Willow Springs Saturday June 13
We were again a small group, with three members carrying backpacks and spraying invasive weeds. The rest of us pulled garlic mustard and butterweed, and clipped the seed heads from reed canary grass. Great to see people I hadn't seen in many weeks.
Jim Carlson pointed out a catalpa tree, cut down two winters ago (probably January 2019), lying on the ground. In several places along its length, new growth was coming out of the bark. No roots, no way of getting nourishment from the ground, yet this tree was still fighting to stay alive. Quite impressive.
As summer arrives, both prairie and woodland are thriving, no doubt loving the abundance of rain that fell in May. There are fewer blooms in the woodland now that the spring ephemerals' time has passed, but the prairie is compensating nicely.
On a recent walk at Hidden Pond I saw numerous Ohio spiderworts and an absolute abundance of foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitals) in flower. Other plants spotted, not blooming yet, included two members of the Silphium genus, cup plant and prairie dock. The latter were especially numerous and should grace us with a splash of yellow later in the summer. Prairie dropseed looks like it's thriving in the lower part of the prairie.
We were again a small group, with three members carrying backpacks and spraying invasive weeds. The rest of us pulled garlic mustard and butterweed, and clipped the seed heads from reed canary grass. Great to see people I hadn't seen in many weeks.
Jim Carlson pointed out a catalpa tree, cut down two winters ago (probably January 2019), lying on the ground. In several places along its length, new growth was coming out of the bark. No roots, no way of getting nourishment from the ground, yet this tree was still fighting to stay alive. Quite impressive.
As summer arrives, both prairie and woodland are thriving, no doubt loving the abundance of rain that fell in May. There are fewer blooms in the woodland now that the spring ephemerals' time has passed, but the prairie is compensating nicely.
On a recent walk at Hidden Pond I saw numerous Ohio spiderworts and an absolute abundance of foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitals) in flower. Other plants spotted, not blooming yet, included two members of the Silphium genus, cup plant and prairie dock. The latter were especially numerous and should grace us with a splash of yellow later in the summer. Prairie dropseed looks like it's thriving in the lower part of the prairie.
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