Seed Collecting

Yesterday my husband and I drove into the mountains to collect some seeds for our native garden. We didn't have too much planned. Geoff just wanted to collect some blazing star (Mentzelia sp.) from where he's seen it from the highway. And I was interested in exploring some ponderosa pine and Douglas fir forest at elevations not too much higher than the shrub-steppe where we live.

Leading up to the trip, I had fun putting together a digital map that I could use for navigation and data collection. With my work, I'm familiar with using ArcGIS to accomplish this sort of task, but at home I'm hesitatant to spend money to acquire the license required. So I opted for QGIS, the open-source alternative. I created the map in QGIS Desktop, uploaded it to QField Online, and downloaded it onto my phone using QField.

Was it overkill? Maybe. But it was a lot of fun, and I look forward finding more ways to utilize QField.

We stopped at one of the spots blazing star spots that Geoff knew, where there were a couple easy-to-reach plants and another one few feet up a barely-climbable slope. So of course I scrambled up there, almost instantly questioning my decision. Geoff, the wiser one, stayed at the base of the slope.

Before we left, I noticed some gumweed (Grindelia sp.). I opened up one of the still-green involucres to check on the seeds, which seemed dark and solid enough to possibly be mature. I grabbed a few more, and I was surprised how much sticky resin was ending up on my fingers. I knew it was a sticky plant, but wow.

As with everything we collected, we only took a percentage of seeds from each plant, trying to keep in mind the ecological impact.

From there, we headed up a familiar Forest Service road toward ponderosa pine and Douglas fir forests. On the way, I remembered a scenic plateau I had camped on a few years back and became excited to share it with Geoff.

The road there was a little rough, and my car gained a few additional pinstripes, but we made it to the end of the road, which was near the edge of the plateau. Here, the forest quickly transitioned to a rocky meadow – all the better for seed collecting.

Here's what we found:

• elk sedge (Carex geyeri)
• biscuit root (Lomatium sp.)
• tall butterweed (Senecio serra)
• squirrel tail grass (Elymus elymoides)
• penstemon
• wild onion
• agoseris
• phlox

Walking up the plateau, the forest disappeared entirely, and the rocky meadow became a vast expanse. I'm not sure why, but this absolutely delighted me. It was just so spacious.

It was there that we noticed that there was a whole lot of a shrubby aster species with very fluffy seed heads. Perhaps an Ericameria species.

It was such a delightful time. The sky was sunny, the temperature cool, the views incredible. I can't wait to see which seeds germinate next spring!