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Silent Summer
Bumblebees feeding on Swamp Loosestrife (Decodon verticillatus) Where are all the bugs this year? Normally this is the time of year when you would hear insects singing day and night. Normally you...
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Fall Color Early
Big Bluestem, (Andropogon gerardii) Even though it is not Fall yet, the grasses in the prairie are starting to show some good Fall color. This morning I walked the 43-acre Prairie at the PGT to check...
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Looking Good Despite the Drought
Ashy Sunflower, (Helianthus mollis) Some plants look great despite almost no rain all summer. The Compass Plants have had one of their best years ever. Right now the Ashy Sunflower in the Middle...
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Droughts Aren’t All Bad
Our dog covered with stick-tights (Desmodium cuspidatum) The severe drought this summer was not bad in all ways. 4 good things about the drought: 1. No Stick-tights There are no stick-tights to cover...
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Great Blue Heron Rookery Tree Dies
Great Blue Heron Nests The main tree that holds up the heron rookery is dead. This Sycamore was 12-feet in diameter; the largest single tree at the PGT. Perhaps another victim of the drought? Lorna...
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Where have all the butterflies gone?
Silvery Checkerspot, Chlosyne nycteis We are having a fabulous spring with flowers everywhere. Despite that I’ve sensed a significant reduction in the number of butterflies. I’ve only seen three Great...
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Last Butterfly?
A Clouded Sulphur Butterfly (Colias philodice) leaps off a New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) When I took this picture on Friday I wondered if this would be the last butterfly I would see...
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Northern Parula
Northern Parula The polar vortex sweeping down on us bringing the coldest temperatures we’ve seen in a couple decades. It is minus 9-degrees F right now. Too cold to go outside! Instead I’ll work up...
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Cold Enough for Real Ice
Matt Barnes This seems like the coldest winter for a couple of decades. It’s so cold that we are getting real ice on the creeks, ponds and lakes. Often they might not freeze over; this year the ice is...
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Butterflies are back!
Great Spangled Fritillary, Speyeria cybele I’m happy to report that the butterflies are back. The drought two years ago really knocked them back but I’m seeing lots of them now. This is a Great...
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Monarchs are Good – Other Butterflies Missing
Monarch Butterfly on New England Aster We saw about 20 Monarch Butterflies on a walk this afternoon. Their number seem about normal for their yearly migration. Other butterflies were almost totally...
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Magic Light
Dawn Fog in the PGT Woods Last Saturday there was a light fog here at dawn at the Prairie Garden Trust. Fog can do magical things with light! Even though Jack Dodson was out shooting landscape videos...
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No Fruits and Nuts
Wild Persimon, Diospyros virginianaWild fruits and nuts are hard to find at the PGT this Fall. Could hail cause a widespread crop failure? Some of the missing wildlife foods are: Wild Persimmon (shown...
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Birding in the Rain
Rain doesn’t stop these birders. The weather did NOT cooperate for the PGT Birdwalk today. We had rain, wind and lightening. Despite the horrible conditions 6 people (serious people! crazy people?)...
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Morning Fog on Farm Pond
Potter’s Lake Walking at sunrise is a great way to beat the heat. Early morning is also the best time for magical light and for fog, like you can see here over Potter’s Lake. The Prairie Garden Trust...
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Dogwood Leaves
Dogwood Leaves The leaves on the Flowering Dogwood are starting to show some fall color. It’s still too early to say how good the color will be in our big trees, the oaks and hickories. It’s always...
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Dogwood in Snow
Dogwood in SnowFlowering Dogwoods are appealing in all seasons; even with a coating of snow. We may get more than 12-inches by the time the storm ends. Since it snows infrequently here, that’s a treat.
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Snowy Landscape
We got a few inches of snow yesterday. This shows the woods just east of the Prairie Garden Trust (PGT) visitor center. The PGT is closed during the winter but will reopen in April.
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