The 22nd North American Prairie Conference will be held at the University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, IA) on August 1-5, 2010.Savanna Oak Foundation, Inc. is pleased to be a…

This is undoubtedly sweet clover season, and we are occupied, both at Pleasant Valley Conservancy and Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie, with controlling it. The problem is worse at Rettenmund, and…

The 5 acre East Basin was planted last November by a group of volunteers. As expected, this year it is mostly weeds, which Kathie has mowed over the past week.While…

.nobr br {display: none}Ann Thering has been photographing butterflies at Pleasant Valley Conservancy for several years, and kindly provides notes on what she sees. The table below shows the data…

The East Basin is our last large area under restoration. It is a 5 acre basin with fairly steep topography (and unusual geology and soil structure) that is on the…

Purple milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens), a State Endangered Species, is at peak flowering right now. This plant, a characteristic savanna indicator species, first appeared spontaneously at Pleasant Valley Conservancy after we…

By now our annual mid-June hike at Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie (State Natural Area) has become a tradition. Last night we had eight repeaters among the 22 (or so) people…

If you have been following my posts for the past two years, you have seen the progress we have made eradicating sumac using 20% Garlon 4 in oil as a…

Tuesday it rained all day; perfect weather for pulling sweet clover!Tuesday is our "intern day". Despite the rain, the interns were out in force, dressed for the weather. Amanda worked…

Many prairies are plagued with sweet clover, either yellow (Melilotus officinalis) or white (M. albus). Because of its long-lived endurance in the seed bank, you don't eradicate sweet clover very…