Wild parsnip time

Pleasant Valley Conservancy is virtually free of wild parsnips (Pastinaca sativa). However, this is only because we have been eradicating it diligently for the past 10 years. Unfortunately, there is a huge amount of this weed very close to our property, as the photo below shows.Given this situation, it seems unlikely that we will ever be completely rid of it. Our parsnip-free zone can only exist if we continue our diligence for the forseeable future (that is, for ever).

The nearest field shown in the photo is just across the fence from our property. The yellow plants in the fields farther away are also parsnip. This does seem to be an especially bad year for it, but really, every year is a bad year.

Lead plant from seed

We have lead plant (Amorpha canescens) growing in four different remnants, each of which had presumably not been grazed (cows love lead plant). We have been collecting and throwing out seed in the rest of our prairie and savanna habitats for years, and wondering why we were not seeing any growth. This year and last we are finally beginning to see lead plant in flower. Possibly this species has been growing ever since we started, but this is the first year the flowering plants are big enough to see.

The photo below shows a single clump of lead plant flowering in our south-facing slope (Unit 2). Because of its high visibility, if this plant had been visible last year we would (should) have seen it. If it's the first one in this unit, I hope it is not the last.

We have also seen lead plant in several other locations this year, including two of our savannas (Units 10 and 12A). Persistence apparently pays off!

New Jersey tea

New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americana) is a nice prairie plant that is often found in remnants. We have a rather extensive population along our roadside (County F), and have a few plants in what was a heavily degraded remnant on our ridge top (Unit 11A). We used the County F plants as a seed source and have been spreading seeds in our open savannas for the past seven years. This year, for the first time, we are seeing quite a few large plants that have become established (see photo below).

New Jersey tea is easiest to find when it is flowering. Once flowering is over, it virtually disappears. In fact, the leaves can be confused with those of buckthorn (these two plants are in the same family). Our practice is to flag all plants when they are in flower, and then return at the end of September to collect seeds.

I am pleased that our persistence in overseeding this species if finally paying off.

A kestrel baby has left "home"

I mentioned our kestrel nest box in my entry of 20 June. Today one of the babies "left home" and is starting out in life on his own. Hopefully, he will survive. I managed to catch this photo just before he dove into the weeds and disappeared.

Butterfly milkweed

One of the most attractive prairie species, butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), is now in bloom, right on schedule. In many ways, June is milkweed month, as most species are now in full bloom. Butterfly milkweed, with its brilliant orange flowers, is one of the best.

At Pleasant Valley Conservancy, all our butterfly milkweeds were introduced, mainly from seeds. Although Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie, a few miles away, has very nice native populations, they had not reached here. Most of our butterfly milkweeds are in the Valley Prairie, which was planted in November 2002. We had no seeds available when we planted the earlier prairies, Toby's and Pocket..

We saw our first flowering butterfly milkweeds in the Valley Prairie in the second growing season, and the number of plants visible has increased each year since. Today I did a walk-through census and counted 30 plants, all flowering well. I'm sure there are many more than are not flowering yet.

Butterflies really do like butterfly milkweeds, and the photo below shows two checkerspots on a single plant.

Although butterfly milkweed has the characteristic milkweed flower structure, it is the only milkweed species that does not produce milky sap.

There was good seed set in 2006 and we collected lots of butterfly milkweed seed. These seeds were all planted in suitable habitats (dry to dry-mesic) after our spring 2007 burns. Hopefully, we will be seeing this handsome species throughout the Conservancy in a few years.

 

Kestrel nest box

We have excellent habitat for American kestrels. In 2006 we installed two kestrel nest boxes, and were delighted to see them using the one near our cabin. I spent quite some time trying to get photos of the birds using the box, without success.

Chris Noll has been more successful, as the photos below show.

Summer Science Camp at Pleasant Valley Conservancy

This week Pleasant Valley Conservancy is helping the Wisconsin Heights school system Summer Science Camp. This is a program sponsored by the UW-Madison Biocore Outreach Ambassador Program and open for Middle School students. One group, coordinated by Janet Batzli, is studying the interaction between prairie plants and insects. The attendees are learning about the scientific process through hands-on experience and laboratory work. The photos show the group working in two of our planted prairies.

Mississippi River field trip

Kathie and I participated in a Prairie Enthusiasts field trip to prairie remnants in sandy sites along the Mississippi River. We were able to see habitats quite different from those at Pleasant Valley Conservancy, and there were some species that we never normally see. I find it very useful to broaden my scope by seeing different types of remnants. It makes me aware of the diversity here in Wisconsin, and provides useful comparisons with our own habitats.

I have been doing a lot of work on purple milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens), a Wisconsin endangered species that is present at Pleasant Valley, so I was surprised and pleased to find a nice specimen of this "rare?" species growing along a county road near the Mississippi River (see top photo at right). Apparently there are quite a few sites with purple milkweeds in this area.

Our visit to a sandy "railroad" prairie uncovered a wide variety of prairie species, including two shown here that we do not have: goat's rue (Tephrosia virginiana; middle photo) and poppy mallow (Callirhoe triangulata; lower photo). Goat's rue is fairly common in sandy sites throughout southern and western Wisconsin, but according to the UW Herbarium, poppy mallow (Special Concern) is only found in a few counties in southwestern Wisconsin. It is one of those few species that Curtis found "only" in prairies (it has a high Coefficient of Conservatism).

The prairie is a long sandy ridge adjacent to a railroad main line. Striking was the very large population of spiderwort, growing not only on the sand but also into the railroad ballast. (I have seen spiderwort growing in the ballast of other railroads in southern Wisconsin. It is impressive to see large populations growing in what must certainly be a nutritionally sterile environment.)

Among the other species that we saw were blunt-leafed and short green milkweed, purple milkwort (Polygala polygama), needle grass, little bluestem, wooly plantain (Plantago patagonica), Carolina puccoon (Lithospermum caroliniense), flowering spurge, round-headed bush clover, wild licorice (Glycyrrhiza lepidota; Special Concern ), etc.etc.

In some parts of Wisconsin, railroad rights-of-way often provide some of the few remaining sites with prairie remnants. This particular site was long and quite attractive, despite the fact that the strip right next to the tracks had been sprayed with herbicide.

In all, a nice trip!

What happened to the rain?

Usually June is fairly rainy, with frequent good thundershowers. Although June started off rainy, we have had drought conditions for the past week. Accompanying the drought has been hot, dry weather. According to the Weather Bureau, this drought is being brought out by some changes in the upper jet stream. This is influencing not only our area, but, in a different way, the Mid Atlantic Coast, which is getting heavy rains.

This drought is a little hard on the 270 seedling transplants that we put in throughout Pleasant Valley Conservancy the last part of May. However, when we did the transplants, we intentionally put them in locations that we could easily bring water. Most are near enough to our service road or ATV trail that we can reach them with our Kawasaki Mule. We carry the water to the plants in 2 1/2 gallon jugs.

In order to water these transplants systematically, each plant is marked with a numbered flag. I put together an Excel spreadsheet index, which lists the flag number, location, and species name. Those transplants that are near each other are collected in a single group, and each group has a number. The spreadsheet is sorted by group, so that all the plants in that group can be watered at the same time.

This is a lot of work to set up, but worth it, since we can water the plants efficiently during those first critical weeks when they are putting their roots down.

During the drought, we have been watering all the plants about twice a week. Today (Saturday) Kathie and I rewatered all the transplants that have been put out in prairie areas, which tend to be the driest.

When a plant is watered, it is ticked off on our check list. We also make note about how the plant is doing. Of the approximately 270 transplants that we have put out this year, only a few have not become established. Most of those that failed did so because they were dug up by animals.

Although most of our plant introductions at Pleasant Valley Conservancy have been from seed, there are species that are not readily established from seed. These are the species that we raised this winter in the greenhouse and have now transplanted into nature.

Purple milkweeds in the forbs garden

Purple milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens) is an Endangered Species which is native at Pleasant Valley Conservancy. I have been monitoring populations of this attractive species since 1998 (when it first popped up after early savanna restoration). As part of my work on this species, I have been raising plants to transplant to new areas in the Conservancy. I have also given a few plants to others, hoping that this rare milkweed might spread.

In addition to setting out plants in new locations, I have established them in our forbs garden so that I can monitor them better, water them if needed, and encourage their growth. This year the purples have been especially luxuriant, much more than ever seen in nature. Some plants have as many as ten thick stems, each with five to ten flower heads. I have never seen such lush growth in nature. The photo below shows the best area.

Seed set by purple milkweeds is quite sporadic, and I am lucky if I get three pods from among the various populations growing in the Conservancy. I am hoping that I will get really good seed set this year in the forbs garden, which would help in getting this species established in new areas.

Bird's foot trefoil

One of our pesky invasive weeds is bird's foot trefoil (Lotus corniculata). It isn't one you see on many people's list of the top ten offenders, but we have several planted prairies where it is a potential problem. It's source is almost certainly a neighbor's fallow pasture.

Strangely, bird's foot trefoil is also an urban weed problem. "It likes to be mowed", as they say, and you can find it along curb lawns and median strips of roadways in Madison. Some city folks even like it, because of the pretty yellow flowers (see photo below).

Bird's foot trefoil grows as a low spreading plant, and sprawls out over the soil. It is capable of smothering good plants, or preventing them from getting started. A single plant can be several feet in diameter, with numerous stems all starting from a single root mass. To dig it, you have to collect in your hand all of the various stems and pull them up so that the center root mass is exposed. Then you can dig the roots out with a sharp shovel. It is a time-consuming job.

The alternative approach, if there are no "good" plants nearby, is to use an herbicide such as clopyralid (Transline™), to which this legume is especially sensitive. However, the plant is almost impossible to find until it is flowering, and by this time, good plants are often up. Thus, the time frame for herbicide treatment is fairly short. Now is the time.

My only consolation is that the weed seems to be less common this year than previously. Perhaps we are finally starting to get on top of it.

Problems with woodland sunflower

At Pleasant Valley Conservancy, we have always had small amounts of woodland sunflower, growing at the edges of various wooded areas. The taxonomy of this group is difficult, but most of our woodland sunflower seems to be Helianthus divaricatus, with smaller amounts of H. decapetalus and H. strumosus. Like Canada goldenrod, these sunflower species grow as clones, spreading extensively by underground stems (rhizomes). As we have cleared areas and opened up savannas and prairies, we have noticed marked expansion of these species.

I have looked in the literature but have been unable to find any reports on woodland sunflower as an invasive species. Inquiries with local experts have also been negative. However, the behavior of these woodland sunflowers at Pleasant Valley Conservancy can only be considered aggressive, and we are beginning to worry about how to control them.

Last summer we tried cutting large patches at the time they were in flower, a technique that sometimes works, since it starves the roots and suppresses growth. Unfortunately, all the patches we cut have returned this year even stronger than ever.

Even more worrisome, we are seeing woodland sunflowers invading already established planted prairies, such as the Pocket Prairie and Valley Prairie. The sunflower development in the Valley Prairie is especially bad, with a huge patch developing in a swatch along Pleasant Valley Road. We can see this clone extending its tentacles into already established prairie. Because the stem density of the sunflower clones is so high, everything it surrounds is shaded out and suppressed.

Herbicide treatment seems one likely method. We are now spraying some of the clones with clopyralid (Transline™), an herbicide which has no effect on grasses or other monocots, and is especially active against members of the sunflower family. The function of the herbicide is to keep the clones from spreading further, so we are spraying 10-foot swaths along the advancing fronts. This should keep the clones from spreading further this year, and give us some time to work out a possible better method.

Another approach I am trying is handpulling or clipping. Handpulling is probably better, but since it does not get the rhizomes, it will probably not eradicate. Clipping is easier to do, and disturbs the soil less. Since the clipped plants will have to start over again, the hope is that the established prairie plants will be able to thrive and outcompete them.

The two photos below show the before and after of a small clone which I handclipped. The shovel was left in the center of the clone while I handclipped it. I counted 190 stems in this clone, which was a little over 6 square feet in area. Once the sunflower stems had been removed, I did a census of the remaining plants: pale Indian plantain (3 plants), spiderwort, Indian grass, little bluestem, yellow coneflower. I felt a certain elation knowing I had released these desirable plants from bondage!

 

Gray Dogwood: Friend or Foe?

Even though it is native, gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa) is considered by many restorationists to be an invasive species. In fact, all last winter, during our brush control work, we eradicated numerous patches of small gray dogwood plants. It is a clonal species, and tends to spread and take over a savanna. The Wisconsin DNR lists it as invasive, and a section on it is included in Betty Czarapata's book on invasive plants of the upper midwest. Folks in Illinois especially hate gray dogwood.

Yet this species forms pretty flowers and makes berries that lots of birds love. We do not need to completely eradicate it from Pleasant Valley Conservancy, but keep some patches for the birds.

One especially nice patch is in a bit of higher ground in our wetland. It is flowering now (photo); we'll monitor to see who will use it.