Mid-summer is a time when attractive purple-colored species are flowering. Right now there are at least four; in addition, a few flowering pale purple cone flowers are still left. The…

Prairies at their Peak: Pleasant Valley Conservancy, Sunday, July 18, 2010, from 1-4 PM. This public trip is sponsored by the Madison Audubon Society.After the trip, light refreshments will be…

The compass plant, Silphium laciniatum, is an icon of the tall grass prairie, and is featured on the logo of The Prairie Enthusiasts. It does best in deeper, more mesic…

We are fortunate to have several native populations of Turk's cap (Michigan) lilies (Lilium michiganense). This species isn't really rare (C value of 6), but it is one of the…

Our first round of sweet clover control at Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie for 2010 is now completed. We will have to come back in August and September to catch the…

Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie is at one of its peak color phases now. The butterfly milkweed, lead plant, coreopsis, and purple and white prairie clovers are now in full bloom.The…

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…