Updates 4 days ago Photos from Shelterbelt LLC's post It’s good to be planting trees today. View on facebook 1 week ago How quickly do flower strips in cities help the local bees? Say yes to creating patches of habitat in our urban areas for bees and birds...it works. "Flower strips are human-made patches of flowering plants that provide resources for flower-visiting insects and insect- and seed-feeding birds. Previous experiments have proved their conservation value for enhancing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes." ... See more Many cities are introducing green areas to protect their fauna. Amongst such measures are flower strips, which provide support to flower-visiting insects, insect- and seed-eating birds. According to the first quantitative assessment of the speed and distance over which urban flower strips attract wi... ... See more View on facebook 3 weeks ago Why is Meteorological Spring Earlier on the West Coast Than For Much of the Nation? Welcome, meteorological spring! "So why does spring start relatively early here in western Washington/Oregon, particularly compared to the northeastern U.S.? Thank our mountains and the Pacific Ocean. By the time we get into February, the sun is getting much stronger and the day is longer. Our air is generally coming off the Pacific Ocean, which is relatively mild (45-50F) all year round. So mild air coming in and protection from the cold air in the interior by two mountain ranges (the Cascades and Rockies), allows the stronger sun to do its job. In addition, the jet stream begins to weaken and move northward, resulting in weaker and less frequent storms." ... See more This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics View on facebook 3 weeks ago Photos from Shelterbelt LLC's post This project has the most-badass old-growth stumps View on facebook 3 weeks ago 4000 bareroot/plugs of native trees and shrubs in the truck. Going to be busy. View on facebook 3 weeks ago National Invasive Species Awareness Week It's National Invasive Species Awareness Week! Time to get fired up! NISAW is a nationwide outreach & advocacy event in late winter and a late spring public invasive species removal event to raise awareness of the threat of invasive species and share what people can do to prevent their spread. ... See more View on facebook 1 month ago Good lunch spot today View on facebook 1 month ago Whatcom County Weather Well, it has been incredibly wet around here for what seems like an incredibly long time: "The last day with 0 precip at BLI was Christmas Day!" Are you sitting down? The last day with 0 precip at BLI was Christmas Day! There were 3 days after 12-25 that saw a trace of precip at BLI in Dec. In January there were 4 days of a trace of precip. It has rained every day in Feb including today. I boxed the trace days. Trace is generally not counted as measurable precip for that day. ... See more View on facebook 1 month ago Bigleaf Maple Syrup Flows As Profits Drip From Once-Maligned Northwest Tree One more reason to love bigleaf maples! https://www.npr.org/2020/01/26/799226834/bigleaf-maple-syrup-flows-as-profits-drip-from-once-maligned-northwest-tree?fbclid=IwAR2EB9s2nZzy8sSQn2gkYWi--6LPGOiPfl-2D6HbtSqiVKT-ezh5zXCHOlM ... See more View on facebook 2 months ago The Northwest Huckleberry and Other Nuts and Berries of the Region Holy smokes this is pretty incredible stuff if you are into PNW berries and native plants. Amazing to see some of the phenological changes already occurring: "...first flowering dates for tall Oregon grape in the Wilbur L. Bluhm Plant Phenology Study show that flowering is occurring an average of 50 days earlier now than it was in the 1960's." https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=88ed07b14f1a4b7cae65dbf3b35b9d91 ... See more Overview of predicted changes in fruiting and flowering dates, and range of several important Pacific Northwest shrub species due to climate change scenarios. View on facebook Load More...