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ROBERT'S RAMBLINGS

I am sure that we are all glad that a particularly long winter has ended. The Arboretum took quite a beating from all the wind and snow. We had many limbs and even some trees fall due to snow load and high winds. Branches fell on the path to the restrooms, blocking access. Thanks to Gary Hefton and other fire personnel from the USFS Skyforest Fire Engine 11, the branches were cut and moved to the other side of our fence line. Many fence lines were broken from fallen branches, and a few from vandalism.

A work party was organized that included board members and Gina Richmond from the Forest Service to help repair some of the damage. Broken fence rails were replaced, and rose bushes and other shrubs were pruned back. A portion of our front asphalt curb was reassembled. There is still much to do. For example, the fence at the Sequoia Grove which was kicked over still needs repair.

Our wildflower poster was sent to a printer to add labels to three plants that are invasive weeds. This will make our poster more accurate and it will inform the public about unwanted plants that displace native species.

ROWIA has also entered into a partnership with the San Bernardino National Forest Association to hire an intern this summer that will be assigned to do various projects. For example, the new intern will help staff our Information Booth, which is very much needed.

After many delays, we are close to having our new Fire Ecology sign installed along the Sequoia Trail. This sign will inform visitors about the impacts a wildfire
has upon our forest.
The good part about having had a good winter is that our wildflowers should be spectacular this year, and our demonstration gardens will look great, so come to see the gardens in June. This is the best month for blooming
flowers and shrubs.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR for our
PLANT SALE SATURDAY, MAY 29,
at 9:00 AM (Memorial Day weekend).
Come Early for the best selection.

Have a great summer!
Robert Reed ROWIA President

ARBORETUM HISTORY

Editor’s Note: June 30, 2010 is the 26th anniversary of the Dedication of Heaps Peak Arboretum, so this issue of the newsletter is a recounting of the Arboretum’s history, which is taken from our web site www.heapspeakarboretum.com. Just click on History to see photographs of the early days of the Arboretum.

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, headed 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. But all planting activity halted with the outbreak of World War II.

Fire again ravaged the area in 1956. Fortunately, most of the trees survived. However, the US 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.

 

ROWIA IS BORN

Disturbed by neglect of the site, Arboretum founder George Hesemann decided to save it.

He secured permission from the Forest Service to manage the site, and on August 10, 1982, volunteers began cleaning and creating trails. Only four trees were removed to create the trails – the largest only six inches in diameter – and 175 new trees were planted. Volunteers installed barbed wire around the perimeter to prevent trespassing and vandalism, and placed concrete posts in front to block vehicle access and discourage dumping. Cedars were planted in the old dirt roadways to help nature reclaim the routes.

Hesemann formed the Rim of the World Interpretive Association 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. Today work continues under the direction of the ROWIA board of directors and volunteer members.

Red Hatters Visit Arboretum

It was a chilly and windy day, but that did not deter Crestline’s La De Da Ladies Red Hat Society members from observing Arbor Day (April 30) at the Arboretum. During a picnic lunch, they were briefed by Red Hatter and ROWIA board member Gloria Anderson about the Arboretum’s history. Then it was on to a walk on the Sequoia Trail. Most of them had never been to the Arboretum, but they definitely will return when the flowers are blooming.

BOTANICAL CORNER

Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia

Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia, is a native plant in the Boraginaceae family. Also known as fiddleneck, this winter/spring annual is an extremely variable species and has a large geographic range. It occurs locally from sea level to about 5000 feet and is very common in many plant communities; including vacant lots and disturbed fields. The name fiddleneck describes the shape of the coiled inflorescence which resembles the head of a fiddle. Its leaves are alternate, lanceolate to linear and covered with stiff bristly hairs. Small coils of yellow-orange flowers occur at the branch ends; reddish-orange dots will often be visible in the corolla limb. Seeds begin to germinate with the first autumn rains, continuing through winter. The seeds and foliage can be poisonous to cattle because they accumulate free nitrates and alkaloids, and it can also be a serious weed in agriculture fields. More than 100 scientific names have been used to describe the large and small-flowered races of Amsinckia- only to find out they were all components of a single widespread and variable species.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=AMMEI2

Department of Primary Industries
www.dpi.vic.gov.au/DPI/nreninf.nsf/childdocs/-
22C871BE2A0105794A2568B30004D413

Gina Richmond
U.S. Forest Service Liaison

About Arbor Day

The first Arbor Day, founded by Sterling Morton in 1872 in Nebraska to encourage tree planting and care, resulted in the planting of more than a million trees that first year. It is celebrated every year on the last Friday in April. The Arbor Day Foundation, founded in 1972 when the centennial of Arbor Day was celebrated, works with the U.S. Forest Service to plant trees in America’s national forests. It has helped to plant more than 18 million forestland trees since 1990. In keeping with that tradition, Red Hatters were given Coulter pine seedlings to plant. One of them said she planned to plant hers at Switzer Park because that is where she and her husband were married.