Brooklyn Neighborhood, Portland, Oregon

This fall, the City will be adding 182 new public trash cans throughout Southeast Portland. The cans will be emptied twice a week, paid for by the City. The City would like to hear from you: Where would you like new public trash cans? You can fill out this brief survey about where the City should (or shouldn’t) put the new cans.

You can find more details about the new public trash cans at portland.gov/se-public-trash-cans, including what the trash cans look like and a map showing the neighborhoods where cans will be added this fall.

This month’s board meeting is on Wednesday, April 14th. All BAC board meetings are open for the public to join.

It will be held as a Zoom meeting. You can join from your computer, tablet, or smartphone, or call in from a phone. Meeting details can be found on the event page.

BAC Monthly Board Meeting

The recent violence in Atlanta that resulted in the murders of 8 people, 6 of whom were Asian women — 4 of those elders, at the hand of a 21 year old white man was both racist and sexist.

Silence when white supremacy takes this deadly form supports more of it, thus Brooklyn Action Corps explicitly condemns these violent acts against Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community members and all misogynist and racist acts of hatred and violence. 

We offer our anger, grief, and empathy to our AAPI neighbors. We mourn for each life that was taken. Please practice self care during this traumatic time and reach out to us for any support: board@brooklyn-neighborhood.org or socialjustice@brooklyn-neighborhood.org.

Support Our Local AAPI Brooklyn Businesses

• Bob’s Handy Pantry, 3354 SE Milwaukie Ave
• Hamono Sushi, 3131 SE 12th Ave
• Coco Donuts, 4790 SE Milwaukie Ave
• Vincent’s Alterations & Tailoring, 3334 SE Milwaukie Ave

This week (and always!) we encourage you to support our local shops. One friendly suggestion — make a day out of it! Coco Donuts in the morning sunshine, Hamono Sushi for a date or special take out, and Bob’s for a pint of ice cream or drinks to go with dinner.

There are many other ways to support and learn from our AAPI communities. Read on for more details, resources, and information.

By Julia Bond

You may have recently seen this yellow flower popping up around our neighborhood. With shiny heart-shaped leaves and bright yellow flowers, it can be a real eye catcher. But don’t let its looks deceive you. It is called Lesser Celandine and it is a highly invasive plant.

Like other invasive species, Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) is an aggressive plant that can easily crowd out other plants and quickly take over large areas. How? First off, it emerges earlier in the season—in the winter or early spring—giving it a head start on other plants. It also can spread in more ways than the average flower. It has three ways, while most have only one or two. This allows it to grow rapidly and with little competition to create dense patches.

With these tricks, Lesser Celandine can take over lawns and gardens, smothering and killing other plants.But it doesn’t stop with gardens. When Lesser Celandine escapes from our yards into natural areas, the dense patches it creates displace the native plants. Unlike most other plants, Lesser Celandine dies back in the spring, leaving nothing but dirt for much of the year. This creates barren areas that are vulnerable to soil erosion, but also provide little food for pollinating insectsor habitat for wildlife.

What does it look like?

We don’t have many plants in Portland that look like Lesser Celandine. It has shiny dark green leaves that are heart- or kidney-shaped. It has bright yellow symmetric flowers that usually have around eight petals (the number of petals can vary from 6 to 26) and a slightly darker center. Timing is also important, you’ll only see it growing in the winter and spring.

What can you do to help?

If you see Lesser Celandine in your yard, remove it as soon as possible. Once it gets established, it can be hard to rid a garden of Lesser Celandine, so it is best to remove it before it takes over. When digging it up take care since it can spread in three different ways. Like many plants it spreads by seed, but it also produces small bulblets under the leaves that can create new plants. Underground, it creates finger-like tubers that also sprout new plants.

When digging up Lesser Celandine make sure you remove the whole plant, including the underground tubers, but avoid putting it in the compost as composting doesn’t kill the bulbs. Instead, bag the plant and any contaminated soil and place it in the trash. Once you’ve tackled an area, it’s a good idea to check it each year to make sure it doesn’t return.

More information

For more information about Lesser Celandine, visit the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services’ Lesser Celandine page. To learn more about invasive species in Portland, visit BES’ Invasive Species Management page.