Baltimore Woods Meadow Makeover

What would happen if the Friends of Baltimore Woods (FOBW) had access to rare and unusual native plants, beyond the familiar favorites Portland Parks can provide? How would we plant them in the Baltimore Woods Lower Meadow, which was once covered in asphalt, and has hot, dry clay soil in summer? And what would be the best way to plant them, so that they aren’t in soil either too rich or too hard-packed for them to succeed? These are questions we hope to answer, thanks to a $3,000 grant from (Gardening in America) Garden Club of America. 

When the Garden Club of Portland (PGC) approached Friends of Baltimore Woods with the idea of partnering on a project with the grant, Portland Parks Ecologist Laura Guderyahn had the idea to purchase uncommon native plant starts and seeds that are hard to find and might thrive in hot, sunny conditions. Some would be sowed immediately, and some would be propagated for a year until sturdier for later planting. Laura ran her idea by FOBW, and we jumped on board. Laura then wrote the grant proposal to Portland Garden Club (PGC). That group, in turn, submitted the grant request on FOBW’s behalf to Garden Club of America. On July 1, 2023 FOBW won the grant of $3000 to purchase plant species indigenous to our meadow site. We had one year to spend the money on this ambitious project, it was time to get busy!

While the news was exciting, uplifting and overall wonderful, it left a few questions unanswered, namely who would do what to realize the project. After some reflection and discussion, a plan emerged. Leah Passell and I took on the fun but challenging project of deciding on a list of plants that could be suitable for the specific harsh growing conditions at the site. We created a list of 28 possible species, heavily based on Portland Plant List. The final list included native lilies like Cat’s Ear Calochortus, Fool’s Onion, Taper Tip Onion, Harvest Brodiaea, Ookow, Yampah (an important first food), two types of milkweed and several native grasses. Next we reached out to more than 15 native plant nurseries to check on availability. We sought plants at wholesale prices. In the end, we narrowed our list down to 15 types of native plants that we were able to locate at four local nurseries. Leah wrote up and submitted orders and picked up all the plant materials. 

Suddenly, we had an abundance of plant materials and a rapidly closing window of time for ideal fall-season planting. Our complex project got a great boost when Liz Dally, a retired business person and active member of the Native Plant Society of Oregon, stepped up to help lead the project. Our PGC lead, the appropriately named Cynthia Grant, suggested we improve soil conditions in the lower meadow for planting. Laura secured the use of the city’s Dingo the Digger, a sturdy digging machine, to loosen soil in about a dozen areas along the main trail to be used as planting beds. The digger loosened and dug out rocks, then compost was mixed in to prepare the planting beds that run along the main trail.

What had seemed like a daunting task started to seem like an achievable one. On November 11, about 20 members of PGC helped FOBW members get 200 plants, about 1180 bulbs and nearly 3 pounds of grass seed into the ground. We worked together like a well-oiled machine, which couldn’t have happened without an organized plant placement layout that was flagged the day before thanks to Liz Dally’s leadership and organizing skills.

We are grateful to Cynthia Grant for her guidance in spurring us to identify how we would achieve our ambitious goal, to Laura Guderyahn for her help securing Dingo the Digger to prepare planting beds in our lower meadow and especially Liz who stepped in to coordinate the project. Now it’s winter and new seeds and bulbs are quietly sleeping beneath the soil. We hope to see new life at the Baltimore Woods Lower Meadow in spring. Thanks to the many people from PGC and FOBW who helped actualize a habitat restoration dream!