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Wild Hyacinth
Wild Hyacinth This perennial wild lily has flowering stalks that are blooming now. I usually find it in the prairies but I’ve also found it blooming on rocky slopes along Hillers Creek.
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Ninebark
Physocarpus opulifolius This native shrub is putting on quite a show now. It has dense clusters of white flowers. I’ve noticed a variety of native bees and butterflies gathering nectar from the...
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White Wild Indigo
Baptisia alba There are 4 different kinds of Indigo plants blooming at the Prairie Garden Trust (PGT) now. The foliage in these wildflowers contains a blue dye that resembles indigo and becomes...
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Coneflowers
Coneflowers are always a good place to find butterflies. This is a Giant Swallowtail feeding on a Pale Purple Coneflower at the Prairie Garden Trust (PGT).
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Lotus Leaf
American Lotus American Lotus isn’t blooming yet, but the leaves are coming up. As they emerge, they are in a spike which unrolls reveal their classic circular leaf. The spike reminds me of Brancusi’s...
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Great Spangled Fritillary
This is the butterfly you are most likely to see now at the Prairie Garden Trust (PGT). The best place to find them is on Butterfly Weed, the showy orange milkweed that’s blooming now in the prairie.
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Wild Rye
Canada Wild Rye, Elymus canadensis The showy seed-heads of this attractive native grass are starting to appear now. I find small patches of it scattered in open woods and in the prairie here at the PGT.
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Morning Light Creek
Hiller’s Creek You’ll be rewarded for forcing yourself to get out of bed early to take nature walks here at the Prairie Garden Trust (PGT). Everything is more alive then. The treetops are filled with...
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BBC Film Crew at PGT
BBC Film Crew A crew of 7 from the BBC was at the Prairie Garden Trust (PGT) yesterday filming a TV show about American Gardens. The focus was on what’s unique about American gardens, in this case...
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PGT Butterfly Walk
We saw 5 Giant Swallowtails on the PGT Butterfly Walk yesterday. They are the largest butterfly in North America. Altogether we saw 28 different kinds of butterflies with a total of 96 individuals....
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Buckeye Butterfly
Common Buckeye, Junonia coeniaThe Buckeye is a medium-sized butterfly with conspicuous round eyespots. We saw 5 of them on the PGT Butterfly Walk last weekend.
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American Lotus
American Lotus The Lotus is my favorite native plant and they are having a great year. There are hundreds of them blooming at the Prairie Garden Trust (PGT) right now.To see them take the short walk...
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Prairie Grass
With the warmer weather the prairie grasses are starting to take off. Unlike lawn grasses, which tend to prefer it cool, prairie grasses thrive in the heat.
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Sedge Wren
Knowing bird songs is critical if you want to be a good birder. Yesterday I heard what I thought was a Sedge Wren but wasn’t sure, so I played the call on my iPhone. That made the bird pop out of the...
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Bur Oak Acorns
Bur Oak AcornsAcorns are starting to appear in the oak trees. Burr Oak acorns are easy to identify with their fringed, burry cups and large size. They are the largest acorns of all the oaks. There’s a...
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Cedar Bluff
This outcrop is a favorite place to stop on walks down to Hiller’s Creek. Post Oaks and Blackjack Oaks manage to survive in the thin rocky soil.
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Blue Lobelia
Blue Lobelia, Lobelia siphiliticaThis late-blooming native wildflower can be found along Hiller’s Creek and other wet places. It grows on stalks up to 3-feet tall.
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Honey Bee
Asters are just starting to bloom. They are an important late-season nectar source for butterflies and insects such as this honey bee. Honeybees are an exotic bee that that humans brought to Virginia...
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Lotus Pod
The American Lotus flowers have dropped their petals and are now turning into seed heads. At first the seeds are blue and the showerhead like pod is green. As they ripen, they turn brown. You can find...
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Lotus Leaves
The American Lotus has finished blooming, but the round umbrella-like leaves are still putting on quite a show. Here I captured the huge leaves backlit by the morning sun. This picture was taken at the...
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