Mimulus memo

Mimulus Memo

California Native Plant Society — Kern County Chapter

May - June 2008

Hello

Fellow Members

I am writing on
behalf of the Kern
Chapter ofCNPS.

The cost of paper, printing, and stamps to
mail the Mimulus Memo is continuing to rise;
therefore, we are asking your help in keeping the
cost to a minimum. I know you have heard these
words by other organizations, but the Kern Chapter
of CNPS is not able to escape the same doom.

Are you willing to have the Mimulus Memo
put in your “email” box instead of your “snail mail”
box? This trial offer will not expire; just reply
soon, so you don’t miss the next issue due the first
part of July.

Just think, you will see the newsletter before
it hits the post office, you will help save a few
valuable trees, you won’t have it stolen from your
mailbox, you won’t miss activities because it
arrived after the dates listed, and you will help save
money for much needed education, conservation,
and public events.

How it will work

The Mimulus Memo Newsletter Editor,
Stephen Cooley, will send you an email stating that
the new Mimulus Memo is on the Internet site
www.kerncnps.org . Then you click the link and
there you are - new articles, announcements, field
trips, etc., and IN COLOR! This would mean you
could read the Mimulus Memo before anyone else.

Simply copy and paste this line in an email
to tloveanimals@bak.rr.com (Yvonne Turkal)
“YES, PLEASE SEND THE MIMULUS MEMO

VIA AN EMAIL LINK TO

(Include your name and email address you want it
sent to)

This is a trial offer that you can change at a
later date if you should desire.

WELCOME NEW MEMBER

Margaret Duriga

AND WELCOME BACK
TO ALL OF OUR
RENEWING MEMBERS!

KERN CNPS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Officers

President

Lucy Clark

Vice President

Debby Kroeger

Treasurer

Harris Morris

Secretary

Laura Stockton

Committee Chairs

Field trip Chairs

Yvonne Turkal
Don Turkal

Newsletter Chairs

Stephen Cooley
Linda Cooley

Membership Chairs

Linda Cooley
Clyde Golden

Plant Sale Chairs

Debby Kroeger
Bonnie East

Program Chairs

OPEN

Hospitality

Sasha Honig

Publicity

Debby Kroeger

Web Master

Stephen Cooley

Plant Identification

Denis Kearns

Conservation

OPEN

Rare Plants

OPEN

Plant Communities

Mary Warters

Yvonne Turkal

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THANK YOU!

Ellen Cypher- responding to CNPS Rare Plant
Questionnaire for our chapter
Aaron Wentzel and Lucy Clark- Apes at Sand
Ridge Removing Sahara Mustard
Karen Meeks, Audrey Cochran, Sasha Honig,
and Linda Cooley - Meeting refreshments
Denis Kearns-GREAT plant ID sessions
Ruth and David Schales, Bonnie East - Native
Garden Tour

Lorraine Unger, Debby Kroeger, Bonnie
East, Sasha Honig, Nancy Nies, Lucy Clark
- BC Gardenfest

Laura Stockton-Educational Posters
Marya Miller - Kern River Preserve Spring
Nature Festival

David Schwartz - his program and fun and
instructive field trip to see xeric ferns

Desert Willow

Chilopsis linearis, Bignoniaceae
by Don Turkal

California Native Plants for the Garden states, “Desert
willow is simply the best summer-blooming large shrub
or small tree that California has to offer. 11 Anyone who
is familiar with this plant would be hard pressed to
dispute this statement.

It has narrow willow-like leaves that range in color
from gray-green to rich dark-green. Inflorescences are
terminal clusters of showy flowers that may be white,
pink, lavender, or burgundy with the general structure
of those in the Scrophulariaceae family.

I can remember the first time I saw this beautiful
specimen at the California Living Museum in full
bloom. My first thought was, WOW! What kind of
willow is this with such striking snapdragon-like
flowers? Could it be a willow/figwort hybrid? haha

Desert willow is pest and disease free, ranges in height from 12 to 20 feet, is drought tolerant, and
loves sun and heat. It is one of the most adaptable and easily grown of California’s native plants.

Gee, I think I just talked myself into adding one to my backyard.

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CHAPTER MEETINGS AND PROGRAM

Tuesday, May 20 Plants of the Anza Borrego

Speaker: Fletcher Linton

Place: Lake Room, Beale memorial Library, 701 Truxton Avenue, Bakersfield

Refreshments will be served.

6:00pm Plant Identification Workshop

We will have plants to key, or bring a plant you have wondered about. Bring your Twisselmann-Moe
or Jepson Manual, and a loop, if you have one. We will bring extra books, if you need one. This is
your opportunity to learn how to use a floral key to identify plants! This section of our meeting is
led by Denis Kearns, by all reports a great teacher.

7:00pm Plants of the Anza Borrego

Fletcher Linton, Botanist on the Sequoia National Forest, will present our program on Sonoran
Desert plants, specifically of the Anza Borrego Desert State Park in San Diego County. Wet years
yield flowers in profusion, so expect to be wowed by his photos from the last great wet year, 2005!
Perhaps you will see a plant you would like in your garden. Those of you who attended Fletcher’s
last program for us on the rare plants of the southern Sierra, will remember his excellent
photographic skills.

KERN CNPS BOARD MEETING

Wednesday, June 25 5:30 pm The Garden Spot

All members are invited to attend our bi-monthly planning meeting which will be held at The
Garden Spot. (Surely we can eat and talk at the same time!) Among other topics, we will be
planning fall meetings and the Plant Sale, so if you have ideas for either, pleas attend! Our
September meeting is usually devoted to gardening, and our Annual Pot Luck will feature a speaker
also. Please come, visit, and offer your suggestions!

• •

Mark your calendars and bring your cameras

Enter the 2008 Wildflower season picture contest. Take lots of flower pictures while enjoying
trip and send your favorite flower pictures along with their names (not yours) to the
mimulusmemo@bak.rr.com . Everyone will enjoy seeing what’s in bloom in 2008, plus you
might win a prize. We will have someone without CNPS connections judge the pictures from
the website. The rules are simple, there are none. At the end of our Wildflower Walk season
we will announce the winner on line; and the mystery photographer will have to come
forward so we can post your name by your prize photo as the 2008 Flower Power Winner.

Join the fun in experiencing, and learning the plant life we find with each trip.

Your Check off List of items to always bring

Wear comfortable shoes and layer clothing for weather changes. Please leave pets at home.
Camera Lunch and /or snack

Field glasses Pencil/pen/paper for making lists

Hand lens Sunscreen

Hat Water

Insect repellent

CNPS insurance rules prevent us from assigning car pools, but we do encourage ride sharing from meeting
locations. Parking space is usually limited, and we want to save the air.

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KERN CNPS EVENTS

May

17 CALM 25 th BIRTHDAY PARTY

Kern Native Plant Society has contributed significantly to CALM through the years so
we are in charge of a booth telling visitors about CNPS and CALM's gardens. So if
you want two hours of rest and relaxation for yourself in this beautiful CALMing
atmosphere, please call Debby at 323-4259. The hours of tranquility are 9-1 1 ; 10-12;
12-2; and/or 2-4.

20 PROGRAM: Fletcher Linton - Plants of the Anza-Borrego Desert

Go to this web page to see some pictures from the park:

http://www.parks.ca.gov/mediagallery/7page id=638

June

14 FIELD TRIP: Mourning Cloak Botanical Gardens

www.mourningcloakgardens.com

The gardens have been closed for repair, but are once again open for our
enjoyment. Bring your lunch, and we can have a wonderful day in the
Tehachapi Botanical Garden enjoying nature and what they have
accomplished since it’s closing a few years ago. Please call 393-4778 by
June 4 if you can join us for this relaxing day, and we will give more
details as to where we are going to meet for ride sharing.

25 BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Organizational meeting

26-29 NORTH AMERICAN BUTTERFLY ASSOCIATION

“Butterflies to Attain New Heights” You must register prior to visiting at
www.naba.org (We can bird early morning and at night)

Summer Break July and August

OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST

WINDWOLVES — Future volunteer events are on the following dates:

May 17 th We look forward to seeing you here! David Clendenen, Wind Wolves Preserve Manager
(661) 858-1115 = Office (661 ) 747-0374 = Cell (661 ) 858-4505 = Fax

KAWEAH OAKS PRESERVE (www.sequoiariverlands.org)

Jun. 28 7:00-9:00 pm Demonstration and Guided Walk: Owls at Kaweah Oaks Preserve with
Burleigh Lockwood

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Celebrating 25 years with CALM

CALM will be celebrating its 25th birthday on Saturday, May 17th. Kern CNPS has contributed significantly to
their gardens through the years. We will have a booth set up to talk to the hundreds of expected visitors about
CNPS and CALM's gardens. Please email Debby t dekroeger@kern.org t to sign up to help: 9:00 - 1 1 :00; 10:00
- 12:00; 12:00 - 2:00; and/ or 2:00 - 4:00.

Thank you, Debby Kroeger

• •

ATTENTION:

Your Kern Native Plant Society President receives names, addresses, phone numbers, and email
information from the main CNPS office in Sacramento. In an effort to keep our LOCAL MEMBERSHIP
information correct, please take 5 minutes to update with CNPS.

1 - email Membership & Sales Coordinator Stacey Flowerdew at sflowerdew@cnps.org . (ask her to

update your information for Kern Native Plant Society and then give her your name, address,
phone, and email address)

2 - Call Stacey Flowerdew at 916-447-2677 to leave her a message to return your call. (Please follow

up on this call to make the changes happen)

UP THE RIVER

If you are interested in an excellent source of information regarding the growing of California natives, just go
up the river to the Kern River Valley and the Kern River Courier. Here you will find Marya Miller and her
column “Going Native.” A recent article, “Clematis Is Not A Disease” can be seen at the rather frightening-
looking URL below (There are also links to her other articles on this page):

http://kernrivercourier.corn/joornla/index.php?option=corn_content&task=view&id=298&lternid=102&ed=23

Richard Cayia Rowe, this editor’s source for good Kern River Valley info (see www.KRVR.ora L adds these

links:

Western White Clematis ( Clematis ligusticifolia )

http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi7where-calrecnuiTR2255
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CLLI2
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php7id plant=CLLI2
http://www.laspilitas.com/plants/21 1 .htm

Pipestem Clematis ( Clematis lasiantha)

http://www.laspilitas.com/plants/210.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipestem_Clematis

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CLLA3

http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi7where-calrecnurrR2254

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Kern County Science Fair

by Debby Kroeger

Winners of school science fairs are invited to participate in a county wide science fair. One of the
categories is "plant science". For the past few years we have given awards to the first place winners in the
middle school and high school divisions. It was my pleasure to represent you and give the awards.

Roy Goldstein, a 6th grader at McAuliffe School was the middle school winner. His project was titled
"Does Size and Mass Matter?" He states that a medium sized lima bean will grow 3 times as big as any other
sized lima bean. If beans are a big part of someone's diet they are 38% less likely to have a heart attack or heart
problems.

Jonathan Enns, a 9th grader at Stockdale Christian School, was the high school winner. His project was
titled "Marvelous Mycorrhizal Fungi". Mycorrizal fungi added to the soil at the time of planting wheat seed
will cause a young seedling wheat plant to grow more root mass and result in a healthier plant, able to extract
more water, fertilizer and nutrients from the soil, conserve water and oil, from which most fertilizer is derived.
Jon will be representing Kern County at the California State Science Fair.

The Tejon lies in a corner of the world far away
from civilization and defies the approach of
settlements on any side.

— Daily Alta California, June 25, 1854

• •

CNPS - Kern County Chapter
% Stephen Cooley, Editor
mimulusmemo@bak.rr.com

INTERNET EDITION

The mission of the California Native Plant Society
is to increase understanding and appreciation of
California’s native plants and to conserve them and
their natural habitats through science, education,
advocacy, horticulture and land stewardship.

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