In my mother's garden the Peruvian lily held a place of honor. This was a tough, strong-spreading, spring blooming orange, tall and a little floppy. Later years saw extensive work by specialists on this genus. First came the Litgu hybrid series, mostly still tall and a little floppy, but in a wide range of colors. More recently (since 1998) the distinctive Princess series of Inca lily has entered the trade and it is so different that it represents a new class of plant.
Rather than tall and floppy these are compact, sturdy and self-supporting, growing 10 to 16 inches (25-40 cm) tall. These need no longer be relegated to mid- or back-border positions. Rather than a single though satisfying burst of bloom each spring, these continue until cold fall or winter weather. There are now 21 color forms available, with more likely. Yellows, whites, purples, orange, reds, pinks and multicolors are all available.
Ivana Inca Lily
These are vigorous enough to make a good groundcover yet not unduly invasive. They lend themselves to foreground placement in your borders. Picking harmonious color groupings adds a great deal, and makes gathering cut flowers easier.
Summer watering and adequate fertilization with a low to moderate nitrogen fertilizer will result in more blooms. One simple maintenance technique also results in better plant performance: instead of cutting to deadhead or gather cutflowers, yank the stem out of the ground with an upward pull. This will break the stem cleanly away from the buried rhizome. Underground the plant keeps a ready store of buds, which are stimulated by this to sprout and supply new growth and bloom.
Established plants can be divided to make more. Otherwise leave them alone to spread and prosper. Unlike some perennials, they can be left indefinitely without harm.
Cold Hardiness: zones 11 to 8, if well mulched zone 7
Heat Hardiness: zones 12 to 7
They grow in full sun to partial shade, with best performance with the most sun. In the hottest climates some shade may be required.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Alstroemeria "Ivana", Inca or Peruvian Lily
Monday, September 10, 2007
Osprey Bathing
We were surprised to spot an osprey bathing in the Clackamas River just below our house. Taking advantage of the broad shallows, the bird was taking its time. After watching for 5 minutes I attempted to get a photo. The osprey took offence before I was 100 feet away, and flew off.
All our osprey disappeared south during the first week of September, a little earlier than last year. During the Down The River Cleanup on Sept. 9th we observed three osprey upriver from here. So some tarry longer than others.
We had three pair fishing here, up from two last year. One pair always flies upriver to points unknown to me. The others head downriver to nests in cell phone towers. These towers are a major boon to osprey - large snags suitable for nest building are in such short supply that it is the major limiting factor in this population. Big cottonwood or Douglas fir snags are rare nowadays, and snags by definition are short-lived. A mammoth fir snag in Mary S. Young State Park on the Willamette River fell about 10 years ago, and a large cottonwood overhanging the Clackamas 4 or 5 miles upstream from here crashed down 3 years back. So its off to the cell phone towers for the osprey which were using those nest sites. The natural snags may take many decades to replace.
Its possible to build towers for osprey nesting. A telephone pole, some crossbeams, a few planks, at it looks like home to an osprey couple. If even a small handful could be scattered along the river the osprey population would greatly expand.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Winecups
If its purple you want, you want this plant! The bright burgundy summer blooms intoxicate with their color, and look back at the viewer from their low perches atop sprawling perennial mats of leaves. The leaf reminds you of buttercups; but the blossom shows its true family alignment, with the mallows. The flowers are held one to a stem and can reach 2-1/2 inches (6.35 cm) across.
This grows around six inches (15 cm) tall on open ground. The stems grow strongly horizontal, and will climb up into adjacent plants and so appear to be taller. Its able to spread 2 or 3 feet (60 to 90 dcm) with those vigorous sideways stems.
Winecups grows and blooms lustily only during the heat of the summer. It begins to die back promptly with cooler weather towards Fall. It demands sun and takes well to dry conditions. Make sure it has good drainage but it doesn't need rich soil. Dry sandy soil suits it well, and cool wet clays limit its season as it is so insistent on warm conditions.
The thick fleshy roots lend themselves to division once its had time to spread.
Keep watered the first summer to get established, but then expect good drought tolerance. Mulch to control weeds especially the first season when foliage may be sparse. I haven't bothered to deadhead this one.
Cold Hardiness Zones 8 to 4
Heat Hardiness Zones 12 to 3
Full Sun only!
Native from Texas to Wyoming across the Great Plains.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Willow Gentian
Sometimes a plant is a standout of its type. Such is true of the willow gentian. Though almost all plants in the genus Gentiana share intense blue flowers, most are low growing, soon out of bloom and finicky to grow. Willow gentian grows a useful medium height, blooms August till frost, and given its preferred conditions is quite simple to grow.

The trumpet flowers of this leafy two footer (60 cm) are among the truest of blues -- dark and rich like the best of chocolates. They nestle in small clusters along the tops of the gracefully arching stems. They look up from their perches to show markings of white and yet darker blue. 
They like cool shady nooks that you can keep watered in dry spells. Give them a good loose soil high in organics. They will award all your efforts with flowers from August on.
Give it plenty of room to allow the arching stems space to fully develop. A yard (meter) between plants is not too much. A shortcoming is its dislike of alkaline, free lime soils, much like an azalea. The dry regions most likely to have such soils naturally are also too hot for the willow gentian's liking.
You can make more by simple division in the fall or spring. Seed should be sown as soon as ripe, and cuttings can be sucessful. A white form exists, as does a dwarf blue one.
Gentiana asclepiadea
Willow Gentian
Grows wild from Central Europe to the Caucasus Mountains and Asia Minor.
USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 5a
Height to 2 ft (60cm), spreading 2-3 ft (60-100 cm), more with age.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Olallie Scenic Area Highlands
This expansive backcountry area is underappreciated by forest users, with almost all use limited to around the larger lakes at trailhead elevation. The higher elevations here give access to one of the most extensive regions of upper montane forests and meadows not on a high glaciated peak in The Cascades. At 7215 ft. (2200 m) Olallie Butte is the highest point between Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson. If you try this area out, you will find few other folks on the trail.
On this outing I met only one other group - a young family of four with their dog. From northern Washington and used to the deep-canyoned, steep-trailed North Cascades, they found the comparative gentleness of this landscapen better suited to their growing family. The unnamed lake is a short hop off the trail. Its outlet was dry at this time, and I'm uncertain if it is part of the Clackamas or Santiam watershed.
The Ice Age glaciation of these highlands took the form of sheet glaciation rather than carving deep valleys. The ice sheets left behind so many water bodies that many have never received names. Hiking on any trail up here reveals a series of pretty ponds and attractive lakes.
This hike starts just of Forest Service Road 4220, accessible using Roads 46 and then 4680 or 4690. I started at Lower Lake Campground and proceeded south on Road 4220. No trail completes the loop hike planned, and the road gives access to some little-visited ponds and lakes which have little or no parking available.
First stop was a mountain pool with no outlet. Its waters are strongly tainted with organics. Usually tannins and such are flushed out by an exit stream, but this old beaver pond has none. So the tannins and other chemicals build up, making the tarn tea-colored.
Two linear grassy strips cut across the pond and support some straggly trees. They are remnants of very old beaver dams. No sign of current beaver activity could be seen. The pond backs up to the roadfill but has never flowed across it.
Next up the road was First Lake. Limited parking exists here and a few primitive campsites are near the water. A trail follows the north bank (to the left in the photo) but peters out just past the lakes westernmost point. The outlet is also on the north near the road. It is choked with large logs too big to wash down the creek. Like all the outlets found on this hike, the outlet creek is dry during the rainless summer.
The clear water supports salamanders and some fish. Like other glacial lakes nearby, this radiates out from Olallie Butte and the view from the west edge gives the length of the lake with the Butte on the skyline. Sunlight on Road 4220 is visible just past the lake, with the gravel rising towards the south.
Also visible in the background are grey patches of bark beetle killed lodgepole pine. The adults burrow their eggs under the bark, and the larvae fan out to feed on pitch, girdling and killing the pine in the process. The thin bark falls off in two years, exposing the tunneling that did the tree in. In around ten years the trees fall. Many thousands of this common pine have died. In fire-history areas the lodgepole made up almost all the forest, and the big trees are all gone. The young pines that have yet to mature their bark are spared, so we can hope that this insect epidemic will see the bugs run out of food and die out.
Fire danger will be higher with all this dead fuel around. The current cool wet summer has put an end to high fire danger this year, but next year could bring drought.
I reached the Pacific Crest Trail at Head Lake, one of the ultimate sources of the Clackamas River via Squirrel Creek. At first the route follows the divide between the Clackamas and the Deschutes drainages. After crossing and recrossing this divide the trail enters into the Santiam drainage.
with Jefferson behind
The Pacific Crest trail climbs from the lake. Many ponds and meadow areas can be seen along it. The first was some distance below the trail and had tannin-tinged water, indicating lack of an outlet.
Most of the area is quite rocky, with only the little soil that has developed since the glaciers melted. Occasionally the path enters deeper soils of unglaciated areas. The forest thickens, more undergrowth appears and everything looks more like a typical westside woodland, without the rocks and pines more common eastside.
High up the ridge a glacial dropoff provides stone seats for lunch. Mount Jefferson is on the skyine nine miles (14.5 km) distant. The cliff exceeds 100 feet (35 m) height. The view over the treetops extends from the south slope of Olallie to Double Peaks. Drought tolerant wildflowers and shrubs take advantage of the sun on the cliff face.
just off Trail 2000
The faint, eroded glacial striations indicate the ice moved more or less at right angles to the cliff, which it helped create during the Ice Age. 
The heavy crevassing of Russell Glacier is clear in this 8X telephoto of Mount Jefferson. The apparent secondary peak to the right of Russell Glacier is a remnant of the west slope of the once higher and larger mountain, cut off by the notch created by the glacier. Originally the slope would have been continuous to the original peak. Likely thousands of feet of rock have eroded off all sides of the mountain by ice, water and wind. 
This rock-strewn lake was the high point of this hike at 5500 feet (1675 m). The sheet glacier divided at what is now the lake, with part flowing to the right in the picture and the rest directly into the camera. In that direction below the water down the very steep slope are springs fed by the lake. They support a colony of spirea and other wetland plants which is bisected by the rocky trail. 
More trails are available in this area. Close by is the Double Peaks (5900 ft., 1800 m.) trail, which forks off at Cigar Lake. A second steeper route parallels the Pacific Crest Trail giving access to a different set of lakes. The Crest Trail heads south and two trails branching off it give access to the high terrain above Breitenbush Lake. Other forks pass more lakes on the way to trailheads downstream.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Clackamas Headwaters Tour
This excursion is one I set up for The Clackamas River Basin Council, and lead for them the first time this year. In it participants visit a series of springs and lakes all of which are headwaters of one fork or tributary of the far-flung Clackamas River. Date was July 8th.
We visited in order deep bright blue Little Crater Lake, teal-colored Clackamas Lake and nearby Forest Service museum, Summit Lake, Lower Lake, and Head Lake. Finally we barely passed out of the Clackamas watershed to visit Olallie Lake, store and resort.
Though our group saw no single wildflower display to match that in Pansy Basin, there were a variety of sometimes unusual plants present in bloom. The peak of the Cascade Mountain butterfly season was only a week off, and we saw hundreds of them from several species - orange, black, white, blue and yellow colors usually with two or more per kind. A large black and white one was seen once; a pale yellow, orange and black one was very common.

Our route passed through the Summit area on Mount Hood with the intent of entering the Clackamas watershed on its northeast side and ending up in the southeast corner. This allowed us to traverse mid-elevation areas only lightly eroded as well as higher areas with many lakes due to sheet glaciation during the last ice age. Elevations visited range from 3300 to 5000 feet (1000 to 1525 meters), so includes mid-elevation sites up to the watershed boundaries. Much of the route (up Forest Service Road 42 and then 4220) was through dry piney woods with much eastside influence. Firs were always present but the pines dominated much of the area. A beetle infestation has killed thousands of pines in this region. Its a borer whose larvae girdle the tree. This is heavily affecting this region, especially lodgepole pine but also the larger white pine. 
Little Crater Lake is an artesian spring which has carved out a 45 ft (14 m.) deep lake in the soft siltstone. The pure, cold water displays a striking deep yet bright blue. It was named by comparison to the much larger water-filled caldera in Crater Lake National Park. You can see whole trees at the bottom, preserved by the 34 degree (1 degree C) water. Elevation here is the lowest of our stops at 3250 ft (990 m.).
In the wet meadows the white bog orchid was making a show. (Habenaria dilatata). These sturdy perennials are quite obvious and showy spread throughout the acres of damp meadow. Other common names include bog-candle and scent-bottle.
Another perennial flowering in the meadow was a St. Johns Wort (Hypericum formosum scouleri). Though related to the European species which sees use as an herbal anti-depressant, this one sticks to wet meadows, rather than dry ground. Weather it has herbal uses is unknown.

Next we visited Clackamas Lake, which has cold springs both in and just above the lake. This lake is tinted a teal due to Mares Nest algae growing there. Its not fully understood why this lake has so much that it colors the water. Perhaps temperature, perhaps something else or some combination of factors. Elevation here is 3400 ft (1035 m.)
The lake is surrounded by wetlands and meadows which host a number of unusual plants. Betula glandulosa is a small birch which is common in the wetlands. This is very shrubby, growing 5 to 10 feet high (1.5 to 3 m). It is small leafed and not particularly ornamental. The swamp cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris) shares the wetlands around the lake with the birch. Its flowers are a dull dark red-purple, much unlike its usually yellow relatives. Potentilla is a large genus of the rose family, and includes both perennials and shrubs, some useful as ornamentals and offered in the nursery trade.

Just downstream from the lake is a Forest Service museum, housed in a 1930's Civilian Conservation Corps-built guard station. The structure was crafted almost entirely of clear fir, then widely and cheaply available. Twenty-foot long knotfree tongue and groove paneling line the walls. Such lumber can scarcely be found today at any price.
This small museum contains examples of early 20th Century equipment 70 and more years old, along with period photographs. The volunteer staff is talkative and informative. 
We were also treated to a tour of a nearby cabin also part of the 1930's CCC legacy. Its now rented out for only $80 a night ($100 weekends). The two story structure has beds for 9, includes a kitchen and woodstove and a wonderful view at the edge of Clackamas Meadows, with old growth out the back.

Further down the road we visited Summit Lake. A mile off the road down an upgraded gravel road, it features picnic tables but no other facilities. The maps show a creek entering and exiting this lake, but in reality none exists at any time of the year. Springs and underground drainage must exist to keep the water level even. It will drop less than two feet from its depth during our visit by the end of summer. A similar rise would overtop the road, which judging from the complete lack of erosion never happens. This lake is inhabited by very shy ducks who keep to the untracked east shore away from people. Colorful dragonflys abound, and huckleberries fill the forest floor. At 4200 feet, this lake has both low and high elevation trees.
Heading down the 42 Road keep an eye open for 4220 painted in green on the pavement - with frequently disappearing road markers this has proven to be successful in guiding travelers. The junction is easy to miss. The route changes to gravel or dirt, following the old Skyline Road. Along the route Lemiti Creek and wetlands prove to be attractive. Once away from the creek the junction with FS Road 4690 is reached, with a better gravel road ahead for the rest of the trip. 4690 is a good return route to return through Estacada. Pavement is reached soon and then a high speed road most of the way back.
Heading south past the junction Olallie Meadows and Campground is reached on the left after a little more than a mile. The meadow is bisected by the boundary with the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Nearly 3 miles past this we stopped at Lower Lake Campground to access the trail to Lower Lake. The longest hike we undertook, the stroll to the outlet of Lower Lake is less than a 1.5 mile (2.25 km) round trip. Elevation here is 4740 ft (1445 m.).
Unlike most viewpoints, you hike down to this one. This unimpeded view of Olallie Butte and the length of the lake is the reward for this short jaunt. Olallie is a young volcano with its most recent red-tinted cone obvious and little eroded. The far eastern side shows signs of glaciation, perhaps late in the last ice age. Its height is 7215 feet (2200 m.) and it is only 2 miles (1.25 km) distant.
The stony forest floor offers a scattering of wildflowers and many huckleberry plants of several species. Along the lake we found a butterfly hangout - about 25 in a few square feet. A single osprey flew off towards Olallie Butte and disappeared. 
Only a mile down the road we rolled out of the vehicles to view Head Lake at 4935 feet (1500 m.). The ridge in the background framing Mount Jefferson is the boundary between the Clackamas and Deschutes River drainages. The Pacific Crest Trail follows that ridge. Head Lake's outlet is dry at this time of year, but signs of flow earlier are obvious. It is the head of Squirrel Creek. The mainstem Clackamas originates on the north side of Olallie Butte perhaps a thousand feet (300 m.) below the summit. The steep trail to the top passes close by the source. The Clackamas watershed collects about a third of the Buttes runoff, the rest running to the Deschutes.
Our final stop was Olallie Lake, just over the divide from Head Lake to the southeast. This mile-long lake is the largest in this glaciated region. We parked at the store lot. Cabins are available at the resort as are non-motorized boats. Two pair of Ospreys soared over the lake.
Our return route took us down the mainstem Clackamas River. We quickly left the dryer woodlands for the rainforest dominated by Douglas fir typical of the Western Cascades. Occasional views of the river and patches of old growth are a feature of this route.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Pansy Basin
This high glacial valley is of note floristically, geologically and hydrologically. It is located in the Bull of the Woods Wilderness Area at over 4000 ft. elevation. Locals can identify the area as being the next valley east from Bagby Hot Springs. Access is via Forest Service Roads 6340 and 6341. Two trails lead up the valley - the trail most traveled is the one on the maps, with a fairly even grade up the east side, and the hard to find older horse trail that crosses the basin floor and climbs (twice) the west valley wall. Early trail builders did not bother much with planning even grades for easier hiking - horses did the work. Distances then from the nearest road were much greater - in 1940 the trail to Pansy Basin was 25 miles, not one.
The Clackamas River Basin Council sponsored this excursion. I've lead these outings for a few years now, adding commentary similar to that in this article as we hike along.
Much of the basin is floored by a large post-glacier landslide including many blocks the size of furniture, even as large as automobiles. A guesstimate is for an event date 11,000 years back, probably not long after the glacier melted out from the valley. A look up the landslide scar on the west valley wall shows how it occurred. An ancient pumice deposit still hangs in a cliff above the boulders remaining from the slide.
From Edge of Avalanche
Originally the soft pumice was fronted with hard basaltic rock, and the two separated, resulting in the rockfall. Only a little of the pumice moved. The slide is hundreds of feet long and its momentum carried it a ways up the far ridge. During extreme weather conditions, two lakes form atop these boulder fields, whose size is evident from shoreline deposits of trees and twigs. How is this possible?
Evidently the same rare conditions that bring flooding in low elevations are needed to form these temporary lakes. Cold temperatures freeze the soil, copious snow follows, and then the 'Pineapple Express' comes along - very wet tropical rainstorms that melt snow to the highest elevations and add many inches of rain too. These conditions make mountain travel difficult - snow and ice at low levels make for many miles in the cold rain on foot or ski in less than enjoyable conditions. Snowmobiles are illegal in the Wilderness Area though they could be used on the approach road to within a mile or so of the basin.
As no one has witnessed these two lakes, we must make deductions about them from the evidence they leave behind. The linear shoreline deposits of woody debris, including both small wood and whole trees, could only have been left by ponded water. No erosion features exist, so the high water must be short lived. The two lake sites are very different. The lower is deep and broad and consists entirely of rock just as left by the slide. The upper lakebed is mostly covered by organic soil washed in by the stream that enters over a falls from the east. Most of the time this stream simply vanishes into the rocky substrate beneath the soil. The lake however leaves behind a more spectacular record of its departure. The dried rushes and grasses which occupy the lowest levels of the lakebed are laid down in a circular pattern as the lake water wheels around the rocky openings which act as drains, circling just like water rapidly exiting a bathtub. The lower lake has a more subtle clue - the lichens growing on the boulders change below the high water mark. Evidently a species very common elsewhere on the slide does not tolerate the rare submergence events and leaves the lake locale to another species that does.
The disappearing waters of both lakes and stream reappears a mile or more downhill just past the parking area at the trailhead. During wet seasons springs appear uphill and squirt through the culvert walls beneath the Forest Service road.
The stream flowing off Dickey Ridge into the basin has a pretty nameless falls. It drops into a rocky slot at its base and then flows off to one side towards the slide area. Early in wet seasons it reaches the meadow before disappearing, but at dryer times it is lost in the slide alder thickets which border the forest. Such was the case during this visit.
in the background rocks are
logs left on the temporary lakeshore
The meadow makes quite a show at its peak in late June. There are other areas with more floristic variety than Pansy Basin, but few with a better show. The clear vegetive zoning has deep blue larkspurs dominating the wettest, richest soils near the stream and red to orange Indian paintbrush in the dryer and thinner soils. Larkspur is there too but far fewer. In the low areas near the drains only rushes and grasses grow. Otherwise the salmon Jacobs ladder is scattered throughout the area, with the native orange columbine present in often rocky areas with only a little soil. 
Cats ears are unusually abundant on the dryer sections. The European dandelion is present, no doubt brought in via horses decades ago. A few other species make scattered variations to the show.
Along the forest trail some forest floor plants were flowering well. Oregon anemone (Anemone deltoidea) was abundant in spots, as was Coralroot (Corallorhiza mertensiana). This leafless, saprophytic orchid is normally deep reddish purple, but we found a single very unusual yellow plant.
A small lake is hidden away above Pansy Lake on the old trail. On this visit it was half dried up in comparison to the picture below from 2004. We are not sure why - this has not been a dry year, and snowpack was ample.

Pansy Lake itself though shallow is much larger. It is impounded by a hillock of moraine left behind in the final retreat of the glacier from this high valley.
Up the remains of the old trail from Pansy Lake (damaged in the 1996 floods) is a relict stand of 5 and 6 foot thick Douglas firs, all with fire scars from an ancient fire. That fire eliminated all trees but these few for miles in all directions. The lake no doubt broke the intense fire allowing these trees to survive. The yard thick veterans which have grown up since the blaze seem little in comparison with these Methuselahs. At this elevation (4200-4300 ft, 1300 m.) their size is surprising, and certainly indicates great age.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Siberian Perennial forget-me-not
This perennial flowers like the annual blue forget-me-not but without its weedy ways. Try this perennial forget-me-not to enjoy in a permanent clump-forming foliage plant.
Langtrees Siberian forget-me-not is a hearty grower in most soils as long as some extra moisture is present. It's a wet ground plant rather than a dry forest floor plant. though far from a bog plant. Do expect to water it in summer unless growing in a naturally moist soil or in a region with consistent summer rain. We sited it at the bottom of a slope with some natural seepage through late spring, and it seems to love it. In cool summer areas it will take full sun but in hot regions give it part to full shade. It needs about the same conditions as an astilbe.
The light blue flowers open in airy clusters over the plant late March into May or June with some bloom later. The heart-shaped leaves (up to 8 inches but smaller if dry or in the sun) are lightly variagated silver and remain attractive until winter. Other variations of this species can be more or less variagated, or just green. Expect moderate to fast growth.
If happy it can sprout from seed in places of its own liking. Divide in early spring or fall once it has expanded its rootstock.
In Photo: Brunnera macrophylla "Langtrees"
Heat Hardiness Zones 9 to 3
Cold Hardiness Zones 3 to 7
Height 12-18 inches, 30-45 cm
Spread to 24 inches, 60 cm, or more with age.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Osprey Back
The osprey have returned for the nesting season. Their high pitched call is most distinctive as the mated pairs scout out the 'home territory' they are reclaiming after a South American winter sojourn. In one case we observed a third osprey following the pair - perhaps last year’s offspring. The yearling is likely to find his or her own way before nesting begins in earnest.
We noted osprey last in mid-September. These eagle-sized birds (sometimes mistaken for bald eagles) fish for a living, and will have no other food. Their high-speed dives are easily the most spectacular activity among the wildlife we observe here. They hunt from stream-side perches and by hovering kestrel-like over the river. A guesstimate for their success ratio is about one out of three dives. Sometimes they grasp a large salmon and need to slowly spiral up to gain enough elevation to fly off to their home.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Mount Talbert In The Snow
The spate of cold weather in January finally brought snowfall for the first time in three years. At our house about four inches fell, enough for me to get out the old Asnes Trends with the crack which I've saved for just such times. An odd combination of high camber racing and metal edged backcountry goodness, they carved christys well, cutting down to the underlying grass only in the turns.
Visiting natural areas in the snow gives you the opportunity to see things that otherwise are always missed. Animal tracks rarely show up in the thick duff of Pacific Coast forests. With fresh snow even a novice tracker will find tracks of several animals, even small ones otherwise never seen.
At Mount Talbert, only two inches were on the ground, not enough for optimum tracking as the larger animals - deer and coyote - will break though the snow, leaving indistinct tracks. A little searching along a track will bring up obvious ones despite this. Smaller animals leave very clear traces in these conditions.
The first track I noticed was rabbit. Following along the track was easy. Soon I found another set of tracks that joined alongside the rabbits - coyote! This fellows interest in the rabbit is strictly gustatory. A second coyote soon joined the track, and the two met, greeting each other, leaving a jumble of tracks - while the rabbit went into a brushpile to hide. No easy meal for the coyotes this time!
Rabbit tracks are round-toed, with the back foot usually leaving a long mark alongside a toes-only front print.
Following other tracks, it became obvious that various animals will use the same path. A open route is open for all. One unidentified large rodent was seemingly accompanied by a deer - but no doubt they were there at different times. The deer passed around fallen trees while the rodent went under.
Following the many deer tracks backwards, I soon found several beds, including these two where they laid during the snowstorm, keeping the ground bare in a curled-up deer pattern. Some of the leaves which was the cushion were shaken off when the deer awoke and lay on top of the fresh white snow. A second, smaller bed was a few yards off, and the animal had evidently slept with one leg stuck out. A third bed was found which was used the night after the snow had fallen. 
Raccoon
Raccoons left clear tracks under these conditions. The front and back tracks are placed along side one another with the back print larger. Like us, raccoons are omnivores, eating meat, fruit, and eggs, and prefer to wash their food well. They are urbanizing well, needing only a small area of cover.
Squirrel
Some squirrel species have a Latin name that means "seed loving", and this describes their feeding habits well. Both ground and tree dwelling types exist, and ours are tree types locally. They spend some time foraging on the ground and so left tracks during this snow event. The elongated toes are adapted for grasping and climbing. In summer they busy themselves cutting conifer cones, dropping them to the ground and then hunting them up on the ground. Many are stored for winter; they will also gorge on the seeds, leaving the dismembered cone scales in sometimes large piles. These are usually near the base of a large fir, their escape route in case of danger. 
Squirrel feeding at Mount Talbert
Monday, February 19, 2007
Lenten Rose
Year-round, lenten rose offers deep green glossy foliage, and better yet it blooms in winter, with a season from February well into April. Its especially welcome on a garden walk on a fine winters day, but be sure to place it where your windows look out upon it for those not so nice late winter days!
These evergreen perennials keep their foliage nice year round, with the previous years laying down as the new greenery comes out in early spring. There it is easily removed to tidy up. The foliage is bold, palmately divided, and is well and thickly presented on a foot or 16 inch-(30 - 40 cm) high mounded plant. The blossoms are rounded, nodding, with a central boss of yellow stamens, and range in color from pure white to very deep red-purple. They stand a few inches higher than the foliage. Often the lighter colors are interestingly spotted, like the clone "White Lady" pictured just below. 
The availability of these plants has greatly improved from years past, with both named clones and improved seed strains now on the market. Some include the blood of multiple species of Helleborus, but often H. orientalis is the predominate type. A sister clone to the above is "Red Lady". Other clones in the catalogs include "Rose Madder", "Heronswood Yellow" "Slaty", "Blue Lady" (actually more of a violet), and "Red Mountain". Seed strains include 'Early Purple', 'Party Dress' and 'Border Mix'. You no doubt can find more!
Above: Naturalized Lenten Rose at Elk Rock Gardens.
The blanket advice often given that these are exclusively shade plants isn't fully correct except in hot climates. They are indeed shade tolerant, but they are also take more sun than they are usually given credit for. Plant them in mostly sunny spots or in shady ones, they will grow well and bloom well either way. Try them under or around taller shrubs too. Quickest growth will result if watered, but as natives of dry summer Mediterranean climates they are very drought resistant.
Making more: These can self-sow and naturalize, and if you wish to sow seed simply collect it in early summer and plant outdoors in loose well-drained soil high in organics. Under outdoor conditions seedlings appear in late spring. Division is possible but the plants are slow to get going again. The plants don't really require dividing and can be left alone indefinitely unless outgrowing their spot. 
Heat Hardiness Zones 9 through 1
Cold Hardiness Zones 4 through 9
Height to 16 - 18 in. (00 - 46 cm) in flower, 12 - 16 in. (30 - 40 cm) foliage mound.
Spreads 24 to 36 inches (30 - 90 cm) or more in time.
Botanic Name: Helleborus orientalis or hybrids with other closely related species.
Native from Thrace into Asia Minor.
On left: Helleborus orientalis "Red Lady"
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Dragon Wings Begonias
Its rare that something hits the horticultural world that is something truly new, something that was not there before. Plants, after all, have been on this planet almost since the beginning. Now a cross between the common wax begonia and the well-known angelwing begonia has resulted in a series of plants that do things no plant did before.
By combining only the best of traits from the two parents, new possibilities for the garden have arisen. Here we have compact 24-36 inch plants that have large clusters of large bright flowers that produce layer after layer of color on an easily grown, adaptable plant. The picture above is of young plants in the ground only three weeks, from small non-flowering starts. They were planted in early August and the picture was taken on the thirty-first of that month. The plants have the sizable flower clusters of angelwing begonias, but produced with the frequency of the few-flowered clusters of wax begonias, not the sporadic widely spaced way of the angelwing side. The flowers are sterile, so flowering never stops and the old clusters drop off on their own. The leaf size is medium, and a waxy dark green substantial type like the wax begonia. The leaves tell you when the plant needs fertilizer by turning a purple shade.
The flowers dangle so they can be used in hanging baskets. They also display well in beds, and are a real improvement over wax begonias in impact. And they thrive indoors too! These begonias adapt well to the hot steamy conditions down South, and take to cooler summer areas also. Reports from the dry Southwest and California are good too. Some reports indicate they even take light frost, and can survive Zone 8 winters if mulched well. They can be dug and taken indoors for winter, or just grown in pots and shuttled back and forth with the weather.
Our experience is that success indoors is dependent on giving them lots of light. I placed a pair dug from the garden in October in an upstairs bathroom. One had to be behind the other and hence got less light. The one closest to the window has never ceased blooming and growing, while the one getting less light failed completely.
Whenever moving plants inside from the garden, expect some leaf drop from the shock of changing light regimens. All plants vary the structure of its leaves depending on how much light it receives. When a plant is moved from bright outdoor conditions to the comparatively dark indoors, the plant goes into a form of shock, dropping leaves previously adapted to bright light and attempting to grow new ones grown in dimmer light. You can lessen this by choosing shade-grown plants from outside, and then placing them in a sunny window, so that the change in lighting is a little as possible.
You may need to search for Dragon Wing begonias - not all nurserymen have caught on yet to their qualities, and you may have to ask about them or shop around to find them. The seed for them is not only expensive at the wholesale level, but a little more difficult to raise than average. The vigorous young plants fill out small containers rapidly without flowering, so the least expensive small sizes may be offered without blossoms. They bloom well in 4 inch (10 cm) and up pot sizes. Once found in any size, you can put them out as soon as frost danger has past in your area, or use them inside or on protected porches and the like. Their performance will surprise you!
Monday, December 11, 2006
Mount Talbert Nature Park
A new major addtion to the area's urban parks system, this hilltop preserve has a decidedly non-urban look and feel. Mount Talbert is one of many Portland-area peaks resulting from the Boring Volcanics series. A set of trails has now been placed in the park. One circles the mountain, another crosses over the 750 ft. elevation maple and oak covered top, while others fan out to the several trailheads. A notable feature of the park is the undegraded nature of the plant life. Though the trees are young, with the biggest firs only 2 to 3 feet in diameter, there are few invasive non-native plants under the forest canopy, and the natural, native plant associations are still in place.
Here at Mount Talbert, after logging perhaps 60-80 years ago, the trees and native forest floor vegetation was able to return heartily. Low elevation areas with intact natural plant communities are actually unusual, as most of the areas in the valleys and low elevation slopes have been farmed, ranched or urbanized, eliminating the natural ecology. Here land use practices were hands-off for the most part, and the forest had time to recover before the modern-day scourges of Scotch broom, hawthorne and especially Himalayan blackberry were able to intrude and dominate. This gives the park great potential from the educational and research standpoints.
An interesting and worthwhile ecological experiment is underway at the park involving the native Oregon white oak woodlands. This sun loving tree casts a very light shade beneficial to other plants. Douglas-fir seedlings are able to thrive in oak woodlands, but the fir grow 3 to 4 times higher than the oaks, and cast shade too deep for the oaks to tolerate. So in the natural forest succession the oaks will die out. It is thought that the Native American population in this area used fire to improve hunting and for other purposes, which kept the firs from growing, while the thick-barked oaks survived.
The experiment is to favor the oaks artificially by eliminating the competing firs, maples and shrubbery. About 19 acres of oak woodland has been treated in this way, out of 183 acres of parkland here. Firs and other trees in the selected areas have been girdled, topped or cut down, while allowed to continue thriving in the large areas with few or no oaks. This should result in a much more diverse ecology in the park and show us how different the tree cover types will be in terms of understory.

The preservation of Mount Talbert is one of many positive results of the 1995 voter approval of the Metro bond measure dedicated to parks land acquisition in the urban area. We are indeed fortunate to have an electorate wise enough in the long term to see the value of parks in this region. The November approval of a second such bond measure will result in much more parkland purchased and made available in our area.

The 1995 Open Spaces Bond Measure resulted in the purchase of 8146 acres for parks (36% more than the 6000 expected at the time of passage), including 74 miles of stream frontage. This was 263 separate transactions. Its expected that the 2006 measure will directly lead to as much as 5500 more acres, plus this time additional funds for development of parks for public use.
Though good trails are available to the footloose now, the 'Grand Opening' of the park will be next year. Planners have moved the planned primary public entry to a site along Mather Road, with construction in 2007. The original idea of placing the main entry and parking near Sunnyside Road proved impractical upon closer inspection.
Parking has yet to be provided, so autos must be left on residential streets, and signage is limited. Its a challenge to find the trailheads. Once you do, expect a somewhat steep initial climb onto the sides of Mount Talbert, but as soon as the main loop trail is reached, its easy going around the mountain. If you wish more elevation gain, try the Westridge Trail over the top.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Oaks Bottom Wildlife Preserve Tour
After several visits, here is some commentary on Oaks Bottom, a park and wildlife refuge on the Willamette River in Portland.
Dozens of great blue herons stand in the open, shallow lakes, just far enough apart to be out of beaks reach of each other. The grey color of both the water and the herons made a close look necessary to pick them out. The joggers running by will miss them easily. A single bright white great egret slowly strode across a marshy area, acting no different from the great blues but certainly standing out in the crowd!
A smooth asphalt handicap-accessible path runs North and South from just upstream from here and miles downstream into Portland, ending at the Steel Bridge. The way crosses on a pedestrian path under the bridge and loops through the urban parks of the Portland Waterfront area. This complex of walkways gives Portland a unique combination of urban and nature. It's popular with cyclists, walkers and hikers alike. We brought Grandma in her wheelchair, as nature is one of her few pleasures at 82. Its possible to link this path complex with the more easterly sections of the Springwater rails-to-trails project, bringing several other parks within cycling distance on a day trip. On foot this will take more than one day! The trail section from Oaks Bottom east is funded but yet to be constructed, so a short jaunt on city streets is necessary. To find a route, just drag the Google map to see the streets. The trail crosses 99E on a new bridge near Ochoco Street at about 19th Avenue The trail follows Johnson Creek Blvd for quite a ways, then Foster, eventually ending at Boring. An eventual expansion will follow the old rail line to Estacada, and hence into the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Crest Trail. So one day it may be possible to start a hike in downtown Portland and end up at the border with Canada or Mexico.
Some unpaved side paths lead to Willamette River views while others circle the lakes and wetlands of the bottoms. More trails link with the Southeast Portland Sellwood neighborhoods. In the pictures here note the skyscrapers of Portland in the background. On the far side against the bluffs wood ducks and the prolific mallards are crowded in their abundance. These ducks seem to prefer being near the small logs blown to this side of the lake. They can use them for perching out of the water yet still be away from shore and its dangers. A single surf scoter was sighted, rare inland from the Pacific and almost never seen in Portland.
Between the marshes and the Willamette River is first a much used railroad track and then the 44 acre (17.8 h.) Oaks Amusement Park. It's been there since 1905. In the 1800's the river connected directly with the bottoms, and the bottoms extended another mile North. The South end became a garbage dump,and the North was largely filled in with debris from freeway construction.
See our earlier Great Blue Heron post
Go to a Google Map of Oaks Bottom Wildlife Preserve. Start at the bottom center of the map, finding the label 'Oaks Pioneer Park'. That park is on top of the riverbank bluff, and Oaks Bottom is below, the brownish area to the north of the label. The Google arial photo was taken during the summer low water.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Winter Jasmine
The first spring blossoms are long weeks away. Even the optimistically-named Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) is still in bud, its touted winter blooms not yet open. Still, an early January walk in the gardens hereabouts will yield a treasure trove of some of the rarest of garden plants - the true winter flowers. Despite the negatives of winter weather - frost, heavy rains, and few if any pollinators active - this season features a hardy few flowers that have chosen it for their preferred time of opening. Winter jasmine is the truest of winter bloomers, opening first in December.
In our garden it begins early in December and is mostly finished flowering by Spring. Though the small leaves drop in Autumn, the stems remain green year-round, giving this shrub the effect of being evergreen. The cheery yellow trumpets are set off by this green backdrop. In full sun flowering can be heavy, and it can grow well in shade. Winter Jasmine is mostly indifferent to soil, doing well in rich or poor as long as drainage is at least fair. The growth habit is exceptional, and is best described as scrambling. In nature is weaves its way between competing shrubs until it finds a suitable spot to grow, and then scrambles some more. In your garden this gives you a plant that cascades well.
Winter jasmines unusual growth habit lends it to special design treatment. It can be used as a groundcover, or a broad low mounded shrub, but its starring role is to be planted where it can cascade down - from atop a wall, in a raised planter, above a slope the steeper the better, or tied to a tall post from which it can arch down. At a local hospital, a planting of winter jasmine cascades down 25 ft. from 2nd and 3rd floor planter boxes. We have this shrub (pictured) falling down a 10 ft. north facing wall. It only took two years to reach the bottom.
Try interplanting this with spreading groundcover roses to get color winter and summer.
Almost all jasmines are fragrant and many winter flowers are too, but winter jasmine is without fragrance.
Generally expect winter jasmine on flat ground to grow loosely to 18-24 inches high with a 10 foot spread. Be prepared for it to root as it goes, so that its potential for spreading is much greater than that of a single plant. For example, the pictured plant in my yard has rooted at the bottom of the wall. Recently rooted stems are easy to remove, to be tossed, transplanted or given away; cutting off the stems before rooting is simple too. If they are let to get well established they become more and more of a project to get out as the years pass!
The closest relative of this plant is forsythia. The two share flower color and shape, early flowering times, the tendency to root at branch tips, and an origin in China. Winter jasmine hails from the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, SE Xizang, and NW Yunnan. It is found in thickets often on steep ground, at elevations from 2600 to 15000 ft. (800 to 4500 m). An interesting trait is that this jasmine produces quarter inch (6 mm) berries. It never does so in the West because all plants of winter jasmine originate from a single 1844 introduction - which needs a pollinator which was left behind in China.
Botanic name: Jasminum nudiflorum
Gardening experts seem to differ greatly on the hardiness of this shrub - is it hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8 or 6 to 10 or somewhere in between? The Heat zone range is 1 to 8 or 9. Growth rate is moderate to fast.
