Invasive Potential of E. pallida in Western Minnesota:
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Today was another successful day with the team! We had a morning filled with phenology at half of the sites and later everyone divided to get many things accomplished. After lunch, some of us practiced painting the bracts of Echinacea; this wasn’t too hard, it was actually very pleasant. Using toothpicks, we had to be sure to paint the tops of bracts as well as the bottom while making sure not to get paint on the florets or apply too much. Here, Lea and I were at p2 collecting phenology data in the afternoon. There are 80 rows in this plot and it took us almost the whole day to get the job done! I’m from the south and it honestly takes a lot for me to confess that a place is hot, but the way the sun was blazing today, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it out of the prairie to deliver this flog post to you! It was so “warm” today I was seeing double headed Echinacea…….. sheesh. To conclude a week full of accomplishments, Stuart sliced up the best watermelon ever. One shouldn’t argue this watermelon’s caliber; I know this was the best watermelon ever because it replenished all the sense I lost in p2 today. I’d say that everyone else enjoyed this glorious melon as well! Today was a good Friday! Today we decided to do a little thrifting before going grocery shopping. One of my favorite things to do is shop and I love thrift stores! Everyone got some really cool stuff all for just a few bucks. It’s been really humid outside all day until now… We just finished spending about half an hour out on the porch watching the clouds shift across the sky. We were pretty convinced a tornado was on its way because part of the sky was green and the clouds were doing funny swirl-like movements. Not to mention our phones kept alarming us all with tornado-warning alerts and the fire department’s loud siren didn’t fail to have us migrate to the inside of the house. Fortunately, there is no tornado but only rain. Looks like we’ll be wearing boots to work tomorrow! Today was a great day! We did some flagging in a few plots and also got a chance to meet Jennifer Ison via videochat. We also got a chance to speak with Stuart regarding our independent projects… In the midst of waiting for our appointments with Stuart, Ali was visited by this butterfly. It’s a Pearl Crescent Butterfly (Phyciodes tharos). Soon it’ll be stopping at some flowering Echinacea, but today we definitely enjoyed its visit on Ali. This area was indeed a remnant! The land was cliff-like; it looked as if it were a huge set of three steps that lead to a small lake. The rocks on the ground made it evident that the area was a native prairie. It looked as though the area may have been flat once upon a time, but was scooped up to contribute to the road we were standing on. This small region had a few Sweet Clovers and Wild Roses. We even spotted a patch of Poison Ivy (yikes!). There was plenty of Kentucky Bluegrass, a few trees around, and birds singing in the distance. Though I couldn’t spot it, Will & Abby saw the stem of a nearby E. angustifolia a few meters away. Hopefully, there will be some seedlings to look forward to at Woody’s! |
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