PA Plantings

puzzle6 Jigsaw Puzzle

We have been rocording the daily precipitation every day since May of 1992 in a precision rain gauge. Just in the last two months I have begun to participate in a nationwide online reporting scheme called CoCoRaHS short for Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. It is easy to report your rain gauge reading ( to the nearest 0.01 inch) each morning and then go look at the other data in the area. or across the USA. Our yard is Station Number : PA-BR-16 and our Station Name is : Mohnton 2.8 SSW we are in Berks County, PA The Daily Precipitation Report fo Pennsylvania is usually interesting or you may find the map more informative. You can do searching by date, calander period, County or individual locations. The Program is coordinated by PSU's State Climatologist under a program called Frost .

The Muhlenberg Bulletin for September 2009 has been published. The PDF file is here. Note: The Next Meeting is Thursday September 17 at 7:30pm. and the field trip to the Pocono till Barrens has been changed to Sunday September 20. September 17 Meeting : Members' Night and Plant Exchange Bring pictures, slides, or a digital show to share; we will have a laptop and digital projector set, as well as the traditional projector. The highlight will be the plants members bring—ones for which they need to find new homes (don't hesitate to take plants even if you don't bring any!). September 20 Field Trip, Sunday Pocono Till Barrens Joint field trip with the Philadelphia Botanical Club and Muhlenberg Botanical Society. The Pocono till barrens, together with adjoining wetlands, forests and ridgetop barrens, hosts 125 species on the state’s endangered, threatened and rare list, 12 of which are imperiled globally. More than 8 square miles of native heathlands scattered along 30 miles...

In the last several years I have gotten quite interested in Skippers and Butterflies . I am especially intrigued with their very close evolutionary relationships with the plants that females recognize and caterpillars will eat. The butterfly on the top is a Horace's Skipper, in the middle is a Spicebush Swallowtail and on the bottom is a Common Woodnymph. The rest of my pictures are here .

Update: The September Pocono Till Barrens trip date is being changed. See Below. Muhlenberg Meadow , July 11 Saturday 12:00 noon Started in 1991, this restoration project spearheaded by Tim Draude and the Muhlenberg Botanical Society has expanded to five acres. Come and view the wide array of field flowers and what techniques worked and didn’t work in turning a cornfield into a dazzling native ecosystem. From Lancaster, go south on Rte. 222/272 for about 0.5 miles past the point where the north and south lanes rejoin. Turn left onto Golf Rd. and go about 0.6 miles to the intersection with Exhibit Farm Rd The parking area is a few hundred feet past Exhibit Farm Rd. The sign for the meadow is up against the tree line and not easily visible from the road. Park on the grass in front of the sign. Leader: Joan King Fulshaw Craeg Preserve , Montgomery County, Sunday, July 26, meet at the North Museum at 7:30 AM Joint field trip, Philadelphia Botanical Club and Muhlenberg Botanical Society. A...

The following is the Field trip schedule through June 2009 ( Including a trip I am Co-Leading for the Mengel Natural History Club at State Game Lands 52 north of Churchtown, Lancaster Co. ) List of trips. See below for more deatail and directions. Saturday, April 18: Trout Run Nature Preserve 10:00 AM Sunday, April 19, 2009 1:00 PM FIELD TRIP the Mengel Natural History Club State Game Lands #52 Saturday, May 9 : Walnut Run 10:00 AM Saturday, June 13: Goat Hill 10:00 AM Details of the 2009 SPRING FIELD TRIPS: For those whose obligations do not allow them to participate for the entire day in the case of all-day field trips, you are welcome to join us for just the morning half (or the afternoon half, if that can be arranged). For all-day trips, bring a bag lunch. Saturday, April 18: Trout Run Nature Preserve 10:00 AM Located in Martic Township, Trout Run is a 123-acre nature preserve comprised of mature forested areas and the Trout Run stream corridor. From Lancaster City, take ...

A new online/interactive Key to the Cyperaceae of North America is now available and announced today on Taxacom by Timothy M. Jones a Ph.D. Student at LSU . I will have to start learning these better and not wait until retirement. I do like the interactive glossary for the Cyperaceae! Timothy Jones announced: "Interactive identification keys to Xyris, Cyperus, Kyllinga, Rhynchospora, Scleria, and Carex are now available on the Louisiana State University Herbarium website. The keys are free to use and written in Lucid 3. 4. Additionally, a demonstration of a new interactive glossary to the Cyperaceae written with Cooliris is available, as well as a demo interactive/zoom-able phylogenetic trees and data on the Cyperaceae. This is presented using Deepzoom(of project Seadragon). All are at http://www.herbarium.lsu.edu/keys/" This is a beautiful Carex species I took pictures of last June in a sphagnum bog in Quebec. I should try keying it out (or just send the pic...