Thank you so much to everyone who helped out at the WFS on Saturday! We dead-headed perennials, pulled weeds, picked up litter, and swept swept swept the boardwalk. Also a huge thank you to the very generous anonymous donor who gave us money to buy plants this spring!
Take a stroll along the riverwalk this week to see the Daffodils (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) that are blooming along the Cut. Yes, I know they are non-native, but they are pretty nonetheless. Common Blue Violets (Viola soria) are also blooming. They are native and also the state flower for Illinois. You will also see Fig Buttercups (ficaria verna) blooming in the wooded area. They are also known as Lesser Celandine, which is not the same as Celandine Poppies. They are native to Europe and western Asia, and have become very invasive in the Midwest (and the WFS)! Yes, we are working to eradicate them.
Since we still have a lot of dead-heading and weeding to do before more of the spring ephemerals start to bloom, we will have work days on Saturdays, April 3 and April 10, starting at 9:00 am. On April 3rd, we will meet near the dam and work our way south. If you have them, please bring gloves, drinking water, clippers, weed diggers, eye protection and something to haul clippings in.
Unfortunately we will have to cancel the work day on Friday, April 9th, but if you would like to help out on your own sometime, we need dead-heading done in the part of the little prairie that is next to the Riverain parking lot.
Finally, thank you to the Plain Dirt Gardners who did a beautiful job with spring planings in the kaleidoscope!
Happy Spring!
Sarah
