With all of the recent rains, I decided to go out and start pulling the white and yellow clover that is out in my Lasalle Prairie.  The rain has made the ground soft and squishy.  This made pulling the plants out of the ground very easy, well, easier.  The yellow clover was already starting to flower so getting these plants out of the ground was my priority.  The white clover plants were getting quite large so I went after them as well.  I grabbed the plants at the base of the stem and pulled with even pressure upwards.  Sometimes I had to pull upwards using my legs as some of the plants had roots that went down over a foot!  But, with the ground being soft, I eventually won out over the clovers.  I plan to go after the curly dock next.

With all of the posts about the remnant sites that I have been doing, I decided to explain how to find remnant sites of your own.  A remnant plant site such as a prairie or woodland has been undisturbed by human development.  To me, the size of the site is not important, only what species are located in it.  Some of my remnant sites contain maybe 1 or 2 flowers of a single species, but it is the only place in Lasalle county that I have found it.  Some sites are located along the boundarty between a road and a farm.  This area was not destroyed when the road was built, and not tilled by the farmer these many years.  Some farmers even burn their fence rows to eliminate the dried grasses.  This of course, helps any native plants that may be growing there.

Some simple tips that I use to locate remnant sites are as follows.  I first start off driving down some of the back-country farm roads, possible even gravel ones.  These roads have less traffic and have been less developed.  I then start to look for some of the larger “locator” plant species.  Compass plant and Prairie Dock are excellent flowers to look for because the plants are very tall and yellow and can be seen from a distance.  Upon closer inspection of the area around these plants, you may find even more species.  In the spring I will also use Golden Alexander because of its yellow flowers and large patches that it can form.  Spiderwort is also good because it has a vibrant purple flower that can be seen while driving by even at 60 miles per hour.

I recieved another email from someone over the weekend asking about wildflowers. The told me that they wanted to create a small prairie in their front yard. So, they went to Wal-mart and bought a container of wildflower mix and a roll of that stuff with seed mixed into it and you just roll it out. They were so excited about their purchase that they created a new bed in their front yard to install the prairie when a neighbor came over.

The neighbor had some knowledge of native plants and took a look at the seeds contained in the wildflower mix. Corn poppy, dianthus, and cosmos to name of few are contained in this wildflower mix. Every single species in this wildflower mix is a non-native species. Now a prairie flower mix for example would contain big bluestem, pale coneflower, and monarda. All of these are native plant species. A wildflower garden contains flower both native and non-native and gives the illusion of a prairie. A native flower garden, is just that, ONLY native flowers. There are several native flower beds that can be created as well. Woodland flower, wetland flowers or prairie flower, all of which contain native plants and look beautiful. Email me if you would like some suggestions about creating your own native garden.

Well it’s started.  The bird seed that I am putting out for the birds has begun to grow.  As of right now it’s only the sunflower seed, and hopefully it will stay that way.  I haven’t had any problems with the Niger thistle before and the other is cracked corn.  I don’t use any millet at all because it attracts the house sparrows like crazy. 

Some sites suggest to microwave of cook your seed in order to kill the embryo.  This however, does not always work. Others say that this will alter the nutritional content of the seed.  By cooking or microwaving your bird seed, you are adding a time consuming step which can be very messy.  Plus, who really wants to spend all that time preping the seed.  Let’s just get it out there for the birds.

Realistic solutions are to place a tray on the ground under the feeder.  Or, any other type of surface that will prevent the seed from getting contact with the soil.  In my case, the feeders are out in my prairie around the pond.  I can easily go out and just pull the seedling if I wish, or just let them grow.  When I do a prescribed fire, the plants that may be growing will be killed.

For about 3 years now, my wife Carrie and I have been using her digital camera to take photos of all things nature.  From birds and other wildlife, to many of the native flowers shown on Illinois Nature.  All of the photos that I use on the website come from our own stock of photos.  The great thing about using a digital camera is you get instant results of your pictures that you are taking.  If you don’t like the one you just took, simply delete that picture from the memory card.  Plus, the quality of the pictures are so much better and if you have a photo editing program like photoshop, the process is made that much easier.  And the cost of film isn’t cheap either.  Not an issue with a digital camera, just an initial cost of a memory card.

Here are some of our favorite pictures, and check out some of the others on the website.