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Saturday Afternoon at Runcible Cider
Season Opening May 21st, 12-5 PM
1084 Quartz Drive, Mosier, OR
Join us for cider tasting and pairing bites in the Runcible Cider Garden with our new Apple Contemplation Series. Fun for the whole family, cute date, or group outing!
- curated picnics available
- a roving troubadour
- full pours of our classics
- bring a blanket and enjoy the garden!
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Made for Mosier
Sunday, May 22nd, 4-7 PM
Mosier Company
Mosier Community School's Made for Mosier event will be held this Sunday, May 22, 2022 at Mosier Company! The event will go from 4 to 7pm and will include music, games, outdoor socializing and a silent auction of art and regional offerings. Nourishment and refreshments available from MoCo. Proceeds will go to the Mosier Community School's pre-kindergarten program.
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Summer Community Fire Safety Night
Tuesday, May 31st, 6:30 PM
Mosier Grange Hall
Do you want to learn about defendable space around your house? Do you want to learn
about fire-wise communities? Do you want to learn about wildfire safety as well as what to
do in case a wildfire in our area? How do we start a fire-wise community? If you answer yes
to any of these questions the Mosier Fire District is hosting a summer community fire safety
night on May 31st at 6:30pm at the Mosier Grange Hall. There will be representatives from
the Mosier Fire District, A Local Fire-Wise community speaker, Oregon Department of
Forestry, US Forest Service, Wasco County, and the Oregon State Fire Marshal. If you
have questions, please call the Fire District at 541-478-3333 or by email
mike.renault@mosierfire.com See you there!!!
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Hound's Tongue in The Gorge: Good vs. Bad
by Humble Roots
It is spring in the Gorge. Wildflowers are blooming and the stunning floral displays in the hills surrounding the Columbia River are beguiling to both visitors and residents. We live in a beautiful place that is biologically diverse and the ecosystems here can be robust and resilient, yet fragile. One of the many things that threaten the incredible beauty and diversity of the native flora in our area are invasive, non-native species of plants.
Over many years of living in Mosier, we have seen non-native, invasive grasses devour native wildflowers along the Memaloose trail and bachelor's button spread and choke out native flora at Tom McCall. Frighteningly, a few years ago, a small outbreak of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) occurred when its seed came in on gravel used to make a new road. Yellow starthistle is a plant so noxious that some agencies have used helicopters to spray and control it in the Hells Canyon area, yet we are happy to report that a small group of dedicated individuals stopped it from spreading into the hills of Mosier by hand pulling it every year until it was gone.
Another plant that has been particularly invasive in Eastern Oregon and on the Washington side of the Gorge has now appeared in Mosier. The plant is common hound's tongue (Cynoglossum officinale). If we all know about it, look out for it, and pull it when it shows up, we can limit its spread, which by some accounts is already very rapid.
It is important to know there is a very beautiful plant that is native to the area and quite similar. Pacific hound's tongue (also called grand hound's tongue and now classified as Adelinia grandis but previously classified as Cynoglossum grande) is native to Mosier and occurs from the Columbia River Gorge in Washington south to California, primarily west of the Cascades. Its flowers are a magnet for native bees and butterflies, and it is a welcome sight in open woodlands.
Pacific hound's tongue good. Common hound's tongue bad. Here are descriptions of both and how to tell them apart.
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COMMON HOUND'S TONGUE (the "bad" one)
Cynoglossum officinale
Common hound's tongue is typically biennial; it remains a low basal rosette of leaves in its first year, produces flowering stalks that grow 1 to 4 ft. tall in its second year, flowers and then dies. It produces ample amounts of finely barbed, velcro-like seeds about the size of a small pea which latch onto animal fur and pant legs, ensuring the spread of the next generation. It is a toxic plant introduced from Eurasia likely as a contaminant in other seed. It has:
- Alternate, long and somewhat narrow, hairy, and distinctly veined leaves.
- Dull, reddish purple flowers that slightly droop and bloom along long, slightly coiled stems. The petals are unflared and form a sort of cup shape.
- Barbed, velcro-like seeds that are round but slightly flattened.
- A thick, black, branching taproot that can reach 3 ft.
- The entire plant is covered in fine hairs, including the stems.
- Typically blooms sometime between May and August.
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PACIFIC HOUND'S TONGUE (the "good" one)
Adelinia grandis
Pacific hound's tongue is a PNW native perennial in the borage family. It has blue flowers with white centers (called fornices); however, the flowers may be tinted with reddish purple. It also produces pea-sized, finely barbed, velcro-like seeds. Its stems are smooth but its leaves are hairy, mainly on the undersides with the upper surface of the leaves smooth to very finely hairy. It typically blooms earlier than the non-native hound's tongue. It has:
- Alternate, somewhat broad and arrow-shaped, distinctly veined leaves.
- Bright blue flowers that may be reddish purple in bud, tinted reddish purple in bloom, or fade to a reddish purple. Petals flared wide open. White centers.
- Barbed, velcro-like seeds that are round or egg shaped.
- A large taproot.
- Hairy leaves (particularly on the undersides) but smooth flowering stems. Foliage and stems are sometimes reddish, particularly when first emerging.
- Blooms sometime between March and June.
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Common hound's tongue
(non-native) |
Pacific hound's tongue
(native)
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| Leaves |
Slightly narrow (basal leaves usually broader), foliage covered in fine hairs |
Broader and more arrow shaped, typically hairy on undersides and smooth on top but some plants may have fine hairs on upper surface of leaves
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| Flowers |
Dull reddish purple, unflared petals, somewhat cup shaped |
Blue, although sometimes tinted reddish purple in bud or bloom and flowers may fade to a reddish purple, flared petals (not cup shaped), white centers
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| Flower clusters |
Along slightly coiled stems that continue to lengthen
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On shorter stems atop main stem |
| Main stems |
Leafy and hairy |
Not very leafy and smooth
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| Seed |
Round but slightly flattened |
Round to egg-shaped
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| Bloom time |
May-August |
March-June |
Because common hound's tongue is typically biennial and dies after blooming, if you can keep it from producing and spreading viable seed you can effectively, eventually, eradicate the population. Pulling whole plants is the best and most environmentally friendly way to control the plant. In its first year common hound's tongue remains a low basal rosette of leaves and during that time plants put their energy into forming a deep, strong taproot and may be more difficult to pull, as well as decipher from the native hound's tongue. When common hound's tongue begins to produce flowering stalks that energy is going into stem and flower production and plants may be easier to pull at this time, and easier to identify. Be careful not to pull the native hound's tongue!
Here is hoping that together we can steward this beautiful place we call home and care for the incredible native flora outside our back doors. As in the case with yellow starthistle, never doubt that a small group of dedicated individuals can make a difference.
If you have questions, call us or email us pictures and we will help you positively identify the plants on your land.
Kristin & Drew, Humble Roots Nursery
humblerootsnursery.com, humbleroots@gorge.net, 503.449.3694
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Mosier's Memorial Day Parade is Back!
Monday, May 30th, 10 AM
3rd Street through downtown Mosier
Mosier’s annual Memorial Day Parade starts at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, May 30. The parade is open to everyone wishing to honor our veterans who died in the service of our Nation. Clubs, Scouts, individuals and other groups are encouraged; as are, antique cars, motorcycles, bicycles, etc. Or, just march with us, to show your appreciation for our fallen veterans.
Free coffee and donuts will be at the Post 55 Legion Hall (Mosier Library) before the parade.
Participants should gather on 3rd Street by the Mosier School before 10:00 a.m. for the parade to start soon after. We will make a short march though Mosier, and re-gather at the town cemetery for an 11:00 a.m. memorial ceremony. Bring your American Flag if you have one.
Since 1919, Mosier’s Post 55 has been honored to support our community, our youth, and especially our local veterans. Mosier Post 55 does more than organize the annual Memorial Day Parade and honor Veteran’s graves at the town cemetery. Some of the Post’s more recent activities include, donating the drinking fountain at the totem, sponsoring a bicycle maintenance station at the Hub, providing a scholarship to the Mid-Columbia Community College, supporting the Oregon Veteran’s home in The Dalles, collections for our local food bank, and of course, hosting the Mosier Valley Library.
All Veterans who want to “Continue to Serve” our community and nation, are encouraged to contact Post 55 at MosierAL@hotmail.com or call Kim Owen at 503-858-4020.
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