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ROBERT'S RAMBLINGS

SIGNS REMOVED Two signs have been removed to enhance the recreational experience for our visitors. The "No Dogs Allowed" sign was removed and replaced by a dog station. This consists of a pole with a sign that tells visitors to keep their dogs on a leash and also to pick up after them. We have provided plastic bags to help them with that, but many people bring their own bags. I have noticed that before the sign was removed, local residents were bringing their dogs to the Arboretum anyway and had been doing so for many years. The other sign was the "No Food" sign. We received two picnic tables from the Forest Service and built two of our own. Since then I have seen countless families enjoying picnics and have never had a litter problem from that. They either take their own trash out or use our trash can nearby. Just these two changes have made the Arboretum a more welcoming place. Of course, the "No Smoking" sign has remained for obvious safety reasons.

And MARK YOUR CALENDAR for our
SPRING PLANT SALE
SATURDAY, June 11,
at 9:00 AM
Come Early for the best selection.

Very sincerely yours,
Robert Reed ROWIA President

DEMONSTRATION GARDENS

We have added dozens of new native plants to our gardens, which has created a colorful display of flowering plants. This offers visitors a wonderful experience while walking our cement path there.

We took it a step further by botanically labeling most of those plants. This shows our resident visitors what they can also plant in their own gardens. Each sign has the common name on it, making identification easy for them. We have also expanded our gardens and added a Wildflower Garden. To help our new plants become successful, we replaced our manual watering with a battery-operated automatic sprinkler system which has worked very well. Recently we corrected our wildflower poster and labeled plants that are invasive species. That was not an easy task. Thanks to Gina Richmond, our Forest Service liaison and past president of ROWIA, who rounded up some help and transported the posters to a printer down the hill to make the changes. OTHER IMPROVEMENTS One very important project done several years ago was replacing the wood roofs on the Information Booth, the kiosk, and the gazebo with a non-wood material that is fire-resistant. It is hard to tell the difference. Recently we have also added a large fire ecology sign along the trail. Many of these new additions make our site not only a recreational but also an educational for all visitors.

CURRENT PROJECTS

We are repainting and blacktopping our parking lot. This summer we plan to paint all three walking bridges, bathrooms, kiosk, and booth. We have almost completed a new and updated "Trails to Hike" map to replace the old one. We are very grateful to Rebecca Franklin, our intern last summer, who took on this difficult project on her own. The last thing I want to mention is the fact that since the Forest Service built our new handicapped accessible Sequoia Trail, I have personally seen people in wheelchairs and many families with strollers come off our trail. It is a great thing to be able to open our nature trail to virtually everyone. When we had railroad ties used as steps, that would not have been possible. If you have not visited or hiked the Arboretum recently, I encourage you all to do it this summer, especially in June when the gardens are usually in full bloom.

Arboretum's 27th Anniversary

Editor's Note: June 30, 2011 will mark the 27th anniversary of the dedication of Heaps Peak Arboretum. The following is an excerpt from the history you can find by going to our web site: www.heapspeakarbortetum.com. Gloria Anderson.

The Heaps Peak Arboretum rests just above the site where pioneer Fred Heaps established a ranch in the late 1800s. After his death, the ranch fell into the hands of his nephew and later became a lumber harvesting operation. In 1922, fire devastated the site, leaving only remnants of blackened trees. Six years later, the Lake Arrowhead Women's Club, head by Mary Putnam Henck, organized the first planting of new trees. Club members and students from Lake Arrowhead Elementary School assisted in the project. By 1931, the site was officially named the Heaps Peak Reforestation Project. For the next decade, the Women's Club faithfully continued its planting efforts.

Fire again ravaged the area in 1956. Fortunately, most of the trees survived. However, the U.S. Forest Service and the community had abandoned the care of the site and by 1982, it had become an illegal dumping ground. Vehicles traveling the site destroyed sensitive root species and eroded the soil. Toxins from household waste spilled onto the ground and rusting refrigerators marred the landscape.

Disturbed by neglect of the site, Arboretum founder George Hesemann decided to save it, and ROWIA was born to support and care for the new Heaps Peak Arboretum. After his passing in 1998, a tree was planted in his memory near the Demonstration Garden.

 

BOTANICAL CORNER

Marah macrocarpus (Wild Cucumber or Man-root is a member of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae).

Cultivated members of this family include pumpkin, squash, watermelon and cantaloupe. Wild cucumber is commonly observed in late winter and early spring sprawling vigorously over the top of adjacent shrubs in chaparral and coastal sage scrub-plant communities below 3000 feet. The separate white male and female flowers are borne on the same plant and emerge in early spring, maturing to form fist-size prickly, pendulous gourds. The above-ground structures arise from an often large underground tuber- hence, the name man-root. The large brown oblong seeds have been used by Native Americans as a fish poison and paint binder.

Gina Richmond
U.S. Forest Service Liaison