Last fall, a major migration of painted ladies came through. The wild asters behind the toolshed were their favorite hangout.
Close-up of blue-eyed grass, Sisyrinchium sp.
Last spring, the blue-eyed grasses were so abundant that meadows started to turn blue.
Blue-eyed grass is a highlight of the low meadow.
Masses of milkweed in this meadow provide plenty of habitat for Monarchs to lay eggs.
Milkweed blooms in early summer, giving off a heavenly honey scent in the heat of the afternoon.
This meadow is bordered at the top by a mowed hayfield, providing a finished edge.
Fields of goldenrods and asters are magnets for migrating monarchs in fall.
Reading the color patterns in the landscape is an important key to the underlying water flows. The brown patches of woolgrass indicate wetland soils.
This old cow pasture is now dominated by woolgrass in the wetter areas (in the foreground) and asters and goldenrods in the drier areas.
Goldenrods dominate this meadow in fall; the colorful leaves in the distance indicate the location of the bog.
Blue heart-leaved aster, Aster cordifolius, dominates the field in back of the vegetable garden.
Another wild patch of Aster cordifolius has been carefully protected from surrounding construction projects.
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