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| Gardens
and Fauna |
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Cooking Up Camas
The beautiful blue blooms you see in the fields and meadows
in the Willamette Valley in early spring is the camas
- - a staple in the diet of the Kalapuya Indians. A type
of lily, the camas was (and still is) readily available
in the wild. The bulbous root resembles the onion in shape
and consistency but is considerably more bland in taste.
Camas has also been called a wild hyacinth. According
to the journals of Merriwether Lewis, the Indians either
ate the quamash "in its natural state, or boiled
into a kind of soup, or made into a cake, which is then
called pasheco. Learn More |
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Heritage Trees of Marion
County
The nation’s largest known black cottonwood is located
in Willamette Mission State Park north of Salem. This
147-foot-tall tree stands near the site of Jason Lee’s
first Methodist Mission in the 1830s and along the course
of the Willamette River prior to the flood of 1861. With
a 27-foot circum-ference, the tree possible provided shade
to Lee and his assistants. At present, the cottonwood
is the only national champion in the state park. Access
to the tree is readily available...
Learn More |
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Historic Gardens of Salem
Built by Mr. Bush for his daughters in 1882, is now the
oldest greenhouse in Oregon and is filled with period
plants, maintained by volunteers.Originally the home of
Asahel Bush, pioneer banker and newspaperman, Bush’s
Pasture Park now boasts a delicious mix of open spaces,
walking paths, gardens, and a Victorian greenhouse. Native
garry oaks tower over the main axis of the park, while
a spectacular well-laden collection of unusual flowering
shrubs and trees add color from late winter to midsummer
in the area surrounding the Bush House Museum and rose
gardens. Learn More
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Salem's "Littlest Redwood Park in the World."
This is a traveling salesman story you can tell in mixed
company. The year was 1872, and a traveling salesman
was passing through a rural community way out West.
The community was Salem. The salesman was peddling Sequoia
gigantea, Redwoods. Judge William Waldo bought one and
planted it on his property, which happened to be outside
the city limits. The tree and the town grew, and so
did William Waldo's prominence in the city's affairs.
When the time came for Waldo's property to be platted
and taken into the city, the judge's influence was great
enough so he could successfully insist that the tree
be preserved before he vacated his land... Learn
More
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