A Brutal Spring For Lupines

 The hot and dry weather the area has experienced in recent months has taken a toll on the  handful of Scrub Lupine seedlings that emerged this year.

None of the seedlings in the first and third planting areas survived. A few in the second planting area are still hanging on, though they are in more favorable areas with less leaf litter and canopy to affect their growth.

I am trying to get with the FWC folks to discuss improvement management with a view toward next year when what looks like a good crop of seeds has a chance to germinate.

Some areas have some leaf litter and the issue is how to remove/reduce the leaf litter without inadvertently distrurbing the seed bank.

Meanwhile, someone has put out 18 Sand Skink cover boards along the eastern fire lane in the north tract.

I put out between 60 and 70 boards between 2005 and 2007 and verified at the time that Lake Blue Scrub had a pretty healthy population.

Spring 'Arrives With Some Color And The Promise Of More

 

Spring here officially began earlier this week. Though the landscape still looks a bit dreary because of the current dry conditions--only recorded 0.15 of an inch of rain this month despite encouraging weather predictions accompanying each cold front--there are some hints of color here and there.

Some of it is showier than others.

 

What Lurks In The Bushes Outside The Fence?

 

Ancient Islands Group of Florida Sierra wanted to organize a Great American Cleanup event Saturday /

I suggested we take a crack at the area around Lake Blue Scrub. I knew there was some trash, but wasn't prepared for the amount that was present. 

We found tires, a mattress and box spring, an aquarium and bags and bags of beer bottles and similar debris.

There was also several hundred pounds of concrete debris that we left behind.

Later in the day I returned to see if the pile had been removed. I ran into one of the neighbors at the other end of Holton Road  and told me there had been dumping the night before of several bags of trash. One landed inside the fence and I retrieved it.

Cogon Grass Infestation Spreads

 

An infestation of Cogon Grass in a sandhill area at the southeast corner of the north tract seems to be expanding and may reach the eastern fire lane soon unless treatment begins.

Another section of this small sandhill patch contains the only population of Clitoria fragrans  on this site.

I once tried to occasionally dig up the grass to control it, but learned at a webinar I watched a couple of years ago that such an approach was futile and might encourage the spread. 

Another Lupine Season Begins; Forgotten Plants Flagged

 Another Scrub Lupine season has begun at the preserve this week, about on schedule.

The first seedlings typically appear in mid to late January and continue emerging into February.

The first three seedings I detected were outside the main planting areas along the edge of the heavily impacted east-west trail that is annually mowed even though it has never been overgrown in the 20 years or so I've been on the site.

In recent years the lupines growing along this path have had to have been clearly marked to avoid  being destroyed by mechanical onslaught.

I also flagged a three more lupines that apparently emerged last year, and either were never flagged or the flags was removed or destroyed.  

In a search earlier this week I also discovered a previous planting area that I had missed when I was asked by Bok's Cheryl Peterson last October  to remove cages around the plants to prevent the Eastern Cottontail Rabbits that live on this site from consuming them.

The lupines for the most part appear healthy and as I've noticed regularly some plants have growth with more vigor than others.

So far I have not found any seedlings in the southern planting area, which still has some surviving seedlings from last year's emergence.

The norther planting area contains plants of various ages.

  

Maybe A New Sign Someday

 

The sign at the southeast corner of the preserve's north tract is showing its age and the inevitable effects of having a southern exposure even though there is some shade to moderate the effects on the suns's rays.

I was wondering whether a new sign might be considered in a future budget to make the place look a little less neglected.

I was out documenting a couple of patches of  mistletoe, checking to see whether lupine seedlings had begun popping up--they had not--though I moved some of the existing flags to be near unflagged surviving plants from last year's crop in the southern planting area.

I also checked a section of the south tract for Ghost Pipes, but found nothing but an old shoe and an older beer can and some spots along the fire lane for further excavation. 

I also found a place where someone may be setting up camp along the fence line in the south tract.

Cleaning Small Debris After The Storm

 I went out this week after a heavy rainstorm--5 inches at my house a mile away--to see what had emerged from the sand.

It was, as I expected, mostly broken glass.

I found one iron chain and a few remnants of aluminum cans.

Fall wildflowers are mostly past their prime.

The next survey will occur in mid-winter to see this year's crop of Scrub Lupine.