Today Kathie and I joined a group of Natural Resources Foundation members on a trip to Mazomanie Oak Barrens State Natural Area. This trip, led by DNR Conservation Biologist Matt…

This year seems to be a banner year for milkweed bugs. They are all over the milkweed pods, piercing a pod wall and sucking the juices out of the milkweed…

We have always had a fair bit of hazelnut (Corylus americana; also called American filbert) in our savannas and have felt this is a "good" species to keep. The fall…

This is aster season and lots of species are in full flower. At Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie I saw smooth aster (first photo; Aster laevis) and silky aster (Aster sericeus)…

Saturday we had another fine day collecting seeds at Goose Pond. It was an interesting group, some novices and some old hands. My photo here does not show the whole…

We have been restoring Unit 10, one of the bur oak savannas, for about 9 years. It started as a fine stand of open-grown bur oaks that was completely overgrown…

Heath aster (Aster ericoides) is now in bloom. This dry-prairie plant has a stem/leaf structure like a Brillo pad, which is probably where the common name comes from. It has…

On a brilliantly sunny day like today, the goldenrods literally glow with color. Two more goldenrods now at peak are gray goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis) and zig-zag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis). Despite…

As the summer flowers disappear, lots of butterflies are disappearing also. The Monarchs are still around but are spending their time fueling up in preparation for their fall migration. Today…

American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) berries are now ripe. We have lots of elderberry bushes, mainly in the more closed areas of our savannas, and this year they have really flourished.…