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Arundo Eradication and Control Program
by Frank Wallace Project Director, Sacramento Weed Warriors What is the Problem with Arundo? Arundo (also called Giant Reed) is a bamboo-like grass that thrives in moist soils and Sacramento's hot climate. It can grow up to 30 feet tall, as much as 1 foot a week in the summer! Arundo chokes out valuable native…
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Promoting Environmental Stewardship
by Frank Wallace For the past 15 years, the Urban Creeks Council-Sacramento has conducted the popular Creek Week program. Young people, their families, local businesses, government agencies, environmental organizations, neighborhood groups – and many more – have all been enthusiastic supporters of this event. While cleaning creeks is our immediate objective, the Creek Week program…
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Ithuriel’s Spear (Triteleia laxa)
by Frank Wallace Ithuriel’s spear grows 1-2 feet in height and produces 8-20 lovely funnel-shaped violet-blue flowers on its leafless stem. This plant blooms in profuse clusters in early spring along many of Sacramento’s urban creeks and along the bluffs overlooking Lake Natoma. Ithuriel, from Milton’s Paradise Lost, was one of the angels appointed to…
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Join The Fight Against Alien Invaders
by Frank Wallace Since 2001, each Creek Week Cleanup Day has included work sites to remove red sesbania, an invasive plant that grows naturally in southern South America. This plant is spreading rapidly along many creeks in north Sacramento and along the American River, threatening the existence of native plants used by wildlife for food…
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Promoting Stewardship, Preserving Biodiversity
by Frank Wallace Project Director, Sacramento Weed Warriors The American River Parkway and riparian areas along creeks throughout Sacramento are being invaded. The invaders are non-native plants, such as red sesbania, Spanish broom, arundo (giant reed), yellow star thistle, Chinese tallow tree, pampas grass, and others. So what’s wrong with these plants that have come…