Penstemons and their
Wildflower Companions: 2001 APS Treks, Page Two
Paintbrush and the unusual yellow Lupine, L. sabinii
Cypripedium montanum growing in a protected grove at Andy Huber's Growiser Preserve. Andy has encouraged lush growth by scattering seed in the duff. Such treasures take many years to reach maturity. The first leaf may appear two years after sowing seed. It takes five years to flower singly, then up to eight or ten years to produce multiple stems. In deeper shade, we also enjoyed seeing lovely thick clumps of Corralorhiza maculata
A tiny, but very charming parasitic Scroph, Orobanche uniflora, is widespread in geographic occurrence, but easily overlooked. In the Umatilla area, it favors native sedums such as Sedum stenophyllum as a host planting. We found several of the wee "bonnets" among the sedums on the Coyote Ridge trail.
View from Coyote Ridge Trail
The oldest and most profuse flows of Columbia River Basalt have been gently
uplifted and sculpted to produce vistas with steep canyons.
Tritelia grandiflora was a surprise find in an exposed gravelly spot.
Looking as though it belonged in a cottage garden of billowy perennials instead of the rocky hillside, this wild hollyhock, Iliamna rivularis, was an interesting find.
Fruits and seeds can be as beautiful as flowers. Astragalus whitneyii has splendid inflated, marbled, pods that contain pea-like seeds. It enjoys a sunny dry spot in the detritus. When mature, the seeds of astragalus are as hard as BB-shots! The above pods are not ripe. Astragalus seeds require a light rub on fine industrial sandpaper or a whetstone to scarify. Soaking in water in the fridge will also aid in germination, but care must be taken not to allow germinated seeds to stand in water too long.
Penstemon pennellianusat Growiser. The above photo, alas, fails to capture the vibrant blues.
11/10/01