Saturday fun at the museum

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The Klamath County Museum will host a pair of events on Saturday, May 11, 2019 - a native plant walk and sale, plus an astronomy day celebration.

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Native plant walk, sale offered at Klamath County Museum

Death camas is among the native wildflowers blooming this week in native plant gardens at the Klamath County Museum.

Death camas is among the native wildflowers blooming this week in native plant gardens at the Klamath County Museum.

A free tour of native plant gardens at the Klamath County Museum will be offered at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 11.

A sale of native plants and shrubs will be offered at 9 a.m. on the following Saturday, May 18, at the museum.

“This weekend’s walk will be a chance for people to see what the plants look like once they’ve grown up a little,” said Todd Kepple, manager of the Klamath County Museum. “Native species usually aren’t as showy as the more exotic varieties, but they’re certainly better adapted for our climate.”

The museum’s gardens include more than 150 species of native plants found in the Klamath Basin. Wildflowers that are in bloom at the museum this week include western blue flax, sticky purple geranium, nineleaf biscuitroot, balsamroot, rock penstemon, common camas and death camas.

Many of the Klamath Basin’s most common trees and shrubs are growing at the museum, including Oregon white oak, incense-cedar and white fir. Less-common trees include western redcedar, bigleaf maple, vine maple, Pacific yew, and Oregon ash.

The museum will provide a “Top 10” list of native plants that are easy to obtain, grow well in a garden, and provide pleasing flowers or foliage. Sources of native plants for the garden will be discussed, as well as methods for successful transplanting.

A wide variety of native wildflowers and shrubs will be available at the May 18 sale, with prices ranging from $3 to 10 per plant.

The plant walk and sale are cosponsored by the Klamath County Museum, the Klamath Basin Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Oregon, and the Klamath Soil and Water Conservation District.

 

‘Astronomy Day’ celebrated at Klamath County Museum

Spring Astronomy Day will be celebrated with a pair of events at the Klamath County Museum Saturday, May 11.

A solar observation will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by a lunar observation from 8 to 9 p.m. Amateur astronomers will be on hand with telescopes for viewing the sun and moon.

“We’ll have properly filtered telescopes for looking directly at the sun, and we hope to get a glimpse of some sunspots or solar flares,” said museum manager Todd Kepple. “Then in the evening we’ll study the first-quarter moon.”

Both events are free and open to anyone interested. They will take place in front of the museum at 1451 Main St.

Other astronomy events offered by the museum later this year include the following:

  • June 21 – Mercury meets Mars, with Saturn rising.

  • August 3 – Astronomy “superstars” Jupiter and Saturn.

  • Sept. 21 – Moon in the morning.

  • Oct. 5 – Fall Astronomy Day.

  • Nov. 11 – Mercury transit across the sun.

  • Nov. 23 – Venus meets Jupiter.

  • Dec. 28 – Moon and Venus photo op.

For more information on these and other programs, contact the Klamath County Museum at (541) 882-1000.