Monday, March 23, 2020

A walk in the park...

Back on March 8th Andrew and I visited Dabney State Park, just east of Portland. He was trying his luck with some low tech fishing (using the basic idea of Tenkara) in the Sandy river and I went exploring. This was my first exciting find...

There was no explanation of how this upside down tree stump came to be here. Thanks to "Hans" and a couple of others I 'm now seeing this as the (possibly dead) Camperdown Elm that I should have seen it as to begin with. Duh.

Naturally I looked at it and imagined all the opportunities to place plants in those voids.

Just imagine!

Moss was everywhere here, it was a green world.

With a few splashes of pink.

And blue, courtesy of that spring sky.

These shelf fungus looked a little like sea-shells.

A few even had moss growing on them.

These definitely looked like shells.

Or coral.

This sign was hilarious. There was nobody around and yet, reserved.

Another head-scratcher. Bamboo, in a state park?

I asked my friend Evan (bamboo expert that he is) why he thought anyone would plant bamboo in a state park. He stopped to look at the big picture and pointed out this is not pristine wilderness. In fact the park is named after Richard T. Dabney and his wife Martha, who maintained a summer house at the park site until Richard died in 1916. The park wasn't park was acquired by the state until between 1945-1968. Who knows what went on there? Evan also put a name to those bright green leaves below the bamboo, vinca. Ugh.

Of course there were lush ferns everywhere.

That path is a hard surface, it's become covered in moss. The PNW version of the yellow brick road...

There's my fisherman, he was easy to track down thanks to the bright blue jacket.

I first saw this unusual moss at the Oregon Zoo (here), I was thrilled to see it again.

I wish it were in my garden.

Fuzzy!

Wouldn't it have been fun to work a couple plastic figures (cavemen maybe?) into this scene?

And maybe tuck a plastic spider in here.

Heuchera?

We ended our adventure near the boat ramp, where there were picnic facilities.

Weather Diary, Mar 22: Hi 63, Low 34/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

15 comments:

  1. Looks like a beautiful place for a walk. I can picture that gorgeous tree sculpture in your garden festooned with bromeliads, ferns and tillandsias. Was Andrew succussful in his quest?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would love to have that tree sculpture in my garden! Andrew's just doing catch and release and he did catch a small fish.

      Delete
  2. The upside down stump appears to be a dead Camperdown Elm, possibly?

    ReplyDelete
  3. It looks like a great place to wander - and little need for active "social distancing" either! The upside-down tree is fantastic, as is that shelf fungus, something I've never seen before. The moss and ferns, something you don't find here in profusion, is lovely too. I'll echo Elaine's question - did Andrew catch anything?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just one. He's doing catch and release so I can't say whether or not it was any good...

      Delete
  4. What a boost to my spirits to look at all that beauty. Love the tree root sculpture; perfect even without plants. And the moss road.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The PNW has the most amazing moss! I love the mossy walkway, though one probably has to be careful not to slip, I imagine. I wonder what made those tree roots so gnarled and compact? Perhaps it grew wedged between boulders then was uncovered by erosion? Regardless, it is pretty interesting as sculpture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was afraid the pathway would be slippery, but even I (a klutz) did not find it so. I was pointed out to me that perhaps those aren't tree roots but the interesting branching structure of a Camperdown Elm. Makes sense.

      Delete
    2. Oh, yes, I can see that now.

      Delete
  6. That upside down stump makes a very interesting sculpture. All that moss! Be still my heart. Love moss. AND that fern growing out of a huge rotting moss covered tree. Too much fun.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a beautiful place. Fabulous moss. The yellow green road to beauty. I think Hans has it, Camperdown Elm.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Comment moderation is on (because you know: spam), I will approve and post your comment as soon as possible!