Author: Jaclyn

Have you been distracted by the cicadas? Don’t forget to look at the plants! In the last week the new blooms I have seen are: narrow-leaf evening primrose, Carolina rose, Carolina horse-nettle, Queen Anne’s lace, musk thistle, winter vetch, lanceleaf coreopsis, daisy fleabane, southern magnolia, delphinium, yellow flag iris, slender blue iris, creeping lespedeza, hemp… Continue reading Field Report- May 8, 2024

What’s happening out on the trails right now? We’re still enjoying the colors of autumn. It seems like this year, the trees are changing a little bit at a time. Last year, everything seemed to change color all at once. So, while we’re not seeing magnificent splashes of color this year, we can at least… Continue reading Field Report- November 14, 2024

What’s been happening on the trail for the last couple of weeks? Have you noticed all the different yellow, daisy-like flowers? I wrote a blog about them here. I have seen kidneyleaf rosinweed, purpledisc sunflowers and small-headed sunflowers blooming on the trails in the last couple of weeks. The midwestern tickseed-sunflowers, swamp sunflowers, rough sunflowers,… Continue reading Field Report- September 2, 2024

What has been happening on the trails in September? We’ve had over 12 inches of rain this month, and a lot of interesting things have been happening. As expected, the midwestern tickseed-sunflowers put on quite a show during the first half of the month. The common partridge pea was also at peak bloom at the… Continue reading Field Report- September 30, 2024

What flowers are in bloom in January? It’s hard to believe that any flowers bloom in January. Maybe you’ve noticed a few dandelions here and there. Is anything else blooming? Yes! Common chickweed is a tiny white flower that you might see on a sunny winter day. Bird’s eye speedwell is a very small blue… Continue reading Flowers in January

Have you ever seen something like this? It’s a goldenrod plant in the late spring, before flowering. The top of the plant is growing a flower-like cluster of leaves. This is called a goldenrod rosette gall. An insect called a goldenrod gall midge (Rhopalomyia solidaginis) has laid its eggs on the top of the goldenrod… Continue reading Goldenrod Rosette Gall

Have you noticed some green leaves poking under the leaf litter in the woods? Maybe you have seen the leaves of the cranefly orchid. The bottom of the leaf is purple! Remember where you see these leaves! By the time the orchid blooms in the summer, the leaves are gone. The flowers are small and… Continue reading Green Leaves in the Winter Woods