In an effort to expose more people to the beautiful native plants that can be used for landscaping in our human landscapes and which are threatened by habitat loss in the wild, we have decided to offer a series of free wildflower walks in local natural areas near Madison Wisconsin. Frank will lead all of the hikes listed below, and you can contact him if you need more information.
We will be doing weekday walks at 6pm on Thursday. These will be close to town and short in duration, we should be done by 7:30 or 8pm each time.
The weekend hikes will be on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and we will be leaving town at 1pm. These trips will be longer, up to an hour's drive away and 2-3 hours of time out in the field. Before each weekend hike we will gather at a meeting place in Madison so that we can car-pool and save gas! Our hope is that we can find a few places that are also on bus routes to meet and car-pool from.
For all of these hikes, be sure to wear appropriate clothing such as long pants and sturdy boots. Also be sure to bring drinking water and any snacks you might need. Don't forget the sunscreen, and be prepaired for mosquitos and other pests (long pants and sleeves go a long way towards keeping both sund and bugs off of your skin). These hikes are free and open to the public.
Here is our Schedule for late Summer and Fall of 2009:
- Thursday, August 6th: Forb Explosion at Atwood Community Prairie There is quite a show of prairie flowers at the Atwood Community Prairie, so we'll stop to take a look, and perhaps visit a nearby rain garden while we are there. This urban prairie is right along the east isthmus bike path, across from the Atwood Community Gardens. We'll meet at the info Kiosk in the mid point of the prairie. Its easy to get there by bike, by car try parking in the lot behind St. Bernard's Church, at the Atwood Community Center, or street parking nearby.
- Thursday, August 20th: Wildflowers of Koltes and Westport Drumlin These lovely prairie remnants just north of Madison include both mesic and dry areas, meaning there are a variety of beautiful and rare wildflowers to be found here. We'll meet at the Good Oak World Headquarters at 5:30 to car-pool. If you are driving yourself, take Northport Dr. north out of Madison, which becomes Hwy 113. 1.7 miles north of Highway M, take a right turn onto Bong Road Park along the side of the road 0.6 miles east of Hwy 113.
- Sunday, August 23rd: Prairies of the Military Ridge. We'll visit a few of the best prairie remnants out in the Military Ridge area near Blue Mounds and Barneveld and get a feeling for what a landscape covered in prairie was really like. Contact Frank for carpooling information.
- Thursday, September 3rd: UW Arboretum Curtis Prairie and Native Garden We'll wander around the Curtis prairie and other parts of the Arboretum to explore the various sunflowers, goldenrods, asters and other wildflowers in bloom as summer turns to fall. Meet at the front steps of the UW Arboretum visitors center.
- Saturday, September 19th: Gentian Safari There are about a half-dozen species of gentians which inhabit the prairies, savannas and wetlands in our region. These stunning fall wildflowers are only found in the best quality remnants. We will mount an expedition to seek out as many of these species as we can find in our area, and many other treasures along the way. Location TBA, contact Frank for more info.
- Thursday, September 24th: Early Fall in Greene Prairie of the Grady Tract Greene Prairie is one of the best quality prairie restorations anywhere, while much of the Grady Tract is an interesting and problematic black oak savanna restoration. Join us to see what treasures it has in store for us in early fall. Meet at the gravel Grady Tract parking lot, at the southeast corner of the Beltline frontage road and Seminole Hwy.
We hope you can join me to explore the botany of southern Wisconsin!