Ginger…or Maryanne?
Jean has been out making more discoveries around the grounds… Wild ginger traditionally begins flowering in April, so I was somewhat surprised to see the deep red of its blossoms against the brown dirt of…
News
Wild Rice in our Wetland
Land and Facilities Steward Jean Wiedenheft was out recently in search of wild rice in our wetland and makes this report. When the Lynch Wetland was initially planted in 1999, wild rice (Zizania aquatica) was…
Signs of Spring at Bena Brook
Jean took a walk up Bena Brook and took the flipcam with her. Walk with Jean
Sure Signs of Spring
Two sure signs of spring here today. The first came when I got out of my car this morning and started across the parking lot towards the barn. Birds were chirping away when I heard…
Sap Savers
Our new naturalist, Jenny Rupp was part of the crew that tapped our first maple trees of the season this past Saturday. She is anxious for her first syruping season! What a marvelous winter it…
What Happens When We Don’t Have Winter?
We’ve been getting lots of calls from people wondering how this unusually warm winter is going to affect their trees and plants. Will we have sap for maple syrup? What if my trees bud and…
A Burning Experience
Our Education Facilitator and Naturalist, Jan Aiels, helped with a prairie burn last week. Here are some of her thoughts: It was a perfect fall day. Prairie grasses were bowing to a gentle west breeze…
Sharing Seeds
photo by Sheri Albrecht It gets pretty busy around the Nature Center in the fall as our lush prairie flowers and grasses turn to seed. It wasn’t always that way. When we began our prairie…
Hawk(eye) Season
A Cedar Rapids resident brought us these spectacular photos taken in her yard of a young red-tailed hawk. She brought them to us for identification, thinking the hawk was too large to be a red-tail…
A Good Pothole
If you’re visiting the Nature Center or driving along Otis Road in the next couple of days, don’t be alarmed to see bulldozers working in Bena Field. With funding from a Green Communities grant through…