As the photo shows, Canada tick trefoil is a stunning plant when it is in flower. Unfortunately, it also sets seeds, which stick to everything that touches them. Now that…

We have been collecting seed since the 4th of July, but now the pace is getting intense. This year we have moved our seed cleaning operations from Madison to the…

When we drove down Pleasant Valley Road this morning there was a whole cluster of young pheasants wandering around. We slowed, then slowly creeped up on them, with Susan snapping…

Yesterday afternoon a group of Prairie Enthusiasts collected seeds at Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie. The weather was perfect and the seeds were plentiful. In addition, we were all rewarded by…

In my last post I mentioned observing fall regrowth of golden Alexanders in a tallgrass prairie. I did a Google search to see if there was anything else on this…

For ten years, Kathie and I have been volunteering as seed collectors at Madison Audubon Society's Goose Pond Sanctuary. Today was the "kick off" for seed collecting for the fall.…

Today we had a nice visit from the restoration specialists at the McHenry County (Illinois) Conservation District. Conservation Districts (some of them are called Forest Preserves) seem to be an…

Our annual Labor Day field trip was held yesterday. Twenty people attended. The weather was warm (actually hot), but a light cloud cover helped keep conditions bearable.One of the traditions…

Saturday morning Kathie and I visited a very fine prairie remnant in eastern Iowa County. This site, on private land, is being managed by the Prairie Enthusiasts. It is a…

In an earlier post I stated that we had only three species of the genus Desmodium at Pleasant Valley Conservancy. Since then we have found a fourth, D. paniculatum, panicled…