We attended an intensive two-day phenology workshop hosted by the National Phenology Network and the USGS Powell Center last week. To improve the value of our data, we have increased the number of pairs of plant species we will observe in the park. Monitoring multiple individuals of a species/genus helps to reduce “noise” in the data. We’ve…
Happy New Year! Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we would like to spend more time together in nature in 2024. From Dr. King’s 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech: “We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of…
Asters are blooming. Syrphid flies aka Flower Flies are visiting them. The USDA writes, “Flies are among the most frequent visitors to flowers and important pollinators of a wide range of plants. Syrphid flies are often referred to as flower flies….The Syrphidae family is broken down into 3 subfamilies and 15 tribes, containing more than 6,000…
We have been tree lovers since forever. This post is devoted to some of the trees in the park. Shown above are two Crape Myrtles blooming with red flowers. Is the Crape Myrtle a tree or a shrub? (shrug emoji) This woody plant has a three month flowering season. Red, purple, pink, white flowers? There…
Summer isn’t over but we are gearing up for the fall. We hope to bring the Tour de Quercus (the genus name for oak trees) to the park on City of Forest Day, October 14, 2023. The event will include the original Quercus sculpture and a second to be fabricated this summer (with funding from…