[To see photos and stories of this prairie in other years, go to the links on the main Hidden Oaks Savanna page.]

This year we mowed the savanna in the spring.  The central part of the savanna had thickly growing Queen Anne’s Lace, so I pulled as much as I could in the late summer.

5/4/2019

5/4/2019

5/13/2019

7/29/2019  Except for Queen Anne’s Lace and some small circles of Reed Canary Grass, this central part of the savanna is thriving.  There are asters, savanna grasses (Elymus hystrix, Elymus riparius, Bromus latiglumis) and sedges, monarda,  Black-eyed Susan,  and Field Thistle (Cirsium discolor).

7/29/2019

8/29/2019  Hidden Oaks Meadow with Rough Blazing Star

9/2/2019  When we cleared the edge of Hidden Oaks Meadow a few years ago – creating Armund’s Gap – we left the Wild Plum trees we found there.  They’re still scraggly looking, but they’re producing plums.

9/14/2019  A thick growth of Queen Anne’s Lace in the central part of the savanna.  I spend a week or so pulling and removing as much of it as I could.

9/14/2019  It was much easier to see the Asters once the Queen Anne’s Lace was gone.

9/14/2019  More asters

9/14/2019  Showy Goldenrod in Hidden Oaks Meadow is a favorite of migrating Monarchs.

9/16/2019  More Monarchs on Showy Goldenrod.  This was a good year for Monarchs – we had record numbers migrating through.  (Our best count on a walk was  544.)  And this was the favorite nectaring spot for the migrants.  First they clustered on the Blazing Star, then when that started to fade, they moved to Showy Goldenrod, then to New England Aster.