Author Archives: Chris Helzer

Unknown's avatar

About Chris Helzer

Chris Helzer is Director of Science and Stewardship for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska, where he conducts research and supervises the Conservancy’s preserve stewardship program. He also helps develop, test, and share prairie management and restoration strategies. Chris is also dedicated to raising awareness about the value of prairies through his photography, writing and presentations. He is the author of The Prairie Ecologist blog, and two books: The Ecology and Management of Prairies and Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter. He is also a frequent contributor to NEBRASKAland magazine and other publications. Chris and his family live in Aurora, Nebraska.

What’s This Flower?

Posted on by
16

It’s been a while since we’ve done a plant identification quiz, so let’s see how you do.  Can you identify this common prairie flower?  It is found throughout the eastern half of the United States.  While it has a beautiful flower, this plant is rarely recognized for that trait.  Many ranchers in Nebraska would love to get rid of it because they think it reduces the amount of livestock forage in native pastures.  I’m skeptical that its impact is significant in most cases.  Regardless, it’s been mowed and sprayed for years but still persists, which is fortunate since its fruits/seeds are highly sought after by wildlife.

ENPO140714_D017

What do you think?  Put your answers in the comments section below (if you can’t see the comments section, click on the title of this post and then try again).  400 points to the first person to correctly identify it.

I’ll post the answer tomorrow, along with some more information on the species.

 

New Date! – Next Platte River Prairies Field Day is August 27, 2014

Posted on by
5

Our next Field Day will be on August 27 – – NOT August 29, 2014.  It was pointed out to me by several people that it might be a bad idea to schedule a field day on the Friday of Labor Day weekend.  My only excuse is that on my paper calendar (yes, I still use paper) I couldn’t see ahead to the next week to see that Monday was Labor Day.  Plus, I just didn’t think about it.

So, please consider joining us in the Platte River Prairies on Wednesday AUGUST 27 for a day of hiking, natural history, and prairie management and restoration discussion!

Late August is a great time to visit the Platte River Prairies - the grasslands are loaded with yellows and golds, accented with pinks and whites, and rich with texture.

Late August is a great time to visit the Platte River Prairies – the grasslands are loaded with yellows and golds, accented with pinks and whites, and rich with texture.

The agenda is under construction, but I’ll post it soon.  In the meantime, please make sure you the put the right date (AUGUST 27) on your calendar – paper or digital.  We’ll have a full day of events and activities, and you can stop by for some or all of them.

See you then!

(Did I mention that the date has changed to August 27?  That’s a Wednesday, not a Friday)