TOW: Have you ever...?
Jane McGary (Mon, 25 Aug 2003 19:44:02 PDT)

Diane Whitehead reported the (re)emergence of an Arisaema after
clearing bamboo grove with heavy equipment.

I saw the same thing happen here with native Trillium ovatum and Anemone
deltoidea after I had a road cleared into the woods so I could drive my
truck in to get rocks for the rock garden. Some friends cleared a slope at
their new home of a heavy cover of ivy and were pleased to have scores of
trilliums come up the next year.

Many plants, including geophytes in particular, seem to wait for open
conditions to emerge. The opening can be caused by landscaping as in these
cases, by logging (horrors! but you should see Lilium columbianum in a
clear-cut), or by fire.

People often ask me whether the bulbs I sell should be planted in shade,
because they are described in the literature as growing in woodland or
scrub. I grow almost all of them in full sun, but I admit that there is
less sun here during their growing season than they might get elsewhere. I
like to use the term "shade-tolerant" rather than "shade-loving" for most
plants, though of course there are some that definitely can't stand full
sun, except perhaps at high elevations.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon