April 19, 2023
Sunny, light breeze
Today, one of my colleagues and I investigated the Native Plant Garden on campus. This garden (or perhaps it’s more accurate to call it a series of gardens) was established in the mid-1970s, along with trailer markers and a lovely trail guide and map that described the plants found in the garden. We wanted to see whether or not the map and guide were still accurate after nearly 50 years of plant growth. (Spoiler alert: they aren’t, but that is something we can fix).
We started off in the southwestern corner of the garden, at the large Native Plant Garden sign. Right away, we had some difficulty orienting ourselves based on the map – some markers seemed to be missing, and others seemed to be out of order. When we did locate some markers, in almost every single case, the plant directly behind the marker was not the plant listed in the guide. Of course, in the 50 years since this garden was established, nature did what she always does. There were dozens of smallish (~10′ tall) Coast Live Oak, and even more American Buckeye, all of which had clearly self-recruited. There are at least a few Tanoak, some of which may have been original plantings. There were some small Northern California Black Walnut trees that didn’t seem large enough to have been planted 50 years ago.
Common Snowberry is growing in several places, and I found a single Pacific Hound’s Tongue, both of whom I assume arrived on their own. Pacific Poison Oak, which I suspect had not been part of the original garden plan, was present in several areas (although not in overwhelming amounts). A stand of Pacific Ninebark is marked with a name plaque (this may be the only accurate marker we found in the entire garden). Red Deadnettle, Toyon, and Red-flowering Currant were also found, but I’m not sure about their status as ornamental or wild-growing.
The conifers are the trees that are giving me the most trouble in terms of identification. Douglas Fir and White Fir were listed on the trail guide, along with a couple of Cypress species, but I don’t think the photos I took are going to be good enough for the folks at iNaturalist to assist me, so I might wander over there again soon and try and get some better photos of various parts of the trees. I also saw and heard a few birds, although I wasn’t able to get any photos.
We were able to verify that the trail guide is sorely out of date, but we’ll be able to work together, and with Facilities, to update everything, so more folks in our community can enjoy and learn from this garden that was created with such care.
Species List
Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), Pacific Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), Red Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum), Catchweed Bedstraw (Galium aparine), Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum), Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia), Northern California Black Walnut (Juglans hindsii), Tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus), California Buckeye (Aesculus californica), Pacific Hound’s Tongue (Adelinia grande), White Fir, Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), California Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus), Sargent’s Cypress? (Cupressus sargentii), Douglas Fir, California Bay (Umbellularia californica), Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum), California Black Walnut Pouch Gall Mite (Aceria brachytarsa), Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii), Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), White Alder? (Alnus rhombifolia), Valley Oak (Quercus lobata), Greater Periwinkle (Vinca major), Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), Monterey Cypress? (Cupressus macrocarpa), Spicebush (Calycanthus occidentalis), Common Vetch (Vicia sativa), Mountain Sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza berteroi), Red-flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum), Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus), Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis), Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium), Eggleaf Spurge? (Euphorbia oblongata), Convergent Lady Beetle (Hippodamia convergens), ornamental Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa), Crevice Alumroot? (Heuchera micrantha), ornamental Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa), Great Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica), Silverleaf Cotoneaster? (Cotoneaster pannosus), Little-Robin (Geranium purpureum), American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), Oak Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus), Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis oreganus), California Towhee (Melozone crissalis), Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens rufescens), American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
Let me know what you think!