ashersh's Journal

Today I spent an hour and a half at the Washington Park Arboretum, walking around, taking pictures, and observing the beautiful diversity around me.

Beginning at approximately 1:30 pm with slight precipitation and wind, and temperatures around low 50s, Kate and her roommate Jessie and I began taking pictures and walking around the arboretum.

Some of the first species that we saw were oak trees, a variety of them, many had few to no leaves left on them. One that I observed specifically was a water oak, stripped of its leaves, and of a great height.

Next we observed some shrubs, such as dull Oregon Grap and carex morrowii. The Oregon Grape was growing freely around some other trees, while the carex was placed next to several other exotic looking plants.

We passed several other trees including a Japanese maple, prunus subhirtella, a sekiyama, Oregon Crab Apple, and Western Red Cedar. In addition we saw some dogwoods, wild daffodils, daisies, western skunk cabbages, stinking hellebore and another species of hellebore, borage, and a tree called crategus columbiana. We also saw a lot of common dandelions.

The arboretum is a very interesting and beautiful place, and I plan on going back there to see more plants and trees in the future.

Species List

1. Oregon Crab Apple (Malus fusca)
2. Sekiyama
3. Crategus columbiana
4. Prunus subhirtella
5. Oaks (genus quercus)
6. Wester Redcedar (Thuja plicata)
7. Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)
8. Dogwoods (Genus Cornus)
9. Dull Oregon Grape (Mahonia nervosa)
10. Wild Daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus)
11. Carex morrowii
12. Great Horsetail (Equisetum fluviatile)
13. Daisy (Chrysanthemum majus)
14. Borage (Family Boraginaceae)
15. Genus Photinia
16. Genus Hamamelis
17. Western Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanus)
18. Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
19. Stinking Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus)
20. Helleborus argutifolius

April 19th, 2012
UBNA and CUH
Temperature - Overcast, mid 50s, no rain
Time: 1:30 - 2:45 pm

Today I visited the Union Bay Natural Area, as well as the Center for Urban Horticulture. I crossed the bridge to get to the parking lot before UBNA starts, and noticed some lily pads in the water. I continued on and observed Himalayan Blackberry, though significantly reduced since last year, enclosed by several wooden posts.

When I reached the wetland area, the first thing I noticed was a lot of cattails in the water, and red winged blackbirds perched on them. They were making loud shrieks at each other, and one chased the other around the nearby air for a few minutes before they both settled down and sat quietly. A great blue heron was stalking some fish in the small bay to my right, and I watched as it stood carefully waiting for several minutes.

I started walking towards the CUH, and noticed Great Horsetails were also nearby, as well as creeping buttercup, both growing in abundance alongside the path. Once I reached the farm space, I noticed a field of grass and vetch, which I could see was being used to make a compost heap for the crops to provide nutrients. Vetch is a type of legume, which create symbiotic relationships with bacteria, allowing them to fix nitrogen very well into the soil. This makes them very valuable for increasing fertility of farm soil.

Species List

1. Himalayan Blackberry - Rubus armeniacus
2. Cattails - Typha latifolia
3. Red Winged Blackbird -Agelaius phoeniceus
4. Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
5. Great Horsetails - Equisetu fluviatile
6. Creeping Buttercup - Ranunculus repens
7. American Vetch - Vicia americana