Ranunculus occidentalis - Native

 

Fawn Lilies on Power line trail

Lots along this pipe but none in gravel. 

Dogwood Trees

Beautiful native dogwood in Oak Springs.

Walked up this hill behind the Acer houses.

Found several dogwoods in bloom.

This one is at the top behind Robin's house.

Our old trail into the forest. 

Coming back down. 

It was fantastic to find all these dogwoods and our old trail!

Holes in Big Maple at Gayle's

 

Nuthatches

two nuthatch holes

The top one watching this hole.

Today - 4/8/26 - the bird looked out of the hole and then flew up into the tree.

It scolded. 

Ninebark Shrub

Common ninebark bush has a few leaves.

Next to twinberry honeysuckle.

An excellent native shrub for year-round interest, the arching branches of Common Ninebark give this shrub a full, mounded shape. Five petaled flowers appear in dense, spirea-like clusters in spring, and give way to clusters of reddish-pink capsules. The clusters eventually turn brown and persist into the winter. The leaves are yellow in the fall. Named for its unusual bark which peels in strips to reveal several layers of reddish to light brown inner bark, Ninebark is a popular 'winter interest' shrub.

Seaside Brookweed

Samolus valerandi is a species of semi-aquatic flowering plant in the primrose family, Primulaceae. Common names include seaside brookweed, brookweed, thin-leaf brookweed, water cabbage and water rose. amolus valerandi is a species of semi-aquatic flowering plant in the primrose family, Primulaceae.  

Seaside brookweed (Samolus valerandi ssp. parviflorus) is a small, native perennial herb found in Washington state, typically inhabiting wet, brackish, or salt marshes, tidal flats, and stream banks. It features small white flowers, blooms from April to October, and can grow up to 30 inches, often thriving in moist gravel or shallow water. 

Yellow Violets

Two plants in the gravel across from the others.

Not very many this year.  

These are the ones in my moon garden.

Still waiting to see what they will be.

Honeysuckle - Native

Finding lots of honeysuckle climbing the shrubs at entrance by Schmitz.

This one is climbing a osoberry stem by blue house trail. 

Today, 4/2/2026, found several climbing the ocean spray tree at my entrance. 

Found More Fawn Lilies

Found total of 6 today.

 

Response From Landscape and Takara

Takara wants to know where this trail is located. 

Sent pictures. 

Timing is Critical: Applying herbicides during peak flowering times poses the highest risk to pollinators.

 

From Takara 3/31/26

Thank you so much Eleanor for this additional information as well as your kind words. I truly appreciate you taking the time to put this together.  I am meeting with the landscape supervisor this week and we will discuss this in depth.  I will also make the request to the Board to approve another Private Property sign for that area of the Oak Preserve.

Thank you again for being such a great steward of the Preserve!  The community is lucky to have you keeping such a close eye on it!

Hope you are having a wonderful day-

Takara

Trail from road side, enlarged.

From grass by sidewalk, trail is in middle. 

Met Joel in the Preserve today, 4/2/2026.

Hi Pam, Judith, and Rob,

Today I was walking in the Preserve and met Joel, Pacific Landscape Manager, on his way to check out the mowed trail. I had his ear and he listened carefully, agreed with my concerns, etc. It was so encouraging!! 

He said their contract is for mowing 2’ on either side of the trail, but he will talk to the HOA about not mowing any wildflowers that are blooming. Now we will need to plan how to mark the plants. I told him that the daffodils had been mowed and he was appalled! 

He said his workers won’t use the trail to Marvin Road, but neighbors will use it unless there is a caution tape across it. I think the trail was well used before they mowed it last summer, so it looked like a legitimate trail to the mowers. Getting Takara on board and now Joel, who knew who I was and was amazed at all the native plants marked, was so fantastic! 

And I really appreciate having you 3 thinking with me, even though I seem to be managing it, which I didn’t want to do, but now that we are this far into it, I will continue making noise about native plants!! 

Another good thing is that the dwarf owl’s clover is showing up in many more places now. I showed that to Joel, too. 

I also talked to Joel about the fact that any herbicide in the Preserve is bad for the insects, bees, ants, etc. I told him that the Oak trees are home to a great number of insects that the birds use to feed their young and that pollinate the native flowers.

As you can tell, I had a great morning!

I know Pam and Rob are still learning about our Oak Preserve, and I encourage you to do research on these topics, native plants especially.

We are going to our daughter’s place for a few days, so keep an eye on thing!

Happy Easter

Eleanor 

A wide trail from Marvin.

New gravel, no sign for private property.

Asarum Canadense or Asarum Caudatum or Viola sagittata

Asarum canadense (Canadian wild ginger) is a low-growing, shade-loving perennial groundcover, typically 4-8 inches tall, with large, heart-shaped, deciduous leaves and brownish-purple, cup-shaped flowers that appear in early spring at the base of the plant. It thrives in moist, rich, deciduous woodland conditions, serving as a fragrant, deer-resistant ground cover.

Western wild ginger (Asarum caudatum) is an understory plant that offers wonderful texture in the form of deeply veined, evergreen, aromatic leaves that carpet the soil in shady conditions, soil protection, habitat for tiny creatures, and unusual, secretive flowers. The species epithet, caudatum, means “tailed” and refers to the wispy, almost whimsical appendages of the sepals, which protect the flower.