Page 6C
OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Photo contributed by Jack Simons
A runner jogs along the west end of the Pendleton River Walkway on Sunday in Pendleton.
Winter-blooming plants help bees
overwinter in your yard
By DEAN FOSDICK
Associated Press
Winter and early spring
are lean times for honeybees
as they emerge from their
hives, where food supplies
are dwindling, to forage.
Adding clusters of winter-
blooming plants around the
yard will give them much
needed nourishment.
Bees take in carbohy-
drates from floral nectar and
protein from floral pollen.
Being aware of bloom times
and providing flowers that
overlap the seasons are
important for beekeepers
who want to successfully
overwinter their colonies.
Some bees, including
many wild varieties, begin
searching for food as early
as January, when sunny days
can push temperatures up
to 55 degrees Fahrenheit or
more.
“In the early spring, bees
are going to need food to get
their engines started again,”
said Andony Melathopoulos,
a bee specialist with Oregon
State University Extension
Service. “You can’t simply
start up your gardening
routines (for pollinators)
again in the spring. Solitary
wild bees, honeybees and
hummingbirds are just
clinging to life.
“The preparation you do
Dean Fosdick via AP
This April 4, 2016 photo provided by Dean Fosdick shows blooms on a Big Leaf Ma-
ple tree near Langley, Wash., which are among the first to arrive — providing floral
nectar and pollen for early-season foraging bees.
now is very important since
early spring is a vulnerable
time for pollinators.”
Pollinator plants
like
crocus, primrose and snow-
drops will bloom even when
snow is on the ground. Trees
and shrubs also are effective
choices for feeding early
emerging honeybees.
“People often overlook
trees,” Melathopoulos said.
“But when it comes to late
winter and early spring, it’s
the trees that are important.
Willows, maples, filberts
and hazelnuts are some of
the earliest sources of pollen
you’ll find. They’re easy to
establish and grow.”
He also suggests estab-
lishing the early blooming
plants in clusters to make it
easier for foraging honeybees
to spot and access them.
“Bees
are
efficient
pollinators,” Melathopoulos
said. “They really appreciate
patches of flowers. They can
go from flower to flower
easily. It’s hard for them
to work on cool days, and
if they don’t have to fly
between clusters, they really
appreciate it.”
Many winter-flowering
plants grow in the wild,
but pollinators generally
don’t live near them, he
said. That makes cultivating
winter bloomers important
when you’re planning your
gardens.
Property owners also
should leave suitable places
for native bees to hibernate
undisturbed. Let turf grass
grow long over the winter.
Avoid pesticides. Reduce
lawn size and turn instead to
protective shrubs.
Even a small amount
of habitat will be enough
to sustain bees, Melatho-
poulos said. “These are tiny
creatures. Well-thought-out
landscapes can provide all
the food they need in winter.
Gardeners can really help
with that.”
Here are some additional
bee-friendly plants that can
provide a degree of bright-
ness in winter while also
nourishing pollinators:
— Oregon grape, an ever-
green shrub that produces
yellow flowers blooming for
weeks.
— Heath and heather. “In
shades of purple to copper
to gold, these low-growing
plants make a mat of
color throughout the year,
including winter,” Melatho-
poulos said.
— Male willow plants,
maples, apple, crabapple,
native cherry. “I’d start with
these shrubs,” said Mace
Vaughan, pollinator program
director for The Xerces
Society for Invertebrate
Conservation in Portland,
Oregon.
“Native plants selected to
feed bees are definitely part
of the solution” to declining
bee populations, Vaughan
said.
Creeper Trail invites bikers to take it easy
By KAREN TESTA
Associated Press
DAMASCUS, Virginia
(AP) — It was an invitation
even teenagers who had
hoped to be watching college
football or playing video
games couldn’t resist: a
mountain bike ride — all
downhill.
Visitors to the Virginia
Creeper Trail will find a
remarkably family-friendly
ride, adaptable to any skill
level, and with scenery to
hold anyone’s attention.
With its broad paths and
wide curves, the Creeper
encourages riders to take it at
any comfortable pace, with
plenty of opportunities for
breaks along the way.
The trail runs about 34
miles from Whitetop Station
in Whitetop, Virginia (about
a mile or 1.6 km shy of the
North Carolina border) into
Abingdon, Virginia. But its
most popular segment is the
first 17 miles from Whitetop
to Damascus, on a stone dust
AP Photo/Karen Testa
This Oct. 7, 2017 photo shows Zack Wong, 14, of Wyn-
newood, Pa., riding along the Virginia Creeper Trail
near Damascus, Va.
and gravel trail that allows
bikers to reap the benefits
of gravity on a gorgeous,
woodsy path over dozens of
trestles and bridges back into
town.
At least a half-dozen
outfitters in the area rent
bikes (including some with
“comfort seats” for a slight
upcharge) and provide shut-
tles to Whitetop Station. The
shuttle trip up the twisting
and
turning
mountain
roadway — where speed
limits reduce at several places
to 20 mph — takes a bit more
than an hour from Abingdon
and about 40 minutes from
Damascus. It’s well worth
the $25 fee per rider.
Note to procrastinators:
Book ahead during busy
times, like fall foliage season
when rental shops sell out on
weekends.
Once at Whitetop Station,
riders claim their bikes
and head out. On a recent
October weekend, with
low humidity, moderate
temperatures and near peak
foliage, the trail was heavily
traveled and sometimes
crowded with bikers ranging
from toddlers in trailers to
grandparents. But calling
out a simple, “On your left!”
got most of the slower riders
to ease to the side and allow
others to pass.
Still, there was no hurry.
Speed would be contrary to
the spirit of the Creeper.
HISTORY OF THE
CREEPER
The Creeper began as a
Native American footpath.
Later it was used by colonists
and settlers including Daniel
Boone, according to a history
provided by the U.S. Forest
Service. By the early 1900s,
it was a rail line, where
steam engines moved coal,
lumber, passengers and other
supplies from Abingdon to
North Carolina.
The
nickname,
the
Virginia Creeper, is said to
come from the super slow
speed at which the early
steam locomotives navigated
the many twists and turns and
chugged up the mountain
pass.
But the rail line strug-
gled, and after decades of
failing to turn a profit, the
railroad company petitioned
to abandon the line. The
Creeper saw its last train
run in the 1970s, and the
U.S. Forest Service secured
much of the land and started
removing the track.
ALL DOWNHILL
The
most
popular
segment — the 17 miles (27
km) from Whitetop Station to
Damascus — requires only
moderate pedaling given
the gentle downhill slope.
Signs along the route indi-
cate when hikers or bikers
are coming into the Mount
Rogers National Recreation
Area or moving onto private
property.
There are plenty of
spots to stop along the way,
including restrooms.
Green Cove Station
Visitor Center is the first
significant stop, and is just 3
miles from Whitetop Station.
One of the most picturesque
areas along the path is the
High Trestle, a little more
than 7 miles from the top.
The elevated structure
stretches 550 feet and is 100
feet tall.
Taylor’s Valley is about
11 miles from the top, and
a perfect spot for a break,
especially if the volunteers
from the local church are set
up on the green. Recently,
about a half-dozen church
members were offering hot
dogs with homemade slaw
and chili, cookies, fruit salad,
pumpkin roll, chips and cold
drinks — all for a free-will
donation.