Apple Blossom

The Apple Blossom Festival is nearly here. The food fair will start serving shortly. The carnival is rising at Riverfront Park. The youth parade is just a couple days away, followed by the main parade a week later. It’s a busy time of year in Wenatchee. Tens of thousands of people will flood the parks and streets to enjoy all we have to offer.

Look outside of Wenatchee and you’ll notice the orchards abloom. Spring presents a medley of blossoms: cherry, apple, pear, peach, plum, nectarine, and so forth. Washington leads the nation in production of apples, cherries, and pears. Why do they grow so well here? It really comes down to a combination of climate and water availability.

The weather is great here in Washington. We experience all four seasons. If you look back at the blog post on seed dormancy you’ll read about how some seeds require a period of cold before sprouting. Well, some trees require cold before they’ll produce blossoms, and therefore, fruit. We also have nice warm, dry summers. The fruit loves the hot weather. It helps ripen the fruit and gives it a good color and sweetness. All the sunshine helps the tree photosynthesize and produce great fruit. The dry weather is good for the fruit too. Rain and hail can damage fruit as it grows. Cherries often soak up too much water during a rain storm and then their skin splits.

The downside to dry weather is the lack of moisture. The trees need to be watered. Without water the tree might die, or at the very least it won’t produce good fruit. That’s where the water availability comes in. We happen to have an abundance of water available to use in Washington from the rivers. The dams create reservoirs and out of these reservoirs flows irrigation water headed to the orchards and the fields, allowing crops to thrive in our arid climate.

  

Apple blossoms were, and still are, an important aspect of Washington life. The orchards have been shrinking for many years. 50 years ago most of the Wenatchee Valley was a forest of orchards. Orchards are continually pushed back to the outreaches of communities as people look for more land to build homes and businesses on. As people moved in next to orchards they started to complain about the dangers of living next to an orchard. The pesticides and fertilizers applied to protect and help the fruit grow. Prices for apples have dropped under competition from many countries around the world. China produces more than half the world’s apples. 

Plant Sale Wrap Up

We've finished up the plant sale for the year (most of the way at least), and I feel like doing a short recap of the related activities over the past few weeks. The plant sale has provided ups and downs throughout the year with its time commitments. Early in the fall preparing the outreach materials and order forms, and then again recently with the bundling and distribution have been time intensive. Late fall and winter were fairly easy with only the occasional order to enter in the computer. We sold all our stock except for a few quaking aspens. There were even a few species that were so popular that we had to order in more of them.

A few weeks ago in March we held our bundling event. Plants are shipped to us in large bags with a single species per bag. We have to take the plants out of those bags and fill our customer orders. Not all the plants are shipped in the correct sizes either. Some plants are shipped 50 to a bundle, which means we have to pull apart those bundles and shrink them to our sale size of 10 plants per bundle. Once all plants are in the correct bundle size we fill the orders by placing the plants into large garbage bags. Damp sawdust is added to each bag to help moisten the roots. A name tag is attached and the finished bundle is placed in a bin. Once all the orders are filled the bins are put back into the cold room to await the distribution day.

 Last Saturday marked the distribution/pick up day for our Native Plant Sale. Customers that had placed orders with us throughout the fall and winter were finally able to receive their much awaited plants. We arrived early to lay out all the plants alphabetically so we didn't have to waste time digging through the bins trying to find a certain order. All but a few people arrived during our three hour time slot to pick up their plants, and we've been working to get the last few orders into their owner’s hands. Hopefully by the end of this week all the orders will be accounted for.

So with the end of the plant sale in sight I can say I’m glad to be wrapping it up for the year and putting it on the shelf. I’ll add in my thoughts and any advice I can think of, and I’ll leave it in the binder for next year’s Americorps to have fun with.

The Bridge Effect

An example of a bad culvert. Notice the

water fall effect that prevents fish passage.

It's also too small and can't handle high

water flows.

A bridge is not a simple structure. To the eye they may seem simple, just a series of intersecting pieces that allow you to span a river, creek, canyon, or bay. But all the pieces must work together to support the weight of the entire bridge and all its traffic on just a few supports. Of course some designs are simpler than others. A small bridge crossing a 10 foot creek is a child’s plaything compared to a bridge spanning the Columbia River. Bridges can be made of many things. Cement, metal, and wood being some of the more common materials, and they’re often combined depending on the need.

As much fun as it would be to write a blog focusing on the types bridges I feel that’s a little outside the areas I should focus on. Instead I want to focus on bridges and their environmental impacts, both good and bad. I want to keep a very loose definition of bridge open for discussion, so I’m going to be looking at bridges and bridge-like structures. I’m not going to be bashing bridges either.

The first area I’d like to look at include the effects on aquatic ecosystems. Large aquatic ecosystems, such as a large river, bay, sound, etc. may be less impacted by a bridge. That’s not to say there’s no impact, especially during construction, but once completed the water and any organisms present can generally navigate around the pylons with little impediment.

Small aquatic ecosystems are easier to negatively impact. Things like creeks and small rivers. Places where an improper bridge can severely limit the flow of that ecosystem. I’m going to include culverts here. I consider them bridge-like.

The same site replaced with a bridge. Notice the open water.
Fish and other wildlife can freely travel. 

Culverts can severely reduce the health of aquatic ecosystems if they’re too small or improperly installed. They can separate fish populations or prevent the migration of salmon to spawning habitat. They can also limit the movement of aquatic insects and amphibians. Culverts that can’t handle high water flows can lead to washouts of surrounding vegetation and soil further negatively impacting the water health. Culverts without natural surface bottoms can disrupt wildlife by confusing them as they move around. Luckily these have simple solutions. Replace them with larger culverts that properly connect the stream, or better yet, remove the culverts entirely and install an open span bridge. This allows for the proper meandering of the stream and lessens the impact on wildlife.

Bridges spanning rivers can also be poorly built and while they might not affect the aquatic ecosystem as much they can impact the terrestrial ecosystem. Many animals move throughout their day near water. If they’re walking along the bank and suddenly run into a large cement bridge where do they go? Maybe they can swim, so they just hop in the river and go around. Maybe they turn around and go back. Or maybe they want to keep going. They wander up onto the road, possibly endangering themselves and human drivers.

Another possible option. A much larger culvert. There 

is no longer a waterfall and it can handle high water flow.

However, bridges can be built specifically for the protection of animals that may want to move across a highway or highly congested area. Often these are termed wildlife crossings, and include a variety of structures including overpasses, underpasses, and culverts (all bridges or bridge-like structures). They are built solely to allow animals to move without having to cross in front of traffic.

Thankfully, most negative impacts of bridges are considered when new bridges are being built. All aspects of the ecosystem are considered, aquatic, terrestrial, and even, aerial (some birds run into suspension bridge lines). Many new bridges look to mitigate and even reverse the negative impacts of their forebears resulting in bridges that accommodate human needs to travel, but also try to preserve natural ecosystems.

Spring is Here

March 20^th marked the first calendar day of spring, and this year nature is willing to follow along. Temperatures have warmed from the cold, snowy February weather. The hills are starting to green and soon wildflowers will be blooming. The sun peaks through the clouds and warms the air.

Balsamroot

Picking a calendar day seems an arbitrary way to start a season, and it is. We choose to set our seasons by the solstices and equinoxes as a convenient way to mark the changing of seasons. Luckily we live in an area that they happen to coincide fairly well. But if you head north or south of our latitude the seasons start to follow a different path. I doubt spring in Alaska has really started yet, nor is winter a measly three months long. Head south to the tropics and the overall temperatures rarely change. Seasons there may be more accurately described as wet/dry. Head far enough south into Australia or South America and the seasons are opposite of ours. As we head into spring they head into fall.

Yellow Bell

Spring around Wenatchee is an amazing time of year. The hills lose their brown or yellow color they sport much of the year and show off their lively green. Green represents growth in the shrub steppe environment, both annual and perennial. Spring is often the only time of year there’s enough moisture available for plants to grow and thrive in our climate. The combination of melted winter snow and spring rain provides enough moisture for plants to survive the rest of the year in this two to three month period.

Buttercup

Not only do plants use spring as a time to grow. They also use it as a time to flower. One of the easiest to spot is the balsamroot, which sports large yellow flowers that seems to blanket portions of the hillsides. Lupine is quite prominent as well, featuring tall stems covered in purple flowers. Look close enough at your feet while walking between the sagebrush and you might notice yellow bells, bluebells, lomatiums, and buttercups.

Besides the prominent flowers are a variety of grasses. Much of the bright green you see comes from their spring growth. Most people consider grass a staple of lawns, requiring constant moisture to survive and thrive. That’s not the case. Native grasses thrive in our environment with no watering by us necessary. Even when the grass has lost its fresh, green look come June and July it’s still alive. Simply waiting to sprout again come the following spring when there’s plenty of moisture.

I encourage you to go out and enjoy the shrub steppe during the spring. In my opinion it’s the only time to truly appreciate the great variety of life present. Come summer and fall all that will be left is a dry, brown hillside with little shade to get out of the sun. Enjoy it in the spring when it’s still cool and the hills are alive and colorful.

Plant Structure

 Plants exhibit great variety. Cacti in the deserts, pines in the mountains, water lilies in a pond, and wheat in a field. Yet among all these different types of plants there are basic structures shared by nearly all of them. Almost all plants have a root system and a shoot system. Root systems are composed of roots (obviously) and shoot systems are composed of leaves and stems. Regardless of the overall morphology (form and structure) of a plant they all rely on these structures to survive and thrive.

Roots serve a few purposes. They anchor the plant in the ground. Roots allow redwoods to grow hundreds of feet into the air. They provide the support that keeps riparian vegetation from washing out during a flood. Roots also provide the entire plant with water. Roots pull the water out of the ground and transport it to the rest of the plant through its vasculature system. Roots are also responsible for the uptake of nutrients that the plant needs in large and small quantities.

Stems represent the (generally) aboveground structures that leaves sprout from. Stem structure is composed of a series of nodes and internodes. Nodes are the point where leaves sprout. The internodes are the space between. Stems have two types of buds present. (A bud is the point where new stem growth occurs.) A terminal bud represents the growth point of a stem. Usually a terminal bud is located at the furthest point along a stem or branch. An axillary bud is located between the leaf and the stem at the node. Axillary buds have the potential to form lateral stems, or branches. Rhizomes are a type of underground stem that travel under the surface and sprout up away from the original plant. Strawberries spread through rhizomes. Even though rhizomes grow under the soil they are not roots.

Leaves grow out from stems and for most plants are their primary site of photosynthesis (the process by which plants convert sunlight into energy). However, some plants, such as cacti, have modified leaves into needles, so most of their photosynthesis is carried out in the stems. Flowers evolved from leaves into the great variety we see today.

Plants have three main types of tissue. Most of these tissues are present in all plant structures, but their function and morphology varies from the roots to the leaves. The three types are ground, vascular, and dermal tissue.

Dermal tissue is all the tissue on the outer layer of the plant. This tissue is responsible for protecting the plant from physical damage and pathogens. Leaf dermal tissue helps regulate the loss of water and the intake of CO₂. Root dermal tissue helps capture water and minerals in the soil. Non-woody plants are covered in an epidermis. In woody plants the epidermis is replaced by periderm in older parts of the plant.

Vascular tissue is responsible for transportation of materials within the plant. The flow usually goes from roots up to shoots, and from the shoots down to the roots. Xylem is the vasculature responsible for transporting water and dissolved minerals and nutrients throughout the plant. Phloem is vasculature responsible for transporting organic nutrients that are produced in the photosynthetic areas of the plant (generally the leaves) and to the roots or sites of new growth.

Ground tissue is all the other tissue in the plant. This tissue is responsible for most plant functions: photosynthesis, storage of nutrients, growth, and support. Ground tissue in the leaves is mostly responsible for photosynthesizing. Ground tissue in the stems, branches, or trunk is responsible for much of the plant support. Ground tissue in tree trunks is often dead and is strictly there to support the outer part of the trunk that is still alive and filled with vascular tissue.

When it’s broken down to the basic level a plant is built from three basic structures: roots, stems, and leaves. These three structures are composed of three types of tissue: ground, dermal, and vascular. These six things make up the basics for almost all plants. That’s amazing when all the variety of plants are considered. 

Plant Diversity

This week I want to start a series of articles spanning the next few months delving into the world of plants. I've written briefly about different species of plants, their uses, and some of their importance in a healthy ecosystem, but now I want to dive into the different structures, types, and functions found across them. Most people understand that trees, bushes, grasses, ferns, mosses, crops, and flowers are all considered plants. While many of these look vastly different from each other they share many common visible structures and internal mechanisms. This week I’m going to start with an overview of the variety of plant classes in the hopes of giving a basic intro.

Moss (Bryophyte)

Hornwort (Bryophyte)

First, let me provide a definition of a plant. Plants are embryophytes. The name comes from the way they protect and nurture the embryo inside the parent structure. This definition excludes algae and other things that may have been included with a less specific definition. Most plants are terrestrial (living on soil), but some species have evolved back into the water (such as water lilies and duckweed). All are complex, multicellular organisms. All plants are non-motile (they can’t move). Photosynthesis is their primary means of producing energy, but a small number are parasitic. Plants also display an alternation of generations between a haploid gametophyte (a multicellular generation with a single set of chromosomes) and a diploid sporophyte (two sets of chromosomes present).

Quillwort (Lycophyte)

Clubmoss (Lycophyte)

Plants can be further divided into two groups, those reproducing and spreading through spores: bryophytes (liverworts, mosses, and hornworts), lycophytes (clubmosses, spikemosses, and quillworts), and monilophytes (ferns and horsetails); and those reproducing and spreading through seeds: gymnosperms (conifers, cycads, gnetophytes and ginkgoes), and angiosperms (flowering plants). Plants can also be divided into those with vascular tissue (specialized tissue in the plant the transports water and nutrients around): lycophytes, monilophytes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms; and those without specialized vasculature: bryophytes. (Don’t worry about understanding the ins and outs of plant reproduction or tissue yet. I’ll make sure to cover them in detail in later posts.)

Fern Frond (Monilophyte)

Horsetail (Monilophyte)

Bryophytes include mosses, hornworts, and liverworts. They are grouped together based on their lack of vascular tissue, and are therefore referred to as non-vascular plants. However, they do not form a monophyletic group (a group made of an ancestor species and all its descendants). Instead they are more likely a paraphyletic group (a group made of an ancestor species and its descendants minus one or more monophyletic groups). In this case they are made of embryophytes minus the tracheophytes (plants containing vascular tissue). Bryophytes lack true leaves, stems, and roots. They are among the most primitive of land plants. They require almost constant moisture to keep from drying out as they lack many features that more advanced plants use to keep from drying out.

Lycophytes are represented by clubmosses, spikemosses, and quillworts. They still reproduce primarily through spores, but they have vascular tissue, and therefore; leaves, roots, and stems. They are more advanced than the bryophytes.

Monilophytes are made up of ferns and horsetails. They reproduce through spores, have vascular tissue, leaves, roots, and stems. They are the closest relatives to the seed plants.

Welwitschia 

(Gnetophyte, Gymnosperm)

Ginkgo (Gymnosperm)

Gymnosperms are composed of four different groups: conifers, cycads, gnetophytes and ginkgoes. Gymnosperms are more advanced than the previous groups because they produce seeds instead of spores for their primary reproduction. Gymnosperms are known as naked seed plants because their seeds are not enclosed. Even though they’re typically in cones for general protection, the seed itself is not encased. Conifers are made up of many common and important species including pines, firs, cedars, and junipers. They represent many of the largest plants on earth. Cycads generally have stout, woods trunks with a crown of leaves at the top. They can be confused with palm trees, but they are not closely related. Gnetophytes have some characteristics, such as vessel elements, not found in other gymnosperms. Ginkgoes are represented by one species of plant, Ginkgo biloba, and have been present on earth for millions of years virtually unchanged.

Quaking Aspen (Angiosperm)

Rose (Angiosperm)

Angiosperms make up everything else. They are the most common plants, representing some 250,000 species on earth. They have flowers, vasculature, stems, roots, leaves, and enclosed seeds. Orchids, maples, oaks, roses, apples, grasses, and many other common plants are all angiosperms. It’s important to keep in mind that not all flowers are showy and easily noticeable. When’s the last time you looked at a field of grass and pointed out its flowers? I assure you they are present, and when I get to the post on flowers I’ll cover it in much more detail.

Of course this is just the tip of the tree when it comes to all the fascinating aspects about plants. I realize that not many things are explained in detail here, but that’s not really the point for this post. The importance here is to understand the great diversity found in the world of plants. They started as very simple organisms, basically land versions of green algae. From there they evolved up to giant redwoods and flowering roses. There are many common characteristics, of course, but also a great deal of differences in them. Over the next few months I hope to introduce and explain features found in plants, and explain the differences. 

Daylight Savings?

The new Month brings us fully moved out of our old office in the Wenatchee-Okanogan Forest Headquarters and into our new office in the top floor of the Wenatchee World building. There are still a few boxes that need to be unpacked and a few cables that still need to be plugged in, but we're just about up and running. The last week of February was crazy busy as we finished packing, loaded the moving truck, drove to our new office, unloaded the truck, and drove back for another load. Everyone at the office pitched in to help wherever they could, and we were able to get through the bulk of the moving in just a few days. Most of us are happy to be in downtown Wenatchee. There are more services and amenities around us and some of us have shorter commutes as well. Visit our webpage to view all of our new contact information.

Daylight savings time is this weekend, so come Sunday we’ll have an hour less of daylight in the morning and an hour more in the evening. There are various reasons why it was originally proposed and implemented. When “daylight savings” first began it was thought to save on power by giving people an extra hour of light in the evening. Essentially an hour that people were generally up that they now didn't need to use lights during. Whether there’s any power savings from it is inconclusive. Some say yes, others say no. Data can be used to support both arguments. Personally I don’t really care about the power savings. I really like the extra hour of light after work. But on the other hand, I don’t like losing the hour of light in the morning. (I may be getting up too early if I notice the light in the morning at this time of year.)  Regardless of how we feel about the change it’s coming.

It’s interesting to look at how the time change affects different people. For many of us that work a normal 9-5 job or some variant thereof the change is nice. We can get more done outside on any given day, or have more time to go out and enjoy the sunshine. For the agricultural based communities or cultures the change is less noticeable. Their daily schedule is governed by the daylight present. They could care less about the “hour” when that light comes. They’re still going to be up with it and out in it until the sun goes down.

Another interesting thought is that the natural world doesn't care about our time standards. One sunrise is the same as any other to a plant, deer, or fish, even if it changes by an hour to us. Most of nature runs off the sun cycle and the temperature changes that come with it, so animal and plant activity levels depends on the time of year and the amount of light or, for nocturnal creatures, the amount of dark. Think about someone going hunting, they don’t get to go hunting at a time that’s convenient for them. If an animal is most active at dawn the hunter better be out at dawn, whether the clock reads 4:30 a.m. or 7 a.m.

This post hopefully makes you think about how we run our lives off a clock, but the rest of nature doesn't. We put so much pressure to set deadlines, but a tree grows when there’s enough light, water, and warmth. A deer goes foraging when the sun comes up, it doesn't care if it’s at 5 or 7. 

Algae

Pond scum. Most likely so thick because of fertilizer runoff.

Algae are found the world over, generally aquatic, but not always. They thrive in warm water and cold water, saltwater and freshwater. Most are photosynthetic—same as plants—using sunlight to power chemical reactions used to create carbohydrates. They range from small, single-celled organisms up to large kelps over a hundred feet in length. Green, red, and brown algae are prominent, but they are by no means the only colors. Algae exist on every continent on earth, and live in every climate.

Algae are not a single clade (a clade is a group comprised of an ancestor and all its descendants). They didn’t evolve from one common ancestor. They arrived at the present day from different evolutionary paths, but they shared enough common characteristics that they were combined into a single group, though a solid definition of an alga is hard to come by.

Since we live in a landlocked county I feel that discussing oceanic algae is not pertinent to this blog, so I’m going to focus on those found in freshwater ecosystems. (This will also help limit the length of this blog.)

Algae provide important functions in many ecosystems. They are often the primary producers in an aquatic ecosystem. Primary producers are at the bottom of the food chain. Algae are eaten by larger organisms such as zooplankton, which in turn are eaten by fish, which may be eaten by larger fish, and so on up the food chain. Algae allow fish to thrive and thus allow us to catch fish for both food and sport.

Most of the algae that people might see around the region in rivers, creeks, streams, ponds, lakes, etc. are generally green algae. (The green color gives it away.) They’re by no means the only algae present, they’re just easily noticeable. The green algae are those most closely related to plants, and are the group from which plants emerged from.

Algae can be a good indication of the overall health in an aquatic system. Algal growth is dependent on several factors: nutrient availability, light level, pH, temperature, etc. Any one of these can limit algal growth, but the most important one is nutrient availability. Increasing the nutrients available in a waterway will increase the number of algae present. This can lead to algal blooms, which can be unsightly at best and harmful at worst. Many of these blooms are the direct result of human impacts on the environment. Over applying fertilizer to fields, orchards, and lawns can be washed into nearby waterways. Livestock manure can make its way into creeks running through pastures. All of these can lead to algal blooms. Best way to control algal blooms? Control the nutrients leaching into streams, lakes, and rivers.

A look at the variety of saltwater algae.
Generally called seaweeds.

While being ecologically important algae are also useful for many other things. Many types of seaweed are used as food. Agar is derived from red algae, and is used as a thickening agent in petri dishes and many types of food.

Algae can also be used as a pollution control. They can treat sewage by removing many of the toxic and harmful components. Algae “scrubbers” can be used to clean water by pulling out the excessive nutrients present. They can also be used to capture the fertilizer runoff from farms before it enters water systems. These algae could in turn be used as fertilizer on the same fields.

Algae may provide the best option for biofuel production for a variety of reasons. Algae are fairly easy to grow and can be grown in areas unsuitable for other plants. They can be grown using wastewater and sewage. Algae have faster growth rates than land plants because their structure is so much simpler. 

I realize that this is a fairly simplistic look at algae. But the subject is far too large to adequately cover in a single blog post, so instead I aimed for a quick overlook of many things relating to algae to peak your interest. Hopefully it provides enough of an intro to make you seek out more information on algae. They are fascinating and an important part of many ecosystems. Their possible roles in helping solve some of mankind’s problems are also exciting.  

Happy Mid-February Friday

Happy Friday to everyone out there, and a Happy Valentine's Day to anyone that's into that sort of thing... This week is going to offer another short and sweet blog post as we're busy packing up our office in preparation for our move. Everyone in the office is generally excited for the move into downtown Wenatchee. It will shorten the commute for some of us and put us closer to many things in town we often make us of. I realize that on the other hand it may be viewed as a negative direction change because it moves us further from the citizens we serve along the Wenatchee River, Entiat River, and Lake Chelan. However, the added time is barely ten minutes, so it's not much of a change. And since we're moving we'll shortly need to change our phone numbers and email addresses. All our information will be updated on our website once we make the move in a few weeks.

The Native Planting 101 workshop was this last weekend, and I like to think that it went pretty well. The workshop lasted about four hours, and all four of our presenters did an excellent job with their presentations. The workshop would not have been possible without their donation of their valuable time and knowledge. We had a little over 30 people show up for the workshop, and the reviews I received afterwards were almost all positive. I'd like to thank everyone that showed up. Hopefully, they'll use the information to incorporate native plants in all their restoration and landscaping needs.

Today also marks the cutoff for our Native Plant Sale. Ponderosa pine, rocky mountain maple, and golden currant were very popular this year, and have mostly sold out. However, we still have many other options besides those three plants left if you want to try and sneak your order in before the deadline. Our pickup date for plants is set as April 5 from 10 am-1 pm. We also will be bundling the plants on March 22. Anyone that would like to volunteer on either of these days is welcome to do so.

That's all I have for today. Hopefully next week I can get back into my in-depth blogs on particular topics. Until then though this blog will have to suffice. I for one am looking forward to a long weekend, and I'm hoping many of the rest of you get to enjoy one as well.

Early February Observations

This week and, really, the whole month, bring busy times here at Cascadia. Many of us in the office are busy sorting and packing in anticipation of moving from our current location in the lower level of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Headquarters and into new office space in downtown Wenatchee. Thankfully, I don’t have much to do with that until it comes time to load up boxes and equipment and then unload it again in our new location. (Americorps members get all the good jobs.) However, the Native Planting 101 workshop is also coming up this Saturday, February 8, and I’m rushing a little to finish up all the final touches for the workshop. With limited time something has to give, and so the blog this week is going to be a little shorter and less in-depth than normal. There won’t be much of a theme. Probably just some pretty pictures and a few observations.

How about that snow? I realize it’s not a lot, but it sure helps brighten up the landscape, bathing the hills in bright white with splotches of gray, brown, and green poking through. Every little bit of moisture helps. Hopefully it keeps up and we can avoid a dry spring, summer, and fall. Besides, winter is far too dreary without snow on the ground. It keeps everything looking clean and covers up the dirt and grime that coats much of the land during the winter and early spring months.

Hopefully this cold isn’t upsetting too many people. I was little surprised when it came on. That’s my own fault though because I don’t often look at the forecast. My theory being that the weather is going to show up regardless if I know about it or not. It’s amazing how much going from a high of 35 degrees down to a high of 18 degrees changes how it feels to be outside. Anything above 30 and I can usually leave my hands out walking outside. Now it’s almost too cold for them buried deep in my pockets. Any exposed skin can quickly go numb and ache with the cold. These cold days make me happy that I decided to grow a beard for the winter, and at times I wish it went further and covered the tops of my checks and nose. For those of you without a beard, I recommend a scarf if the cold bothers you.

So that’s all I’ve got for this week, time to go back to preparations for Saturday’s workshop. Make sure to sign up for the workshop if you live in or around Wenatchee and Chelan County and have an interest in native plants. It’ll run from 12-4:30 PM at the Chelan County PUD Auditorium. Topics covered will include restoration, pollinators, yardscaping, and noxious weeds. It promises to provide lots of useful and interesting information.