Naomi Reibold is Rare Care’s new Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator. Hailing from Indiana, she has slowly made her way further west over the past five years following federal public land jobs as a botany technician. She has worked in Missouri, Idaho, Utah and Oregon. For the past two years, Naomi has spent her field seasons in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest learning and falling in love with our native, endemic and rare plants. 

Pacific lanceleaf springbeauty (Claytonia multiscapa ssp. pacifica) is a tiny plant for such a big name! Though seldom seen, it can be found in the Olympic Mountains, Vancouver Island and the North Cascade Range of British Columbia. A surveyor would need to look for it early in the season just after snowmelt in wet subalpine and alpine meadows at elevations above 4,100 feet. 

Springtime has us thinking about the magic of seeds. They hold all the material needed to start a new plant—DNA, food and the start of new leaves and a root—all within a convenient, compact package. For many species, their durable coat offers them protection from the elements while they await suitable conditions to set down roots. Some seeds can withstand fire, icy winters, or the highly acidic environment of an animal’s digestive system. 

Rare Care is fortunate to partner with several land trusts in the state to conserve rare plants. One such organization is the Columbia Land Trust, who works across five ecosystems from the mouth of the Columbia River to approximately 200 miles inland and 50 miles north and south of the river in Washington and Oregon. We reached out to Nate Ulrich, Conservation Manager, to find out more about their work. 

Skunk cabbage is a sure harbinger of spring in the maritime Northwest.  Among the earliest native species to flower, its bright color, large size and local abundance are easy to spot and promise warmer days ahead after the long dark of winter.

Lincoln Erbeck’s humor and joy contrast with the technical and often dangerous nature of his work. As a climbing arborist and horticulturist at the UW Botanic Gardens, Lincoln is not just responsible for the health of trees in the Washington Park Arboretum — he plays a vital role in ensuring the safety of the people who visit. And he does this all with a big smile on his face. 

Meet Kevin Rusch, a horticulturalist at the University of Washington Botanic Gardens and part of the team of folks who care for the collections at the Arboretum!

If you visit the grove of Sycopsis at the Pacific Connections Garden along Arboretum Drive this February you will be in for a treat – the flowers, while not showstoppers individually, are blooming in incredible quantity this winter.

 
Scientific Name:  Juniperus morrisonicola
Common Name: Yushan Juniper Family: Cupressaceae Native Range: Taiwanese mountains Location in the Arboretum: There are 8 of these trees in our collection; all accessioned in 1938.  Seven are located within the Pinetum area and one is located at the north end of Crabapple meadow. 
 

The Yushan Juniper is an elegant conifer native to a small area of the Taiwanese mountain ranges, which are the tallest mountains in Southeast Asia.     

Read all about this gentle giant of a tree, Cupressus gigantea, and the work we do at the Arboretum to preserve this endangered species’ genetic diversity.