[To see photos and stories of this prairie in other years, go to the links on the main East Center Valley page.]

This year we mowed some of the low edge of the prairie, along the driveway, and planted Wood Betony seeds there.  Wood Betony is partly parasitic, and it seems to especially affect Canada Goldenrod and some of the more aggressive grasses.  Canada Goldenrod has been becoming more dominant in this area, so we’re hoping the Wood Betony will help control it.

2/5/2019

2/8/2019

2/8/2019

3/12/2019

3/14/2019

4/2/2019

5/4/2019

6/2/2019

7/23/2019  This is a native orchid plant – a Purple Fringed Orchid – that I got from friends down the road.  They have a small patch of native wetland surrounded by cornfields.  Every year the patch of wetland gets smaller, and I worry that the orchids will disappear.  I’ve collected seeds a few times, and planted them here, but haven’t seen any results.  This year I asked if I could dig a few plants, and they agreed.  I planted 3 plants here, in a wet area similar to the one they were growing in.

7/23/2019  Purple Fringed Orchid  (Platanthera psycodes)

7/28/2019  Mowing Canada Goldenrod.  A few weeks later I scattered Wood Betony seed here.

8/15/2019

10/17/2019

10/25/2019

10/28/2019

11/2/2019

11/7/2019

11/23/2019  Last winter our friend Todd cleared one of the old logging roads that runs through the woods just above the prairie.  We spent a few days this fall clearing the rest of the logs and brush.  It’s a good walking path, and a trail where we can drive the tractor to get to some fields near the wetland that are inaccessible right now.

12/21/2019

12/21/2019

12/27/2019