May 19, 2025

Last Sunday we had another small group of dedicated stewards join us. Anne, a returning steward from last year, was diligent with getting the trickier to reach Japanese Knotweed. Jamie helped us determine that we do have invasive honeysuckles (see info sheet below) which we will need to address, while Bianca brought lots of enthusiasm and was ready to help wherever needed. Bahareh attended her first session at Betty (though she's had experience at another site) and had many great questions - like reminding me to explain in greater detail the identifying features of Japanese Knotweed. Mario was watching our youngest steward, Elie, exploring while helping us ID many plants we came across while removing garlic mustard. We managed to remove plenty of garlic mustard, IDed several plants and collected a large, heavy bagful of Japanese Knotweed (JPK) all while getting to know each other better and having lots of fun!

Amongst my pictures of plants I realized after the event that this plant may be the extremely dangerous Giant Hogweed. We will be confirming it at our next event, but this plant amongst many is why we all must always wear long sleeves and pants, as many plants can either irritate skin or result in serious burns. Thankfully, this plant is often removed quickly by the city when reported because of the dangers it poses, and we can help with keeping everyone safe - yet another reason why knowing the plants at our site is so important!