Healing Gardens - Beargrass Savannah

Future Plans

Loni Jean Ronnebaum — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 17:33:01 -0800

Plans for the Future

Bring Beargrass to the Savannah.
Bring Madrona, to watch over site, to the hill entering mixed forest
Make traditional digging sticks to go with new signage (Prairies).
Innoculate with native lichens/mosses
Transplant snowberry from Camas site to Savannah
Re-define path with burnt wood and stepping stones
Have a controlled burn.

Savannah Signage

Loni Jean Ronnebaum — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 17:30:46 -0800

Beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax (Pursh) Nutt, Melanthiaceae)
Beargrass Savannah vegetative communities have historically been maintained by native people's in the North West. For centuries, Beargrass has been an essential element of baskets made by local tribes. The basket making quality (specifically leaf pliability) of Beargrass improves with exposure to fire and tribes historicly burned to stimulate the new growth of fibrous leaves. Quinault and Skokomish Tribes still maintain Beargrass Savannahs today. At the center of this site is Blue Elderberry (Sambucus caerulea). Fire scarifies the hard seed coat of buried seeds and stimulates their germination, which usually occurs the first growing season after a fire. Edible berries and flowers are used for medicine, dyes for basketry, arrow shafts, flutes, whistles, and clapper sticks. Elderberries are high in vitamin C. The flowers when prepared as a tea, are used to break dry fevers and stimulate perspiration, aid headache, indigestion, twitching eyes, rheumatism, appendix inflammation, bladder or kidney infections, colds, influenza, bleeding in lungs, and is helpful to newborn babies. Applied externally, leaves, flowers, bark and twigs are excellent as a poultice, mixed equally with chamomile, for soreness, inflammations, joint stiffness, and to reduce the swelling of bee stings.

Nature Conservancy donations in Savannah

Loni Jean Ronnebaum — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 17:29:09 -0800

We warmly welcome you!!!

Fescueplanted throughout site every 10-15 inches
Danthonia califorica- placed near center with blue elderberry
Carex inops (long stolen sedges)placed near center with blue elderberry
Erigeron speciousus(fleabane) by light post
Fragaria virginiana (Strawberry) by dumpster in small area along cement path with ...
Plectritis congesta Seablush
Aster curtis around Fire Hydrent

*Most pictures taken by Kinberly Uribe, Aster curtis and Danthonia califorica from Laura's Camas Prairie plant List

Local Savannahs and Praires

Loni Jean Ronnebaum — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 17:26:08 -0800

Local Savannahs and Prairies

www.pnptc.org/pacific_northwest__map.htm- 3-10-07 Map of Western Washington reservations

Beargrass Savannah site

Loni Jean Ronnebaum — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 20:52:18 -0800

Beargrass Savannah Site Fall:

Habitat Intro

kimberly uribe — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 20:35:45 -0800

Beargrass
(Xerophyllum tenax (Pursh) Nutt, Melanthiaceae)

"This prairie area was extremely important to the
well-being of...Skokomish people. This particular
area in fact was the domain of my own family...
I've been told by elders who have already passed
away...the practice of caring for this land was
something that we maintained for several thousand
years... it was manicured like a park. And it was that
way until the late 1800s. People stopped doing that
around that time when they were forcibly moved to
the reservation..."CHiXapkaid (November 4, 2004)

Beargrass Savannah Presentation

beth stinson — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 20:24:14 -0800

Healing Gardens 2006-2007

Long-house Garden Project:

Beargrass Savannah

Kimberly Uribe and Loni Jean Ronnebaum

9/25/06-3/14/07