Lupine Hope & Surprise

I was checking yesterday for new
Scrub Lupine sprouts, which
 traditionally occur in January,

when I found I

was a year late in one of my discoveries.
I initially found a year-old lupine yesterday, but today when I went back to photograph it, I discovered there were two.
The significance is that these plants are in a location where I found volunteers from an old seed bank just before the prescribed fire a few years ago.
The challenge will be to see whether either plant survives to maturity and puts out new seeds..

New Lock On Gate

While on trash and fence patrol today, I noticed  the problem gate lock had been replaced.
It appears to be working.

New Year, New Tasks

I finally got out to the preserve this morning. I hadn't been out for awhile because of other obligations and weather. Today I concentrated on cleaning up some spotty trash along parts of the fire lanes.
There has been an invasion of sandspurs and  Ceasar weed along the fire lanes, which makes them troublesome to traverse.

Natal grass continues to be prominent in the landscape in the north tract since the the mechanical clearing, followed by fire. I've confined my efforts to managing Natal grass to the north-south tract and around the lupine beds.
This month will be a time to look for new lupine seedlings.