Phlox phyler 201611

Volume 22, Number 2 November 2016

the

Phlox Phlyer

Columbia Basin Chapter, Washington Native Plant Society

•

c/o Cheryl Smith, 1926 Hetrick, Richland, WA 99354

•

www.cbwnps.org

REMINDER – Membership in the Washington State Native Plant Society expires June 30 th each year.

If you are unsure of your membership status please contact Mary Ann Simmons (msimmons_1@charter.net ) Renew your Membership either: 1.

Online: To join and pay your membership online.

2. Mail-in: If you prefer to register and pay via mail and check, please print and complete our membership form and mail it to the State Chaper.

Heritage Garden Fall Workshop – Free Saturday, November 12, 2016, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Richland Public Library (955 Northgate Drive, Richland WA 99352).

Featuring:   

Dr. James, PhD, Associate Professor of Entomology WSU, Prosser, will discuss his new book, Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies.

Kelsey Prickett, Forb Production Manager, BFI Native Seeds, Moses Lake, will present information on native forbs for drought tolerant landscaping in the Columbia Basin.

Heritage Garden Roundtable - Panel of local experts share tips and tricks for creating beautiful low water-use landscaping. Bring your questions.

Register online (http://bit.ly/2cy0Lv6) or contact Erin Hightower, (509) 736-6000; erinhightower@conservewa.net.

WNPS Call for Education Grant Proposals – Due November 15, 2016 Grants for WNPS members, funded by WNPS member dues, are available for education projects that further the goals of the Society.

For additional information, please see: http://www.wnps.org/education/education_grant.html

WNPS Call for Conservation Grant Proposals – Due January 15, 2017 The WNPS Conservation Committee is accepting grant application for projects that will restore, improve, or support on-the-ground, functioning native plant ecosystems in Washington. Grant applications for 2017 will be accepted through January 15 and awards will be determined by February 15. For specific application information see: http://www.wnps.org/research/proposal_guidelines.html

1

2017 WNPS Native Plant Calendar.

Enjoy the beauty of Washington’s wildflowers throughout 2017 with our WNPS calendar. The 2017 Calendar is $10 and offers 13 months of terrific photos and a whole year of floral splendor.

Buy one for yourself and some for those on your gift list. Calendars may be purchased at chapter meetings this fall and winter, at the Heritage Garden workshop, or you may buy online with a credit card (https://www.wnps.org/?path=store/2016-WNPS-Calendar.html& ).

The Phlox Phlyer is the newsletter of the Columbia Basin Chapter, Tri-Cities and Walla Walla, Washington Native Plant Society.

Chapter Officers Co-Presidents — Mickie Chamness, mickiec@charter.net & Janelle Downs, sagejld@aol.com Vice-President — Rik Smith,

rsmith@columbiabasin.edu

COLUMBIA BASIN PHOTO CONTEST The 1st category is biotic crust: you could take close-ups of lichens, mosses, mushrooms, club mosses etc. or step back and take a photo of a mini-landscape of the textures and colors that occur together. The 2nd category is wildlife (birds, animals, insects) and native plants. Contact Mickie Chamness at mickiec@charter.net if you have any questions. Entries are due by November 6, and a 2017 WNPS calendar will be awarded to the winner in each category.

Secretary — Marilyn Lemar, dwlemar@hotmail.com Treasurer — Cheryl Smith

cyankee@charter.net Chapter Committees Programs — Kim Hamblin-Hart,

NATIVE PLANT SALE

kimhamblinhart@gmail.com

Thank you for making our native plant sale last Saturday a success! The weather was rainy, but Bev and her staff at C&M Nursery provided us with a dry and comfortable space. They have a few plants left, and are considering another native plant sale in the spring. Check with them if there are plants you’re interested in, and keep an eye on our Facebook page for a another Native Plant Society sale in fall 2017 of plants grown from locally sourced seeds. Thanks to our members who assisted and donated plants that contributed a lot to the plants purchased for resale. The great turnout was rewarding. Your feedback on ideas for future sales events is welcome.

MEETINGS/WORKSHOPS

Field Trips — Ernie Crediford, ernest_crediford@live.com / Steve Link

stevenlink@me.com Restoration/Salvage — Joe Roop jmroop@frontier.com/ Bill Mast, bmast1@live.com Heritage Garden Program — Donna Lucas, donna_lucas@hotmail.com Education — Kim Hamblin-Hart

Wednesday, November 2, 2016, 7:00 p.m. Monthly Meeting Room at Columbia Basin College, Room S229 (http://www.cbwnps.org/calendar/ ) – Conservation of Washington’s Rare Plants - Wendy Gibble, Rare Care Program Manager. Washington’s rare plants comprise nearly 15% of the native plants species in the state and are found in just about every habitat type and county, yet they are seldom encountered and therefore poorly documented.

With the continuing expansion of the state’s population, degradation of habitat, and changing weather patterns due to climate change, these plants face an uncertain future. In this talk, Wendy Gibble will present an overview of the conservation efforts to protect rare native plants by the Washington Rare Plant Care and Conservation (Rare Care) program and introduce some of the rare plants of Washington, with a focus on the Columbia Basin.

At 6:30 pm, we will continue with our “Plant Talk” feature, bring in unknown plants (not ornamental) and we will attempt to identify them. This is also an opportunity to socialize before our meeting.

2

khamblinhart@gmail.com / Pauline Schafer pauschafer@hotmail.com Communications — Mary Ann Simmons, msimmons_1@charter.net (newsletter)/ Donna Lucas, donna_lucas@hotmail.com (webpage and Facebook) Publicity — Mickie Chamness, mickiec@charter.net Books — vacant

Walla Walla Subchapter Darcy Dauble, Walla Walla, dadauble@gmail.com This issue reproduced by

THE DIGITAL IMAGE Richland Washington 509-375-6001

Wednesday, November 9, 2017 at 6:30pm at The REACH Museum. “Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest” by photographer and botanist Mark Turner; Presented by U.S. Fish & Wildlife. Admission $8 adult, $6 student/senior/military. Mark is the photographer and co-author of the award-winning Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest, published by Timber Press in 2006.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Saturday, November 5, 2016, 10:00a.m. Salvage on Candy Mtn. If you’d like to learn how to salvage and plant SMALL native plants join us to salvage plants along the proposed trails and parking lot on Candy Mtn. Meeting directions: from Dallas Rd, turn onto E669 PR NE (north side of I-182 overpass); park along the roadway.

You’re welcome to come to salvage or just learn the ethics and techniques of salvaging native plants and seeds. If you actually want to salvage plants, bring sturdy boxes, buckets, or other large flat containers to put your plants into, some newspaper or rags that can be moistened to keep the roots cool and moist, gloves and a shovel (a trowel won’t work very well for salvaging). Warning - Plants will need to be planted within a day or so if you want them to survive.

If you have questions, contact Mickie Chamness at 430-5776.

Park along this road

Bluebunch Wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) – Washington State Grass Bluebunch wheatgrass gets its name from its comparatively blue-green color and wheat-like appearance. It is a perennial grass and a major component of sagebrush communities. Bluebunch wheatgrass grows in a variety of habitats, but is found mostly in well-drained, medium to coarse textured soils. Its deep fibrous root system adapts this drought-resistant grass to an average annual precipitation of 12-14 inches. Seeds alternate within the seed head, giving it a “wheat-like” appearance. There are “bearded” and “beardless” bluebunch wheatgrass subspecies, referring to whether or not awns are present on the floret. Height at maturity is 1-4 feet. Leaves can remain green throughout the growing season with adequate moisture. Regeneration is by tillers and periodic seedling establishment. (https://www.usu.edu/weeds/plant_species/nativespecies/bluebunch.html )

3

Washington designated bluebunch wheatgrass as the official state grass in 1989 (it is also the Montana State grass). Found in eastern Washington, bluebunch wheatgrass was a benefit to Washington's pioneer farmers and continues to play a major role in the state's agriculture industry. Although many Washington state symbols are readily identifiable with the western part of the state, bluebunch wheatgrass is a symbol that's unique to eastern Washington. (http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/symbol/washington/stateplant/bluebunch-wheatgrass ) Pseudoroegneria spicata is primarily a western North American species, extending from the east side of the coastal mountains to the western edge of the Great Plains, and from the Arctic Ocean to northern Mexico. It was also collected by Farwell in Keenewaw County, Michigan in 1895 (Voss 1972). It grows on medium-textured soils in arid and semiarid steppe, shrub-steppe, and open woodland communities, and was one of the dominant species in grassland communities of the Columbia and Snake River plains (Daubenmire 1939, 1960). It is still an important forage plant in the northern portion of the Intermountain region. Several cultivars have been developed. (http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=1496 ) Daubenmire (1960) noted that rhizomatous plants were favored in relatively moist habitats, and cespitose (clumping) plants in dry habitats. He also found that awn length varies continuously within plants grown from seed. He concluded that the ability to produce rhizomes and unawned plants is heritable, that the two characters are not linked, and that the form which becomes dominant at a local site is determined by environmental conditions. The unawned phase tends to be more restricted in its distribution than the awned phase, being dominant in the native grasslands of southern British Columbia, eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and northern and eastern Oregon; the awned phase is found throughout the range of the species. Many populations include awned and unawned plants, as well as some that have poorly developed awns on some lemmas. (http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=1496 ) Photos from: Dana Visalli and Bud Kobalchik (http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php )

Columbia Basin Chapter Washington Native Plant Society c/o Cheryl Smith 1926 Hetrick Avenue Richland, Washington 99354

To receive the newsletter electronically – email msimmons_1@charter.net 4