Volunteer Lupines Increase

I was  checking the two patches where Scrub Lupines sprouted from an old seed bank and discovered  four new seedlings. That brings the  total in both patches to nine plants.

If some of them survive to maturity and flower at least once, that could help to replenish the seed bank here.

I also found a shed snake skin in a bush and suspect Brown Thrashers are nesting near the planting site.

This place always has something to learn.

My  other  purpose for the visit was to take advantage of the recent rain to see what trash has been exposed in the sand. I brought home a bucketful.

Beetles & More

I checked to see whether more Polyphylla beetles were showing up at the preserve. Only one came to my light, along with some click beetles, an ant lion and some moths and smaller insects.

I did find one new moth, which has been confirmed.

Maybe next year the population will be more numerous.

Towhees In The Lupines

I found the source of the agitation a pair of Eastern Towhees in the area where I was checking on Scrub Lupine seedlings. There was a nest in a thicket near the planting area. I finally found the nest hidden in some moss.
Towhees are one of the few bird species that appear to nest here, so I like to keep track.

Still More Lupines

I found more lupine seedlings around the planting area and adjacent this morning.
This afternoon I was pleased to find three seedlings in one of the areas where plants popped up from an old seed bank in 2010 after the gyrchopping.
Maybe one of those plants will produce more seeds.
The lupines are certainly expanding in seedlings. If the adults follow, this could work well.
In the meantime, I'm culling the Natal grass around any areas containing lupines to give them a chance.

Lupine Surprise Explosion

I was cleaning out some of the Natal grass near the first planting area today when I discovered a lupine seedling, then another and another.
By the time I looked around with the light failing as darkness approached, I had found and flagged 15 new Scrub Lupine seedlings.

This was surprising. I'd found a handful of new seedlings at the 2d tract after the initial search, but this was extraordinary. I suspect I might find more as I work the edges and remove more Natal grass.

I will finish this weekend if the weather cooperates.

Cleaning the edges again

Over the weekend I continued my Great American Cleanup efforts along Holt/Holton Road area. I found a lot of older trash I'd missed in an earlier foray a few years ago and found some new stuff. It seems Heineken is the favorite beer of neighborhood litterbugs.

I also found part of an old bed frame, a small section of cast iron pipe, three tires and an old shoe.
There's lots of concrete debris, too. Maybe that can be formed into something.

Lupines 'n grass

I think I've finally found the last of the elusive  Scrub Lupine seedlings from the latest sprouting.
By elusive, I mean some were in unexpected locations, such as within patches of Natal grass or a few feet outside the planting areas behind bushes and in other unlikely locations.

A paper has been published about the dispersal, since until this experiment began, there wasn't much known about the dispersal of planted lupines because no one had ever planted any.

My contribution has also been to  clear some areas adjacent to the planting areas of  Natal grass.

Ryan Kordek from Lake McLeod said the problem with Natal grass is that if lupine sprouts in it, it may not get the air and lack of dryness that could cause  the plants to die because their are subject to disease.