Photos by Bruce MacGregor Article by Courtney Beckel It is almost spring! And one thing that really got me through last spring was…mason bees! Naturally, I wanted to share a bit about these bees with you. I’m no entomologist but I do know we have a huge variety of bees in Oregon — not just […]
Introduced Species: Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale), and some bonus species (So. Much. Yellow!) Description: Why take the time to write about dandelions? Everyone knows them, right? Well, no; in fact, dandelions are a hugely confusing topic in botany, and–hang onto your hat–there are actually *native* dandelions in the western US (such as T. officinale ssp. ceratophorum; […]
Introduced species: Lesser celandine (Ficara verna, formerly Ranunculus ficaria) Characteristics: Lesser celandine, also known as fig buttercup, is an herbaceous, perennial plant, with a basal rosette of dark green, shiny, stalked leaves that are kidney- to heart-shaped; these are starting to appear now in the Portland area. The glossy, butter-yellow flowers open in March and […]
Introduced species: Chickweed (Stellaria media) Description: Chickweed is a very common garden plant, behaving as either an annual or a perennial depending on the local climate; our mild winters mean that it often lasts from one year to the next. The plant is inconspicuous, with small, opposite, oval-shaped leaves on stalks that can reach up […]
Introduced species: Dock (Rumex crispus and R. obtusifolius) Characteristics: These two common dock species are perennial members of the buckwheat family. Curly dock (R. crispus) may grow up to 1 m (3ft), while bitter dock (R. obtusifolius) may reach 1.5 m (5 ft). Leaves of these plants are fairly large (up to 30 cm, or […]
