The Farm and Gardens each focus on the ethnobotanicals, the plants that allowed humans to live and flourish in Cascadia. As an example, the Gardens host 4 types of Ceanothus. They are the Snowbrush, Deerbrush, Red Stem, and Prostrate Ceanothus and each serve to attract certain butterflies, specifically the Western Tiger Swallowtails. Complementary plantings of phlox and thistles assist, including specific plantings on each kiosk roof, giving proof to the fact that native animals need to forage (and/or lay eggs) on native plants. Ceanothus is eaten by deer, quail, beaver … no records as to human consumption exist other than Native Americans using it to make a tea. Mature specimens are found by Kiosk 11; PLC’s sponsored WWU SAM Project’s extinction probability is slight, <.0001% for all 4 species. All illustrating that if few native plants, then few native insects, and even fewer native birds. Fields of single vegetables or mountain sides with only Douglas Fir do not provide the diversity required for lowland Cascadia’s 900 native plant species necessary to any longer support large populations of native birds. Kate Wilhelm (who lived in Cascadia Floristic Region since 1976) already wrote this story: When Late the Sweet Birds Sang.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Wilhelm
http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Ceanothus
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Kiosk-11.pdf
https://burkeherbarium.org/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Ceanothus%20velutinus
https://burkeherbarium.org/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Ceanothus%20prostratus
https://burkeherbarium.org/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Ceanothus%20sanguineus
https://burkeherbarium.org/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Ceanothus%20integerrimus
Leaves of the Ceanothus were dried and used for making a type of:
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