Western Lily Work Days
By: Dave Imper
Steve Matthews, Rita Orlandini, Clare Golec, John McRae, and Dave Imper
A Hearty Thanks to the following friends of the endangered western lily who helped harvest and plant some 400 bulbs at 2 of the sites on Table Bluff in January: Sidney Carothers, Dave Weidling, Tom Stokes, Alan McCan-Sayles, Susan and Carl (Friar) Tuck, Rita Orlandini, Steve Matthews, Rita Orlandini, Larry Levine, and Clare Golec. As usual, the double-dipper award went to John McRae for showing up twice. A Special Thanks also to Lisa Woods of Freshwater Farms Nursery for helping so much on the project, and to Rick Storre for providing the nursery habitat. John was especially relieved that the mud, weather and jokes weren’t nearly as bad as expected.
Our effort was significant this time....considering the total flowering population rangewide for this species last year was on the order of 4-5000, our new recruits could easily contribute 5% or more of the total seed production 10 years down the road. We even had a nice article on the workdays and the lily in general in the Times Standard. As a result, I’ve had several contacts from landowners on Table Bluff interested in planting the lily on their property - exactly what we need to move the recovery plan to a new stage. Look for more "help wanted" signs in the future...this is a long term project, and this very special plant needs our help.
Thanks again!