of the whole plant was applied to the head for headaches. It makes a great ground cover for the garden in a shady spot.

Twinflower (Linnaea borealis) is a low-growing ground cover with bell-shaped pink & white flowers in twos dangling on short 2 or 3-inch stems. It grows circumboreally in the Northern Hemisphere. Native Americans used the mashed plant for inflammation of the limbs. A poultice ...

They employ another survival trick, which is to hold the head still & scissor the hindwings, creating movement in the eyespots & tails to make the distraction even more effective.

from the vulnerable head. Below is one with a nip at the tail & eyespot showing how effective this strategy is. A good larval food plant for them is Malva sylvestris, also called common mallow or wood mallow, which is easy to grow & adds purple color to the garden ...

The gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus) is widespread & is another one of our urban butterfly species. They're small, gray, & fast so can be easy to miss in your yard. But the wing pattern is a marvel of minimalist design. The tails & bright orange spots distract predators away ...

Southerly flow keeping wildfire smoke out of the Portland area & west/central Gorge, for now.

Friends of the Gorge reports the Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail is closed indefinitely due to the recent fire. Another impact from their reluctance to ask for a public review of the Gorge's fire management plan.

nourishment from fungi that live on the roots of conifers & forest litter. No Native American medicinal uses are noted, & no research on biological activity. Saprophytes in general are a poorly understood group of plants that could hold discoveries for a curious biologist.

Candystick (Allotropa virgata) is an unusual flower blooming in the Gorge's mid-elevation conifer forests now. Not an orchid, it's from the heath family. It's found in western parts of the US & Canada. It's a mycotrophic plant (myco=fungus, trophic=feeding) that gets ...

IUCN lists it as vulnerable in Washington, where this one was found. Despite the name, the plant isn’t very giant. It’s about 16 inches tall. The flowers are 1.25 inches (3.175 cm) across.

The giant helleborine (Epipactis gigantea) is an orchid that grows in boggy areas of the Gorge. Native Americans used it as ceremonial medicine in a girl's puberty rite. The plant was used to treat general body disease, & to purify a newborn infant ...

Iran war dividend:

responsible for billions of dollars in damage annually. Natural control strategies are being investigated. One that works is spraying erythritol onto crops. It's a natural sweetener which is more attractive to the flies than sugar. It might confuse adults into laying eggs on...

volume, it turns dark, or flies accumulate. Use two traps per large bush. Add more if control isn’t adequate. This method is organic & won’t harm pollinators. The flies are a gift of globalization, introduced into the continental US in 2008. They infest over 100 crops & are...

cider vinegar in cup. Not white vinegar! 6. Place lid on cup, hang in bush about 3 ft. high. 7. Check periodically for flies. The male has tiny spots on the tips of the wings. (ID photo: Copyright © 2009 Eric LaGasa) 8. Replace vinegar & detergent if evaporation reduces...

3. Mix a tiny amount of unscented laundry detergent powder (little fingernail size) with a bit of water. 1/8 tsp. will do, or 2 drops of liquid detergent. Put in cup. 4. Tie a string through two opposing holes in the cup and tie into a loop for hanging. 5. Put 3/4 inch of...

Blueberries & raspberries are ripening. Now's the time to make traps & a natural spray for Asian fruit fly on berry crops. Here’s how. (thread) 1. Punch 8 holes evenly around top of a clear plastic disposable drink cup. 2. Tape the straw hole shut in the lid to keep water out ...

Last Thursday, we pulled Scotch broom near Ainsworth State Park in the Gorge. Those shrubs in the foreground didn't have a chance. Photo by Rick Shory.

Mario cowering in fear under the bed from the fireworks. Revelers, enjoy sending your tariff money to China to celebrate your “freedom.”

Happy Independence Day from the Gorge! Lupines, balsamroot, & cluster lilies make a festive display at moonrise.

the roots for high fevers. An infusion of the leaves & stalks was taken as a laxative. The flower development has been studied to explore growth regulation through heterochrony, or alteration in developmental timing ...

allow outcrossing, which can improve genetic diversity. Bolstering the hypothesis of stress resistance, plants have been observed under stress conditions, such as shade or poor soil, with only cleistogamous flowers. Native Americans took an infusion of ...

cleistogamous flowers. They don't open but are self-pollinating so will produce seed even if the showy chasmogamous (blooming) ones don't. Perhaps this evolved to ensure reproduction during periods when pollinators were absent, possibly drought. The chasmogamous flowers ...

Large-flowered collomia (Collomia grandiflora) grows in open or lightly wooded areas in the east Gorge at the end of spring. The pale orange flowers grow in a ring, but you seldom see the center of the ring with flowers. Why? They are special non-blooming flowers called ...

Call for pet food & medications from the Columbia Gorge Humane Society in The Dalles. Chewy donation link: www.chewy.com/g/columbia-g...

FIRMS imagery of the Lyle Hill Fire. It is now burning in an area about 2 miles wide and a mile from north to south. The situation is changing rapidly. People in the area need to check status with Klickitat County Emergency Management: www.klickitatcounty.gov/249/Emergenc...

Heliothis phloxiphaga. Find out more at these links: (1) sci-hub.se/10.1002/jps.... (2) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...

moths & hummingbirds. Native American children sucked the ends of them to get out the sweet nectar. The plant contains chemicals called cucurbitacins, which are cytotoxic & are under investigation for cancer chemotherapy. It's the larval food plant for the moth ...

due to confusion. Native Americans used an infusion of the roots as a laxative. A decoction of the plant was used as a face, hair, & eye wash. A poultice of the plant was applied for rheumatic pain. The plant was boiled for a drink, & also to make glue. The flowers attract ...

Scarlet gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata), AKA skyrocket from its firework-like flowers, grows in part to full sun in higher elevations of the Gorge. It ranges from BC to Texas along western North America. The plant is highly variable, & has been assigned multiple genera & species ...