PORT TOWNSEND — Hidden in plain sight between the fourth, fifth and sixth holes of the Port Townsend Municipal Golf Course is a the oldest native plant garden in the city.
Fred Weinmann, a member of the Washington Native Plant Society, said the acre of prairie land at the corner of Blaine and Walker streets seems to be largely unknown despite being in the heart of Port Townsend.
“You would think a lot more people would know,” Weinmann said.
“We take a group out here for Native Plant Week every year and most say they have no idea it was here.”
The land, called Kah Tai Prairie, is the last remnant of what was once a much larger prairie and woodland area.
“It wasn’t discovered that this was even prairie land until about 15 years ago,” he said. Once its nature was understood, “people began working on preserving it.”
Among the native blooming plants are camas, biscuit root, goldenrod and several types of local grasses.
Weinmann calls it “a sea of blue and gold with red, pink and purple accents.”
Over the years, several non-native species have begun flowering in the prairie, stymieing the growth of native plants.
Weinmann said the best way to take care of that problem is to let the prairie burn.
A visitor to the Kah Tai Prairie won’t see a collection of colorful flowers now.
Instead there’s a sprawl of black remnants from a recent fire.
On Oct. 1, East Jefferson Fire Rescue conducted a controlled burn of the area.
It might not be as picturesque as imagined but for Weinmann, the black prairie is still beautiful.
“There are so many nutrients released now,” he said as he inspected the results of the controlled burn.
“It’s going to be a healthy bloom in the spring.”
The burn facilitates the regeneration of rare and endangered plants and is expected to stunt the growth of non-native species.
“It will give the non-natives a stomach ache, but they will eventually be back,” Weinmann said.
“The last time we did this, it worked well and all the native plants came back so dramatically.”
In the fall of 2000 the prairie was burned only partially.
According to the Nature Conservancy, the prairie responded with one of it’s strongest blooms in years.
The eight-year gap between burns is not ideal, since the conservancy would prefer to do it every two years, Weinmann said.
The reason for the delay is because updated regional air quality regulations prohibit open fires in locations where the density of people exceeds 1000 per square mile ¬– meaning no open fires any place in Port Townsend.
According to the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency, open burning was banned in the city of Port Townsend in 2001 and the state’s Urban Growth Area burning ban became even more restrictive in January 2008.
County Commissioner Phil Johnson, a member of the clean air agency board, was able to secure a special purpose permit for the burn this year, but Weinmann said that nothing is guaranteed in the future.
“This could be it,” Weinmann said.
“It could be the last time we see this, because we very well may not be doing this ever again.”
If the burns don’t continue, there is a chance the prairie will become overgrown with non-native species and the rare plants in the area will fail to regenerate.
“It’s part of their life [to burn],” he said.
Weinmann said the first plants recovering from the burn probably will push through the soil in February.
By May, the prairie should be in full bloom.
“The bloom of a lifetime,” he said.
“It should be a good one.”
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com
