Spring



This salmonberry plant outside our travel trailer was left after we mowed down a blackberry thicket over a year ago. This native plant is common on the property and generally welcome. You can see seedlings in the background from the first of this year's three planting weekends. We are looking east toward the Puget Sound in this photo.

Skunk cabbage aka swamp lantern is popping up lushly in all three of our wetlands this year. It has been extra wet and the wetlands are extra happy. The brown dry vines are what remain of the non-native blackberry plants and thickets most of which we removed last year. The gree foliage is more salmonberry. This view is into the little wetland on the north edge of the property at the foot of our hill.

Looking east from our western property line from the back of the property across the larger of the three wetlands you can see some open water. It will dry up in the summer, later this year probably than last given all the rain.

We are hoping for a berry bounty this year.

Dale

60 days after the planting

 Sadly, this tree is not likely to make it.  Notice the blackened topmost branches?  Some trees are all blackened.  Preliminary diagnosis is root rot.  It could be pathogens in the soil or problems during shipping.  It seems that most affected trees were in our third batch and only cedars.   I took samples of whole plants to the local WSU extension who then have forwarded them to a central plant clinic for analysis.   It  could be 100 of 300 trees or more.  We certainly hope not.  The six that I pulled up all had limp roots....not a good sign, and some new sprouts that were already dying back.

  While this tree does not look great, it is probably fine.  Some "bronzing" is normal and tips are green.  Most trees, especially the first planted seem lush and very vigorous, and the hemlocks and spruces are all doing well.   The yellow stuff is the tiller net we talked about earlier.  Deer have learned how to pull it off and I have found a number of munched trees.  I put the net back on what's left and hope new growth will take over.  It seems to slow the deer down at least.  We will post the results of the analysis when we get it.

Dale