Polk County Living
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 29, 2017 9A
Pump up your plant knowledge
CORVALLIS — Learning to
recognize 400,000 species of
plants is more than daunting;
it’s impossible. But making a
start by learning how to iden-
tify family characteristics can
help you manage a healthier
garden.
“It’s important for garden-
ers to be aware of how to ID
plants,” said Karen Pleasant,
Oregon State University Ex-
tension Service master gar-
dener coordinator in
Josephine County. “It will tell
you what the correct cultural
needs are, what kind of prob-
lems they may have. Know-
ing which plants you have
will really help you know how
to take care of them.”
Identification can be espe-
cially crucial for people who
want to know which wild
plants are edible and to learn
about the medicinal aspects
of plants, she said. Both are
popular hobbies that require
the correct information to
keep safe.
Just as human families ex-
hibit resemblances, so do
plants. Each of the 620 plant
families share characteristics
such as the shape and com-
position of flowers. For in-
stance, the huge aster family
(Asteraceae) — which in-
cludes sunflowers, asters,
daisies and dandelions — is
plants in this
family, broc-
coli, mustard,
wall flowers,
c a n d y t u f t ,”
Pleasant said.
“They’re easy to
identify be-
cause of the
four petals.”
About to
make an ap-
pearance in the
garden are
early-blooming
flic.kr/p/e9GtPn
fruit trees,
With their ray flowers, daisies are easy
which are part
to place in the aster family.
of the rose fam-
ily (Rosaceae). They sport five detective,” Pleasant said.
free (not fused) petals. If you “Study the plants in your gar-
see petal confetti raining on den. Once you get used to the
the ground soon, you can just patterns, you can narrow it
about be sure the plant is in down to genus and species.
Then you know how to grow
the rose family.
A good place to start the and take care of them.”
You can learn more by
identification process is by
determining if the plant is a joining garden clubs, study
monocot or dicot. The vast groups, the Extension master
majority of plants are dicots gardener group or grab a
with typical flowers and two plant key, which takes you
seed leaves when they through a series of steps to
sprout; monocots only have make identifications.
“It’s true, it’s like learning a
one. They also have hollow
flower stems, kneelike nodes new language,” Pleasant said.
or joints, and are pollinated “It can be intimidating at
by wind. In addition to lawn, first. One idea is to plant sev-
this group includes lilies, or- eral plants in the same family
chids, bamboo, ornamental together so that you can see
the similarities. It’s really
grasses, sedges and rushes.
“It’s like becoming a plant fun.”
K YM
P OKORNY
Your
Garden
recognized by the daisy-
shape of the flowers.
“If you’re looking at a daisy
or a sunflower, the center
where the seeds form is the
disc flower,” Pleasant said.
“It’s composed of lots of little
flowers fused together. What
look like petals around the
disc are the ray flowers.”
The third-largest family is
the pea family (Fabaceae),
which is easily recognized by
people who have grown peas
or sweet peas. The flowers in-
clude a large curved “banner”
petal in the middle with two
little wing petals on either
side. Right in the middle are
two fused petals called keels.
Plants in this family —
lupine, wisteria, beans, lo-
cust, alfalfa and more — also
bear pea-like pods.
Number four in the lineup
of plant families is the mus-
tard family (Brassicaceae).
The flowers have four petals
and six stamens (four tall,
two short), which surround
the pistil in the center.
“There are a lot of garden
MI TOWN
You can tell that it’s
springtime in Oregon be-
cause the rain feels warmer.
For those of us who have
spent daily walks around MI
Town bundled in layers of
sweaters, coats and woolen
gloves, this is a nice change
,and we’ll take it. Umbrellas
and lighter jackets will see us
through the next few weeks.
Springtime is a season of
hope and renewal for all of
us, and road trips around the
area give us all the opportu-
nity to see baby lambs and
calves frolicking in the farm-
ers’ fields. The March and
April showers are more toler-
able when we enjoy those
occasional sunbreaks and
warmth and blue skies.
—
At our house, we are look-
ing forward to Central and
Western Oregon University
baseball and softball games
P ATTY
T AYLOR
D UTCHER
Columnist
in the coming weeks. Full
disclosure: Great-grandson
Austin Keel (Clackamas
baseball) and granddaughter
Nicole Lukinbeal (Scap-
poose softball) are the most
fun to watch, and we’re
happy to see another gener-
ation of athletes in our fami-
ly participating in this won-
derful spring and summer-
time activity.
—
March Madness is a top
priority at the moment, with
weekends devoted to watch-
ing the best of college bas-
ketball and wishing all the
best to Oregon State women
and Oregon men and
women as they compete
among the finest teams in
our country. The yard work
and spring cleaning can wait
a few more days, because we
know it will wait for us, no
matter what.
—
Speaking of spring clean-
ing — How about those
books that are taking up
space on bookshelves or in
the corner of the closet, or
on that end table in the bed-
room? A great opportunity
to clear away the space —
and make room for more —
is to donate them to the In-
dependence or Monmouth
libraries. Ongoing book sales
help raise extra funding not
provided in the city budgets.
—
The Friends of the Mon-
mouth Library are having
the Spring Book Sale, begin-
ning May 5 (noon to 2 p.m.,
members only), 2 until 8
p.m., open to the public;
May 6, 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.,
open to the public. If you
aren’t a member, you can
certainly join prior to the
sale, or on the date of the
sale ($10, individual; family
of two, $20; family of three
or more, $25; lifetime, $150).
—
Just a little reminder to MI
Town residents — spring
fever is a good thing to catch
and enjoy, but try to remem-
ber to put on your responsi-
ble driver hat whenever you
get behind the wheel. With
spring break and warmer
weather on the horizon, kids
and cats and dogs and peo-
ple of all ages are going to be
out and about even more
often, so be careful out
there.
PEDEE NEWS
April 22 is Kings Valley’s
annual school dinner and
auction put on by the Parent
Teacher Organization. Tick-
ets are $10, and it’s always a
lot of fun, especially with
t h e i r a u c t i o n e e r, Pa u l
Thompson, who is absolute-
ly amazing at getting good
prices for their items.
They’re still looking for do-
nations, so drop items off at
the school during school
hours. Plants, baked goods,
and handcrafted items are
always good. I’ll be donating
a small quilt for the occa-
sion.
—
My sister Vicki turned 62
last week and quickly
bought her National Park
pass, a very valuable com-
modity which allows a per-
LUCKIAMUTE
DOMESTIC WATER
COOPERATIVE
BOARD MEETING
Monday 7:00 p.m.
April 10th
503-838-2075
Location: Business Office
8585 Suver Rd. • Monmouth
A RLENE
K OVASH
Columnist
son and whoever he or she
is with to go into a National
Park or monument for free,
which saves a lot of money.
It is good for the rest of your
life, too. The thing is, it costs
$10 now but will go up to
$80 in the near future, so if
you are 62 or older, get it
fast. Check online on where
to get one.
—
Paul Telfer spent 10 days
in February with Red Cross,
working in Sacramento for
Health Services in shelters
for those who were dis-
placed by the Oroville Dam
disaster. Volunteering for
Red Cross is a real way to
help others in bad situations
,as so many hands are need-
ed. Talk to the Telfer on how
to get involved.
—
Don’t forget to go to
Pedee Church’s “rummage”
and bake sale this weekend.
They are trying to make the
rummage more highend,
which should be enticing.
Also, the youth planted veg-
etable seedlings and will be
selling them to help with
missions.
—
I’m in Dallas, Texas, for an
A m e r i c a n A g r i - Wo m e n
meeting as I write — 85 de-
grees and NO rain. Of
course, even though it’s
beautiful out, I’m freezing in
a meeting in a hotel confer-
ence room. Bummer.
—
The students at Kings Val-
ley Charter School held a
science fair, and the first-
grade class participated in
an egg drop. Each kid de-
signed a contraption that
would prevent their egg
from breaking from a height
of 15 feet. Kailey Traglia
wrapped her egg in bubble
wrap and then placed it in a
small plastic Folgers coffee
can — no broken egg! The
other grades worked on
projects either individually
or in pairs, then judges se-
lected a student from each
class to give an award to.
4th Annual
Survivor Dinner & Celebration
hosted by Eola Hills Winery
Presented by Relay For Life of Polk County & Team Perrydale
Saturday, April 1, 2017
at Eola Hills Wine Cellars
501 S. Pacific Highway 99W Rickreall
5:30 ~ Doors open, Meet & Mingle
6:15 to 8:00 ~ Dinner & Entertainment
Every survivor and guest will be our guests of honor at this wonderful event.
Please join us for an evening of food, fun and festivities.
To RSVP your name and the name of one guest,
contact Jen Levesque at 503.837.0118 or jenniferlevesque01@gmail.com
Pencil
us in!
www.polkio.com
RSVPs are encouraged by March 20, but are not required.
The opportunity to register for Relay For Life will be available.
Relay For Life ~ June 3-4, 2017 • Dallas High School, Dallas
www.relayforlife.org/polkcountyor
VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITIES
These Polk County groups would welcome individuals
who have time or expertise to volunteer. Organizations
that would like to be added to this list should call 503-623-
2373 or email IOnews@polkio.com.
• AARP Foundation Tax-Aide – 503-930-7636
• After DARC — 503-623-9501
• Arc of Polk County — 541-223-3261
• Central School District — 503-838-0030
• City of Dallas — 503-831-3502
• City of Independence — 503-838-1212
• City of Monmouth — 503-751-0145
• Crime Victims Assistance Program — 503-623-9268
• Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce — 503-623-2564
• Dallas Fire Department — 503-831-3532
• Dallas Food Bank — 503-623-3578
• Dallas Kids, Inc. — 503-623-6419
• Dallas Police Department — 503-831-3582
• Dallas Public Library — 503-623-2633
• Dallas Retirement Village — 503-623-5581
• Dallas School District — 503-623-5594
• Delbert Hunter Arboretum — 503-623-7359
• Girl Scouts of Southwest Washington and Oregon
— 1-800-338-5248
• Ella Curran Food Bank — 503-917-1681
• Falls City Arts Center — 503-559-6291
• Falls City School District — 503-787-3531
• Family Building Blocks – 503-566-2132, ext. 308.
• H-2-O — 503-831-4736
HART (Horses Adaptive Riding and Therapy)
— 971-301-4278
• HandsOn Mid-Willamette Valley — 503-363-1651
• Heron Pointe Assisted Living — 503-838-6850
• Independence Health and Rehabilitation
— 503-838-0001
• Independence Public Library — 503-838-1811
• Kings Valley Charter School — 541-929-2134
• Luckiamute Watershed Council — 503-837-0237
• Luckiamute Valley Charter School – 503-623-4837
• Meals on Wheels — 503-838-2084
• Monmouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce
— 503-838-4268
• Monmouth-Independence YMCA — 503-838-4042
• Monmouth Public Library — 503-838-1932
• Northwest Human Services — 503-588-5828
• Oregon Child Development Coalition — 503-838-2745
• OSU Extension Service - Polk County — 503-623-8395
• Perrydale School District — 503-623-2040
• Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of
Polk County Inc. — 503-623-8473
• Polk Community Development Corporation
— 503-831-3173
• Polk County Community Emergency Response Team
— 503-623-9396
• Polk County Museum — 503-623-6251
• Polk County Public Health — 503-623-8175
• Polk County Resource Center — 503-623-8429
• Polk Soil and Water Conservation District
— 503-623-9680
• Relief Nursery Classroom — 503-566-2132
• Rickreall Watershed Council — 503-623-9680
• SABLE House — 503-623-6703
• SALT (Senior and law enforcement together)
— 503-851-9366
• Salvation Army — 503-798-4783
• SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) — 503-391-8423
• Salem Health West Valley Hospital — 503-623-8301
• Victim Assistance Program-Polk Co. District Attorney’s
Office 503-623-9268 x1444
• Willamette Valley Hospice — 503-588-3600
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Continued from page 8A
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5
• Scrabble with Betty — 1 p.m., Independence Public Li-
brary, 175 Monmouth St., Independence. Scrabble games first
Wednesday of every month. Free; refreshments and prizes
available. 503-551-7687 or 503-838-1811.
• Willamette Valley Food Assistance Program Food Bank
— 1:30 to 6:30 p.m., 888 Monmouth Cutoff Road, Building E,
Dallas. Weekly distribution for eligible community members.
503-831-5634.
• Yarning for Others — 3 to 5 p.m., St. Thomas Episcopal
Church, 1486 SW Levens St., Dallas. Knitters and crocheters
gather to make clothing and accessories for those in need on
the first Wednesday of every month. 503-689-7222.
We’re on a hunt
for local Easter
Egg Hunt
events!
Send us an email with information
about the event to: ionews@polkio.com
by 4pm on Thursday, April 6th.
147 SE Court St., Dallas
503-623-2373 • www.polkio.com