Turning the Corner

Rain, sun, and clouds - a typical March day.

As I write this post on March 17th, there are plum trees blooming, daffodils up here and there, and even a few native trillium opening up. From a meteorological point of view, we have crossed over to the other side, so to speak: here in our neck of the woods today is the first day with more than 12 hours of daylight! So from now until the middle of June it only gets better for daylight. This means that the vacation is over for the staff here at Wildflower Blog Central! Time to dust off those lenses, charge up our batteries, and fill up the coffee thermos - after all those blooms wait for no man!


Since our last post, the days are longer, the soil is warmer, and the air temperature is going up. Rainfall and cold winds are decreasing as well. We've posted before about the single Apetala1 gene that controls flower blooming (see link below), so we won't get into the technical details here. All told, it means the lowland bloom season is underway. We've spotted several woodland natives coming out of their slumber, as well as some deciduous trees taking note of the impending arrival of spring.

Throughout history, springtime has been associated with new beginnings, fertility, and garden growth. For our local native wildflowers it's really very similar. The plants produce their blooms for one reason: to attract insects, birds, and other critters to ensure pollination. Without pollination, there is little chance of reproduction. Although some flowering plants can self-pollinate or propagate by division, the vast majority still need to put on a good show to be successful. Pollination is a simple concept but the actual process is quite complicated. If you would like to know more, see the link below.

One of our favorites, the dainty Oaks Toothwort (Cardamine nuttallii var. nuttallii) has arrived out at Hagg Lake, not surprisingly in a wooded oak area.



And it could not really be spring without the arrival of the native Western Trillium (Trillium ovatum). This one is at Rood Bridge park in Hillsboro.



The Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) flowers are fully blooming now, and their leaves are forming up. We've seen these shrubs in just about every local park recently.

At Jackson Bottom Wetlands, the male and female Hooker's Willow (Salix hookeriana) catkins are starting their pollination dance.

A Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanus) blooms in a creek bed at Hagg Lake (left); Red Alder (Alnus rubra) catkins show their colors at Rood Bridge park.

     

We spotted these Pacific Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum tenuipes) plants starting to spread their ground covering leaves at Dairy Creek park. They won't bloom for another month or so, but they create large green carpets.

We don't claim to know much about individual moss species, but these Tall Clustered Thread moss (Bryum psudotriquetum) shoots were prevalent on tree stumps along the northeast side of the Hagg Lake trail. They don't have flowers to attract insects so they reproduce via primitive spores.

Next month watch for Earth Day activities around the 22nd. Also check your local listings for native plant sales in the area during April and May. Most are hosted by non-profits and have knowledgeable folks on hand for planting advice.

Links:

How do flowers know when to bloom?

Moss Reproduction

Process of Pollination