Leaf Stories
One of my watercolor leaf tracings for the new Pleasant Valley Conservancy website logo Winter Trees ”…having prepared their buds against a sure winter the wise trees stand sleeping in…
Cattail Control
“We stand at the edge of the marsh at day’s end, watch it swallow itself.”(Found haiku inside the poem, Marsh, by Hans Ostrom)“Even when you think the ground is solid, it probably…
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Stories
Arrival I first spotted the hummingbird at our cabin on May 9. It was flying in circles at the corner of the overhang, where, over many years, Kathie has hung…
Pale Indian Plantain
“Nevertheless, she persisted.” Mitch McConnell of Elizabeth Warren, 2017 Pale Indian Plantain (Arnoglossum atriplicifolium, formerly Cacalia atriplicifolium*) has been variously described as “conspicuous but rare” by Iltis and Cochran, “a…
Canada Goldenrod & Wood Betony
“What is the greatest gift? …something else - something else entirely holds me in thrall. That you have a life that I wonder about…” Mary OliverI want to update our methods…
Blowing in the Wind
There is one pollinator and seed-dispersal agent as old as the Earth itself. It’s everywhere: the wind. My symbol for the wind at left can be added to the hundreds…
There is a Season
“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” (Pete Seeger, 1959 and made famous as “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by The Byrds, 1965) “A time…
An Adaptive Walk with Monarchs
“The first step…shall be to lose the way.” Galway Kinnell(At left, monarch emerging from chrysalis, photo A. Budyak)Throughout the summer, young citizen scientists in Madison watch the life stages of…
Monarchs and Milkweeds
The Restoration Manager at Pleasant Valley Conservancy, Amanda Budyak, is pictured at right. She took most of the milkweed photos in this blog post. Here, she is capturing turk’s cap…
Prairie Willow and Sand Cherry
Prairie Willow (Salix humilis) photo by Susan SlapnickSand Cherry (Prunus pumila) photoby Kathie Brock“Do you think that each differs to the other, and is identical to itself?” Socrates“There cannot be several…