Why wildflowers along SR-14? So many reasons.

ECCA is devoted to developing and organizing volunteer initiatives in the community. Why? Because we think the best way to build a strong community is to build strong connections to each other and this place we all live. One of our steering committee members likes to talk about our civic fabric as being a literal fabric, with thread counts like in a bedsheet; ECCA’s mission is to increase the thread count, so we’re all more comfortable.

I love that metaphor. But you don’t need poetry to know that lavishing care and attention on our shared civic life always pays off. Volunteer efforts are where we set our priorities and flex our collective muscle. There’s a lot going on in the world that none of us can change. But locally, the opposite is true. If we’re willing to put in the work, we can make almost anything happen.

And that is precisely why we’re planting 4,000 square feet of eye-catching wildflowers along Rte. 14.

Maybe driving past, you’ve spied the little orange and blue flags blowing in the breeze between the two Washougal roundabouts? That’s where the flowers will be.

ECCA heads the Adopt-a-Highway team for this stretch of road, so we’ve come to know the grassy berm on the north side of the road well. When it’s not littered with plastic Big Gulp cups, vodka bottles, foam pool noodles, pajama bottoms, cowboy boots, lumber tags, and every other form of trash you can possibly imagine, it’s lovely. Animals have cut meandering pathways through it, and in the spring when the ground is spongy, we trash team folks walk those same trails, dodging baby garter snakes and marveling at the grape hyacinth just coming into bloom.

It was out there last spring that I thought, why don’t we do more than just pick up litter? Why don’t we plant a beautiful swath of purple lupin or orange California poppy here? How about some sunny coreopsis? Or all of those and more — a lovely, curving patch of native wildflowers that could be balm for both the bees and us humans?

Every big project seems impossible at first, and this one did, too. The state will never agree! Wildflowers aren’t so easy to grow! But with surprising ease, we got permission and settled down to the work with Barbara Knapp, the WSDOT’s regional landscape designer. Our plan was approved in February, and we’re just a few weeks away from starting to prep the plot for next fall’s planting.

Please support this project by volunteering for a work team, or donating whatever you can afford.

We know this is a bit of an experiment, part of it literally. We’re dividing the plot into two equal parts and using different prep techniques to see which one works best. We also know that not every species of flower we plant will end up thriving, despite our best efforts. That’s okay, too. We’ll learn as we go, and if all works well (or well enough, anyway), in future years we’ll plant flowers up and down the road, from the easternmost Washougal rotary all the way to Camas.

This first big phase of the project is low-cost because volunteers are providing the labor. But low-cost isn’t the same as free, of course. There are seeds to buy and equipment to rent. And beyond the expense, the flowers will take ongoing care and attention. Since we’re growing them from seed, we’ll need many people to coax them into being and maintain them over time. And because we’re not using herbicides, we’re committing ourselves to an ongoing battle against encroaching grass and weeds. But that labor, too, is part of the point. Working hard on something makes it yours. Every time one of our volunteers drives down Rt. 14 on their way to somewhere else, they’ll look at those flowers and think, “I was part of that.” And that connection to this place, our shared place, will be every bit as beautiful as the flowers themselves.

Please support this project by volunteering for a work team, or donating whatever you can afford. Visit the links below.

Our next work date will be in November, when we’ll be planting seeds and live plugs. The date depends on the weather. Let us know you’re interested here.

Donate here: https://eastcountyvoices.org/donate/