Public Health References
CDC * Colorado * Jefferson County * City of Golden
JCPHD updates these numbers Monday through Friday at about 3 PM. Here’s the most recent Coronavirus report from Jeffco Public Health’s Case Summary Page:
Cases in Jeffco – Thurs: 4340 | Fri: 4368
Deaths in Jeffco – Thurs: 234 | Fri: 235
Ever Hospitalized in Jeffco – Thurs: 504 | Fri: 505 (currently 25)
Recovered – Thurs: 3806 | Fri: 3837
Known Cases in Golden – Thurs: 155 | Fri: 159
Jefferson County mask rule: masks must be worn both indoors and outdoors in public spaces where 6 feet distance cannot be maintained. This matches Golden’s requirement. The rest of the state requires masks only indoors. The Safer at Home and in the Vast, Great Outdoors protocol is in effect statewide. City and County fire restrictions are in place.
Virtual Golden
7:30PM Miners Alley Playhouse Quarantine Cabaret Series
Beautiful Sounds of Abby Apple Boes (Accompanied by David Nehls)
Real Life Golden
8AM-1PM Golden Farmers Market
9AM-2PM Brunch at the Rose – Jason Eady playing from 11-2
9AM Yoga in Lions Park with Gabriela Ferrat
9AM Yoga in Parfet Park with Pranatonic
9-11:30AM Walk with a Geologist at Dinosaur Ridge
10AM Homestead Open House at the Golden History Park
11AM Wild West Pub Crawl Tour
5PM Wild West Walking Tour
8:30PM Sit-in Movie Night at the Elks Club – Minions (map)
Free! Bring a Chair! Popcorn, soft drinks, and other treats will be available for purchase. Questions? 303-279-2740 or golden2740@gmail.com
Live Music:
11AM Jason Eady at Buffalo Rose
4PM Liquor Biscuit at Wrigley’s
6PM The Wrecklunds at Ace Hi Tavern
7PM Jonathan Browning at Buffalo Rose
Golden History Moment
The Original and Native Vegetation of Golden
by Guest Botanical Historian Tom Schweich
The native vegetation of Golden was a mixed-grass prairie with cottonwoods and willows along the creeks and watercourses, and mountain brush on the slopes of the mesas and adjacent mountains. The photo of north Golden taken from Castle Rock by William G. Chamberlain on September 26, 1870 probably best illustrates the original conditions. A very similar view today is included in Part 2 of this article (tomorrow).
Tucker Gulch is in the center of the photo, while Clear Creek crosses the bottom of the photo from left to right. On the left are the slopes of Mount Galbraith and on the right are the lower slopes of North Table Mountain. Cemetery Hill, now Gregory Drive, is the small hill in the left middle ground.
The landscape between those features is the mixed-grass prairie. It looks smooth and featureless, but it was really a vibrant biological community highly adapted to our harsh winters, hot summers, and inconsistent rainfall. “Prairie” is a French word that translates to the English “meadow.” A mixed-grass prairie has a mixture of short and tall grasses ranging from 4-inch tall Buffalo Grass (Bouteloua dactyloides) to the 3 to 5-foot Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii). A prairie is not just grasses, though, because it also has many forbs, i.e., perennials that are not woody, a few shrubs, and maybe a few small trees. Native prairie forbs that you may grow in your garden as wildflowers are Blanketflower (Gaillardia aristida), Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida columnifera), Rocky Mountain Beeplant (Peritoma serrulata), or Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea). Whole-Leaf Paintbrush (Castilleja integra) is difficult to grow in a garden, but often seen in the prairie around Golden.
The best place to see a remnant of Golden’s mixed-grass prairie is in north Golden, the little hill between Cannonball Creek Brewery and north Ford Street. This 4 acre City of Golden-owned parcel has about 1½ acres of nearly intact mixed-grass prairie at the top of the hill. Kinney Run is another good place to see native Golden vegetation. It has more diversity of habitat ranging from riparian (streamside) to mountain brush with Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus). The City of Golden North Table Mountain trail along the southwest slope of North Table Mountain is also an excellent place to see Golden’s native vegetation. Early in April large patches on this slope will turn white, not from snow, but from the flowers of American Plum (Prunus americana). The fragrant flowers of this plant open before the leaves come out.
About 670 different plant species have been identified in Golden and vicinity, of which about 500 are native here. There are also about 170 non-native species of plants; 37 of them are listed Colorado noxious weeds.
The second part of this article will appear in tomorrow’s post.
