Subject: [Tweeters] State of the Flower Address
Date: Oct 25 16:08:32 2014
From: Wilson Cady - gorgebirds at juno.com


The Pacific Rhododendron is such a common species on Mt. Hood that there is town named Rhododendron there. But this plant is absent on the north side of the Columbia River in Washington in similar habitat on Mt. Adams. Kind of like Acorn Woodpeckers until a few decades ago. Wilson Cady
Columbia River Gorge, WA

---------- Original Message ----------
From: Jeff Gibson <gibsondesign at msn.com>
To: tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] State of the Flower Address
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 12:47:08 -0700


My fellow Washingtoonians. This is my first State of the Flower Address, so bear with me. Washington's State Flower is the Pacific, or Coast, Rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum). Way back in 1892 the 'Women's Congress' of Washington put together a vote for deciding on a State Flower. Women couldn't vote for laws and stuff like that back then, but were allowed to vote for flowers apparently. So the showy Rhody was chosen. I guess that choice sort of leaves Washington dry-siders in the dust, since R. macrophllum is a wet-side species. Maybe sagebrusher's and Ponderosa piner's , should join up with Idaho with their more appropriate flower of Syringa (mock-orange). If it was up to biologists I suppose Eastern Washington could be renamed Western Idaho. Just sayin'. Back to Rhodyland. This vegetable does have a somewhat interesting range in our state. It is most common in 'rain-shadow' areas. While apparently once found in Seattle (native or planted?) it is only common to the west, in the 'shadow' of the Olympic mountains. The Eastern Olympics, much of the Kitsap Peninsula, Whidbey Island, etc., has what Rhody's like. There is an isolated population in the upper Skagit valley just into Canada - in the mini rainshadow of the Picket Range and other tall peaks of the Western North Cascades. However, the relative dryness of our local rainshadows, doesn't count for everything. Rhodies do fine in places like the Big Quilcene valley up in the foothills, and down in Oregon the plant is quite abundant in various areas of the Cascades with plenty of rain. A place I know well, the Tahuya Peninsula, (inside the hook of Hood Canal) is loaded with Rhody's - and the area gets about 60 inches of rain a year. Maybe it's the "soil" : at Wildberry Lake, in the area, I can tell you that the "soil" is a great depth of coarse alluvium, having dug several outhouse pits in the stuff which renders a shovel useless - one needs a six-foot steel rockbar and a bucket to dig a hole there. It is exceedingly well drained however, which the Rhodies don't seem to mind. I suppose the Rhody's, along with Madrone and Manzanita which also do well in similar conditions, are remnants of warmer, dryer times when they crept up from California, or whatever. Anyway, it's interesting that our Rhody's are where they are, adapted to summer droughts, fires, and cutting. This all came up again for me this year, camped out at Alzheimers Acre, here in Port Townsend, eastern Jefferson County, where the Rhody's add their charm to the coniferous forests. Port Townsend even has it's annual Rhododendron Festival in May, and you could maybe be crowned Rhody Queen! Gotta be a girl though, evidently. When in bloom (April May, or June, depending on locale) it's easy to see why the plant got the State Flower vote - it's wonderful. Even bumblebee's think so. Even out of bloom, the broad evergreen foliage adds a unique vibe to the forest's in which it's found. Jeff GibsonRhodyville Wa