Despite the Covid epidemic, we continue to work hard to remove both ivy and impatiens parviflora (small flowered touch-me-not).
Our members spent 27 hours from January to March removing ivy. We focused on the trees in the Brunette River Conservancy behind the Cariboo Christian Fellowship church.
In May and June our members worked in small, physically distanced groups for a total of 39 hours to remove Impatiens parviflora. We have made great headway along the Interurban trail! Areas that were thick with parviflora last year had much fewer impatiens this year and many more native plants growing. We were able to remove the impatiens from areas that we never got to last year. Great work and huge thanks to everyone who helped out!
The areas of greatest concern are the trails used by mountain bikers — the large knobby tires collect soil and impatiens seeds and move them around to new areas. Also, the construction of new (unsanctioned) jump trails removes native vegetation and opens bare soil — a perfect place for impatiens seeds to start growing!
● crowds out native plants
● produces two kinds of flowers: self fertilizing (doesn’t need pollinators) and small showy yellow flowers that require pollinators
● flowers only have a tiny amount of nectar so they don’t provide enough food for native pollinators
● each flower produces a seed pod containing up to 5 seeds.
● one large plant can produce several hundred seeds
● when ripe, seed pods will explode when touched, shooting seeds 1-2 m away
● seeds can survive in the soil for more than a year
● seeds get moved around on tires, footwear, animals and birds