant walks, two successful plant sales, and quite a few opportunities to partner with organizations to further the mission of WNPS. Because of our successful plant sales and generous members we were able to grant financial assistance to three students to attend Botany Washington in 2017. We also gave a modest donation to Rare Plant Care and Conservation Program at University Washington Botanic Gardens. We made a significant contribution to portal project of WNPS. This will make searching and referencing the existing plant lists much easier in many ways. And lastly, we used a bequest from Norm Ainslie to help a local school Book sale Karen Erickson install a native plant display garden. I feel very good about the growing capacity we have for making grants and using the money we generate in SALAL CHAPTER ONLINE plant sales and membership to increase the awareness of native and their importance. The Salal Chapter maintains an email list of our We have an active board and newsletter team, members so we can send out timely notice of so the work of maintaining the chapter is well events between issues of the Potent Teller. If you'd shared. Thank you Jean, Kathy, Kerman and Tara. like to be included or removed from the list, email At the end of 2017 we had 115 members in the Brenda Cunningham [email protected] Salal Chapter. I see many of you at chapter You can now receive the Potent Teller via email! If meetings, in the garden and at the plant walks. you'd like to receive the newsletter in PDF format Thank you all for your interest in native plants. instead of paper, email Tara McGown at Your membership means a great deal to the [email protected]. Society and to me.

SALAL NATIVE PLANT GARDEN UPDATE UPCOMING SALAL CHAPTER MEETING PLANT SALE MAY 5TH! Chapter Picnic and Plant Walk Our Spring Native Plant Sale is THE fundraiser Saturday, May 19, 11:30 am – 4 pm for our chapter and we work hard all year to put Join us for a potluck lunch at the picnic shelter in together a great list of plants for the sale. Some are Washington Park, Anacortes. We will gather at purchased from a wholesaler, some are purchased 11:30 and take a plant walk after lunch. The as bare root plants and others are propagated by chapter will provide grilling items. Please bring a volunteers from plants at their homes or from the side dish or dessert to share. Having your own display garden. We hold all propagated and bare plate and utensils is appreciated as well. root plants for at least 6 months to be sure they are weed free and well-rooted before we put them up for sale. All this requires a fair amount of coordination and space in the nursery. But the end result is funds for scholarships, educational materials, state organization support, events for members and materials needed in the garden. A terrific group of volunteers have distributed 1,000 bookmarks around the county about this sale. The plant list, including prices, can be downloaded from here: www.wnps.org/salal. The sale is May 5th, starting at 10 am. It takes a lot of space and volunteer effort to keep plants in the nursery over the summer, so we try to sell all the available plants at this event. This is all to say, come early if you have a specific plant in mind. Jean Birdsall, the chapter treasurer, has been working hard to improve the organization of the sale. The plants will be categorized to match the Lysichiton americanum sale list and she has created signage that should make it easier to find everything. We are also looking for people willing to staff SALAL CHAPTER TO HOST 2019 WNPS the sale: help customers find plants, add up their purchases and bring wheelbarrows back from the STUDY WEEKEND: May 17 – 19 parking lot. Please let me know if you can help on Kathy Murray sale day (May 5th) by sending me an email at [email protected]. Please keep the weekend of May 17–19, 2019, open so you can attend the annual WNPS Study Brenda Cunningham Weekend that our chapter will host in Anacortes. WNPS chapters take turns hosting these weekends. Salal last organized the event in 2000 and since then Study Weekends have been held all over the state. This is our opportunity to show off our botanical diversity and an opportunity for WNPS members to see early blooming lowland wildflowers. Salal Treasurer Jean Birdsall and I have looked at three venues and are in the process of finalizing arrangements with Fidalgo Bay Resort, a site with nice meeting and dining facilities, a few cabins for rent, and many RV spaces. We will need to have a list of other lodging and camping options for registrants. (Details will follow once the contract is signed). If we can get study weekenders to rent cabins and RV spaces at the resort our costs will drop substantially.

Kerman Kermoade Cont. on next page The Potent Teller May 2018 Page 2

Each Study Weekend has a similar format: Programs on Friday and Saturday nights and field Possible Study Weekend Fieldtrips trips to explore botanical destinations on Saturday (offered at the 2000 Event) and Sunday. We anticipate having a catered dinner on Saturday night for all registrants and possibly a Anacortes and Mt. Vernon more casual meal on Friday evening. WNPS -Heart Lake to Sugarloaf Mountain (lowland forest members will come from throughout the state and plant associations) we will need volunteers to assist with registration, -Salal Chapter's Native Plant Garden directions to parking, clean up, and the like. -Washington Park I will chair the event. At the February chapter -Washington Park and Mt. Erie meeting several people signed up to work on the -Whistle Lake and Anacortes Community Forest organizing committee. I would be delighted to have Lands from Heart Lake more volunteers. -WSU Research Center and Skagit County Once the site is finalized, we will put together a roadsides (study of phyto-invaders, native and list of potential fieldtrips and solicit leaders. See non-native) the accompanying box for the 2000 fieldtrips, -National Estuarine Research Reserve and Breazeal which can be a starting point as we think about Interpretive Center places to visit. What new ones should we add? We Deception Pass State Park also need to think about evening program topics -Bowman Bay and Goose Rock and speakers. Possible topics might include the -Bowman Bay, Lottie’s Bay and Lighthouse Point geology of the region and how this affects botanical -Goose Rock diversity, and since we will be meeting in the -Little Cranberry Lake (sphagnum bog on foot and shadow of a refinery, it might be interesting to have by boat) a short program on the history of refineries in -Rosario Bay and Bowman Bay Anacortes and the growth of the local conservation -Sand dunes and West Beach movement. What are your ideas for topics or North and Central Whidbey Island speakers? Please let me know. We will develop a -Ebey's Landing and Lake Parego's Lagoon budget over the summer. Everything needs to be -Kettle Holes and Fort Ebey organized by early September so the Study -North and Central Whidbey Island car trip (coastal Weekend program and registration fees can be areas, forest, meadows, wetlands, rhododendrons) announced in the Fall/Winter Douglasia. -Smith Prairie Registration will begin in early January 2019. Bellingham/Whatcom County Another need is housing for WNPS Fellows. -Cedar and Pine Lakes trail Every five years, the WNPS State Board recognizes -Chuckanut Mountain balds members for their outstanding contributions to the -Squires Lake society. A perk that comes with this honor is Mount Vernon, East waiver of registration fees for Study Weekends (and -East Baker Lake sometime housing). If anyone would like to host a -Grass Identification Workshop and trip to Rasar fellow during the Study Weekend, let me know. State Park, Concrete To summarize: To join the Study Weekend -North Baker River and Hidden Creek Committee, suggest speakers and topics for the -North Cascades Revegetation Station, evening programs, or if you have ideas for fieldtrips Marblemount and Newhalem or would like to volunteer to lead one, please -Rockport State Park contact me by email or telephone. If the latter, -Sulfur Creek lava flow and Baker Lake area please leave a voice message. I am excited about Mount Vernon, South showing off the botanical wonders in Skagit, -Ice Caves and Big Four Mountain Trail Island, Whatcom, and possibly Snohomish -Summer Lake (wetland and sphagnum bog with counties. Look for email updates and thank you for carnivorous plants), Skagit Land Trust, on road to your help. Contact me at -Lake Cavanaugh [email protected] or 425-257-0583. Note: Some of these fieldtrips were offered on two

days.

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genus, with large -like flowers. A beginner might mistake the much more common Spreading gooseberry (which has similar but much smaller flowers) for the Gummy gooseberry. Once you have seen Gummy gooseberry in bloom you will not be tricked again. This species is found east of the mountains and on the Olympic peninsula: it skips over Skagit, Whatcom and Snohomish Counties. Northern Black currant, although it has masses of white flowers, can be hard to find. It favors wet places east of the mountains where its visual splendor is accompanied with a definite identification aid: a very foul odor. On one hike I guessed the presence of this plant by that odor – before I saw the white blooms. My yard is not wet enough to try to grow this species, probably to the benefit of my neighbors. (What pollinates this plant? Perhaps flies.) You can view many excellent images of all the species in Washington on the WTU Image collection:http://biology.burke.washington.edu/he rbarium/imagecollection.php. Ribes hudsoniamum Ben Legler Under current nomenclature we have nine gooseberries and eleven currants. Many years ago, at a chapter meeting at the Your Favorite Plant? native plant garden, I stood next to a potted plant I James Duemmel had never seen, a in full bloom that looked exactly like a Red-flowered currant – except for its I don’t really have one, or actually, I have too blazing white flowers. Several times, the person many. Years ago, a website suggested “What is next to me and I quietly discussed this remarkable your favorite flower?” as a security question. I plant and waited anxiously for a chance to ask pondered that for minutes, finally making a choice. about it. The presenter, Mary Rose, closed her talk Later, months later, the website asked that actual by mentioning that many of our native plants were question. I tried many possibilities - until access taken to England where they become popular was denied for too many tries. I restarted my garden plants, later to be returned to our shores in computer, hoping for a different security question. altered form. She pointed to our plant as an No stable favorite flower, but I do have a example. was the botanist who sent favorite genus: Ribes, the currants and this species to England. gooseberries, a genus with many beautiful plants and enough variety to present challenges. Technical names of the species mentioned: Identification starts simply: your first task is to Red-flowered Currant R. sanguineum decide whether you have a gooseberry, with thorns, Spreading Gooseberry R. divaricatum or a currant, without thorns. All Ribes have maple- Golden Currant R. aureum like leaves and species occur at high and low Gummy Gooseberry R. lobbii elevations, in wet and dry habitats, in varied Northern Black Currant R. hudsoniamum colors. Years ago this genus was the subject of eradication efforts since it is the major alternate host for pine blister rust. Fortunately, those efforts have mostly stopped. Red-flowering currant is one of the stars in this group. Its early blooms chase away the lingering winter cold and welcome the return of Rufous hummingbirds. The bright yellow of the Golden currant is a welcome sight east of the Cascades. For me, two Ribes species are very special, gummy gooseberry and Northern Black currant. Ribes sanguineum Rod Gilbert Gummy gooseberry is probably the beauty of the

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OPPORTUNITIES WNPS NEWS

Impromptu Walks/Hikes with Lucie Botany Weekend 2018, June 8 - 10 Lucie Johns will continue to schedule and lead Visit the Southwestern Washington Coast in late plant hikes on short notice during the summer. If spring to explore the coastal headlands, dune you want to be on that list, please send her your e- communities, tidal marshes and flats, and lowland mail address [email protected]. coastal forests off the Long Beach Peninsula.. Registration and information at www.wnps.org or Native Plant Walk & Talks 206-527-3210. Join Robin Haglund for a series of informal walks in the upland forest and meadows of the Padilla 2018 Workshop: Know Your Grasses Bay Reserve. Observe the seasonal changes in the June 27 – 29 flora and fauna throughout the summer in this Instructor Clay Antieau, University of Washington. monthly program. No registration needed. Intensive hands-on lab, classroom, and field study Robin Haglund is a certified Horticulturist, of native and naturalized grasses commonly seen http://gardenmentors.com, 206-781-8645. in the Pacific Northwest. Registration and Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve information at www.wnps.org or 206-527-3210. and Breazeale Interpretive Center, 10441 Bay-View Edison Road, Mt Vernon.

June 17, 10 am – 11 am: Plant Walk & Talk July 15, 10 am – 11 am: Plant Walk & Talk July 21, 10 am – 11 am: Is That A weed Or What? Aug. 19, 10 am – 11 am: Plant Walk & Talk Sept. 16, 10 am - 11 am: Plant Walk & Talk Nov. 10, 10 am – 11 am: Growing A Year-Round Hummingbird Habitat Garden.

Pachistima myrsinites

Please direct address changes to Washington Native Plant Society, 6310 NE 74th St, Suite 215E, Seattle, WA 98115, 206-527-3210 or call toll free 1-888-288-8022 or email [email protected]. The Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS) is dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and study of the native plants of Washington and to the education of the public on the values of native flora and its habitat. Salal Chapter Officers Chair: Brenda Cunningham Vice- Chair: Kerman Kermoade Treasurer: Jean Birdsall Secretary: Kathy Murray Chapter Botanist: Vacant Visit our website at www.wnps.org/salal The Potent Teller is issued four times yearly on the first of February, May, September and November. Direct submissions to: Tara Plant sale 2017 Kerman Kermoade McGown PO Box 26 Rockport, WA 98283 (360-853-8375), email [email protected]. . The Potent Teller May 2018 Page 5

Ribes divaricatum Rod Gilbert

WNPS-SALAL Chapter c/o Tara McGown PO Box 26 Rockport, WA 98283

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