Yellow Flowered Diabolical Pretty Green Plant Carpets the Park

Lesser Celandine

Lesser Celandine blanketing the forest floor

Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna, also known as Fig Buttercup) is a very pretty, but non native invasive plant, originally from Eurasia

Spring Beauties in the park

and northern Africa, that has taken over the Little Falls Spring Valley Park, completely carpeting the valley floor in early spring with a thick green layer dotted with little yellow flowers. In fact, it has already started to come up in the midst of this cold snap. Along with a number of other invasives in our park, lesser celandine is a direct and potent threat to our native plants, especially spring ephemerals, and to our native insects, birds and amphibians, who depend on the native plants. None of them eat celandine.

How do we want Little Falls Park to look in 10 years?  
Do we want it covered with a few invasive plants and vines, or do we want the diversity of hundreds of native plants and seedlings, which attract birds, amphibians, reptiles and insects? Because of the Lesser Celandine, we have lost most of the Virginia Bluebells, Wild Ginger, Bloodroot, Trout Lily, Squirrel Corn, Trillium and Spring Beauty that used to cover the park in abundance. People who moved to this area many years ago often speak of the masses of Virginia Bluebells in the park as one of the main attractions of this area.  If we want to restore the ecological health and the beauty of Little Falls Park, then we must eliminate Lesser Celandine. 
 
Controlling Lesser Celandine

Lesser Celandine is the first plant you will see appearing in the spring; it spreads quickly, crowds out ephemerals, ferns, and other natives, leeches the soil, and dies back before summer, leaving areas barren looking.  Its multiple bulblets reside up to 6 inches below ground, making manual removal ineffective and destructive to all other plants in the affected area.  If you’ve tried to remove it from your yard, you know that it even displaces grass. No known animals eat it, and no biocontrols are known for it. Chemical control is the only known effective method against Lesser Celandine. There is a very short window in the late winter when it can be controlled, before any native plants have broken ground, and before the Lesser Celandine has flowered.


What Can We Do?
Some other local parks have taken steps to control Lesser Celandine effectively. Rock Creek has combated their celandine problem with spraying and now boast dozens varieties of spring wildflowers including triliums and hundreds of blue bells in areas that were sprayed.   Sligo Creek also had a celandine problem and been slowly eradicating it in places.  Click here for in depth information which Friends of Sligo Creek (fosc) compiled on the plant, the problem and the solution.  The National Park Service also describes the issues with this plant and the most viable solution (CLICK HERE.) 

Help Remove Nuisance Plants
Little Falls can take a stand for biodiversity too. You can support this effort by removing any Lesser Celandine that crops up in your yards. You can also attend weed pulls and planting events to restore the native plants to our park. You can also donate to … to help provide funds for native plants for Little Falls Park.

Westbard Shopping Center Redevelopment Plans

Westwood Complex.  22 acre site slated for redevelopment.  

22 Acre Parcel to be Redeveloped off of River Road in Bethesda

Equity One, a Florida based developer that has been buying up pieces of the Westbard Shopping Center  and surrounding commercial district.  Properties acquire include the nursing home, the bowling alley, the gas station, the building where Domino's Pizza is and more - a total  22 acres.   Specifically, the property to be redeveloped consists of 7 parcels improved with 467,000 square feet of retail, office, multi-family and assisted living space.

Vision Meetings for Westbard Shopping Center 

Wednesday, January 29 7:00 to 9:00 pm
Saturday, February 1, 10:00 to noon

The Ballroom
Landy Lane, Bethesda.

According to the developer's website  these meetings are intended as workshops that will allow the developer to “share our thinking to date and solicit comments from the community,”   

Information about the meetings and development are HERE

Information about the Westwood Complex parcel are HERE

As the Westbard Shopping Center is very near the Little Falls and Willett Branches, the development of the center has the potential to greatly impact the creeks and watershed.  It is important that the site be developed in accordance with the strictest environmental guidelines.  Little Falls Watershed Alliance will be there advocating for the creek.  Please join us as developers need to know that the public is concerned about the environment.

And please, visit our website at http://www.lfwa.org/westbard-shopping-center-development.  We will try to keep it up-to-date with plans.

Why Local Watersheds Matter

Today someone forwarded me an article that really addresses why we need local watershed groups and how important our work is.   It's by Perrin Ireland who wrote it after attending EPA hearings on "Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence."  Her blog is entitled How that Tiny Stream flowing by Your Back Door is Important to the Whole World. and it's on  www.Good.is - a site self described as "a place to share creative solutions for living well and doing good."

It seems a little bit of a no-brainer to conclude that what happens upstream impacts down stream waters, but Perrin's article really does a good job of spelling it out and her "scribes" cover the hearings with beautiful visual notes.  

It made me feel good about our local stewardship - we're protecting those upstream "headwaters" and helping "the whole world".  Check her blog out at:
http://www.good.is/posts/how-that-tiny-stream-flowing-by-your-back-door-is-important-to-the-whole-worldhttp://www.good.is/posts/how-that-tiny-stream-flowing-by-your-back-door-is-important-to-the-whole-world