Langvista Covenant: White-topped Aster Rehabilitation

White-topped aster (Sericocarpus-rigidus).
Photo Credit Torrey Archer.

This week during TLC’s monitoring, Torrey and Sophia visited the Langvista Covenant located near Mill Hill in Langford. One area of the Langvista covenant is home to a restoration project started by the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT), developed to help bring back a species at risk associated with Garry oak ecosystems – the white-topped aster, Sericocarpus rigidus.

Sophia and Torrey began their hike by locating the white-top aster rehabilitation sites. These sites have been enclosed with wire mesh to encourage growth of the aster while limiting the possibility of being trampled. The aster is thought to bloom in July or August, but by the time TLC got there in mid-August most of them had already bloomed and died back! They suspect that the unusually dry summer heat is to blame.

After locating the flowers within the enclosures, Sophia and Torrey attempted to find additional asters outside of the known areas. They were able to find a few, which delighted Torrey so much she jumped on a rock and held her fist high…but didn’t find as many asters as they hoped, unfortunately. Next year TLC will monitor the covenant earlier in the season, and take into account any weather abnormalities to hopefully find as many white-topped asters as possible.

Sophia with the “garbage” they removed from the covenant. Photo Credit Torrey Archer.

Continuing onwards, Sophia and Torrey found a very narrow trail along the edge of private property and the covenant – so narrow that they were quite literally on the edge of a cliff! Sophia didn’t seem to mind though, as evidenced by her smiles. Once they got back onto more solid footing, they found some children’s toys that had made their way down a ravine. They nicknamed one Brian the Brontosaurus and adopted him for future TLC hikes – see if you can spot Brian in future photos! The other toys were left at the top of a parking area near the residences in hopes that they find their way back to their original owners.

The view from the top of the covenants was spectacular. Garry oak trees, rocky hillsides and ocean in the distance on a clear blue sky day makes covenant monitoring a dream! That’s certainly one reason to be thankful for this hot, dry summer…but not so much when TLC staff and volunteers are sweating it out pulling Scotch broom. You win some, you lose some.

You can help TLC continue to protect important ecosystems sustainably across BC by supporting the monitoring and enforcement of our covenants. Please complete our online donation form to show your support today!