Trillium are popping up all over Mt. Tabor Park in places that were blanketed in invasive plants just two years ago!  Mary Kinnick with the Friends of Mt. Tabor Park shared these photos of trillium growing along a slope SE of Harvey Scott Circle. Before the Mt. Tabor Invasive Plant Control and Revegetation Project began, this slope was covered with Himalayan blackberry. Environmental Services Watershed Revegetation crews worked three seasons in 2011 and 2012 to treat and remove the blackberry. Removing invasive plants and restoring a healthy community of native plants improves stormwater management and habitat at the park, just as green streets and street trees do in neighborhoods.

Environmental Services planted 17,000 native plants at the park in February 2013, but not these trillium!  They are making a strong comeback throughout the park on their own, thanks to the removal of invasive plants by Environmental Services and the Friends of Mt. Tabor Park Weed Warriors.

The new native blooms and leaves of spring are always nice to see, but they're even better in an area that was recently blanketed with invasive plants. It's clear that park users share this sentiment, as evidenced by the care that someone took to circle some trillium in rocks. If you see Trillium growing at Mt. Tabor Park or anywhere else, please leave them for others to enjoy. They are delicate plants that can take years to recover from injury.

If you'd like to be a part of ensuring the long-term health of Mt. Tabor Park's natural areas, you can join the Friends of Mt. Tabor Park Weed Warriors on the last Saturday of every month in the main parking lot adjacent to the amphitheater at 9am. Go to www.taborfriends.org for details.

The Mt. Tabor Invasive Plant Control and Revegetation Project is part of the Tabor to the River Program and depends on strong partnerships among city bureaus (Environmental Services, Portland Parks and Recreation, and the Portland Water Bureau), and other organizations (Friends of Mt. Tabor Park, Audubon Society of Portland, and the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District).

For more information on the Mt. Tabor project, go to www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/mttabor. For more information on Tabor to the River, go to www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/tabortoriver.