Wireweed At Peak Here

One of the least ubiquitous rare plants at the preserve is Polygonella basiramia, aka Wireweed.

 It is blooming now in the few spots where it is found, though in one spot this year it is quite abundant. Today I counted more than 300 plants.
Scrub Blazing Star (nee Sand Torch), Liatris ohlingerae is still blooming, too, along with several more common species.

Fall is wonderful in this place if you enjoy color.

Soldier In The Scrub; Sunset

I was checking the trail for interesting wildlife the other evening when I encountered a Soldier, a relatively uncommon species of butterfly, resting on the branch of a Bumelia bush.
That brings the butterfly species list here to 52, which is impressive in such a small space.
It was late afternoon and dusk was coming as I was leaving.
This place offers a great view of the westering sky.

Weeding The Lupines Again

It is that time of year again.
The Natal grass was starting to build up in the second lupine planting area.
Last year I wasn't aware there was a problem and didn't get to it until later in the season and it took several visits to complete.
 Today I got the bulk of it cleared out in about four hours.
The weeding revealed how few surviving plants there are.
I also saw one Scrub Blazing Star in the patch. I can't remember whether there any last year.

Getting Rid Of Truck Problem

This week the County Commission approved a measure to ban truck parking on First Avenue.

That might  eliminate some of the problems that have been occurring.

There was the recent problem with our gate, but these vehicles have also damaged the pavement.