Tag: native plants
The First Wildflower of Spring is…Skunk Cabbage?
March 1, 2021March comes in like a lion, the old saw says, but the last thing any of us needs right now is for March to roar in this; after the winter we’ve been through, we’re all completely exhausted by snow and ice. I’ll take a heaping helping of lamb instead, please, thank you very much.
And right now I'll also take whatever sign of spring I can. Which explains why I ran outside last week when I heard the familiar honking of Canada geese overhead. I looked up, and there they were: two low-flying skeins of geese in beautiful V-formation flying…
Field Guide: Winter Understory Trees
January 6, 2016By Melissa Nase, Manager of Land Stewardship
With so many efforts dedicated to tracking the biggest or tallest members of our forest, I thought it was a worthy endeavor to dedicate some time to these smaller, perhaps lesser known, understory trees in our woods. While they will never be the biggest or tallest or most majestic, they deserve accolades of their own. Many produce fruit that are prized by birds and mammals, especially during these winter months. Others provide habitat and cover. And others are just simply beautiful trees, small in stature, but with intricate details that are much easier…
Field Guide: October Colors
October 29, 2015By Melissa Nase, Manager of Land Stewardship
Enjoy our October mobile field guide as you walk, hike, and play in the fall forests. See other Field Guide posts here.
Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) and Blue Wood Aster (Symphotrichum cordifolium)
The deep red foliage of the blueberry bush is a great contrast to the lighter, more delicate blue wood aster. Both of these plants have their own unique characteristics. Highbush blueberries produce edible fruit enjoyed by humans and birds and are a nice, sculptural addition to your garden. The blue wood asters provide a mat of tiny flowers throughout the fall season. They…
What’s blooming at the Schuylkill Center?
June 11, 2015By Melissa Nase, Manager of Land Stewardship
Welcome to our new mobile Field Guides! We'll regularly post guides about what's blooming, what animals you can see, and other interesting things to observe in the woods, meadows, and streams. These posts are designed to be easy to read on a phone, meaning you can take this mobile field guide out with you as you walk, hike, and play. See other Field Guide posts here.
Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipfera)
The most common tree you will see on the Schuylkill Center’s property, this tree has distinct yellow and orange flowers and leaves that look like…
Of Soil and Seeds
January 16, 2015By Melissa Nase, Manager of Land Stewardship
With ice on the ground and some remnants of snow lingering in the shadows, it is hard to believe the growing season at Schuylkill Center will begin in just a handful of weeks. For gardeners like me, these cold days are the perfect opportunity to leisurely browse the glossy, colorful seed catalogs and dream about what to add to the garden this year, the bounty of the harvest, and warm summer days spent among blooms. I hope to add some more shade-loving native plants to my back yard, and stave off the continual…
Fall of light
November 13, 2014By Anna Lehr Mueser, Public Relations Manager
This morning as I drove down the driveway to the Schuylkill Center, passing the large meadow to the north then the gentle slope of forest where the Pine Grove and Founders Grove stand, I realized the leaves are nearly gone.
Here and there a plume of yellow or red glows against the pale forest. These days I look into the woods to see colors, and instead, I see the fall of light. The trees stand empty, their beautiful forms exposed. A soft fall of light, visible deep in the woods, carries a hazy,…
Restoring Cattail Pond
November 3, 2014
By Melissa Nase, Manager of Land Stewardship
Cattail Pond sits in a serene, sunlit woodland opening at the edge of our forest, just a few quick steps outside our back door. It is a special place, nestled into one of the few areas on the property that is free from undulating topography, naturally protected by a steep slope uphill from it and surrounding trees. Taking all of this into consideration, it’s not surprising that there are also ruins of a barn near the pond, part of a former homestead and a reminder of the rich history of this land. (more…)
Botanical Weaving with WE THE WEEDS
October 30, 2014By LandLab Resident Artists Zya Levy and Kaitlin Pomerantz, WE THE WEEDS
For our Landlab Residency project, the process of its creation is of great importance. As we work towards the installation of a large-scale sculpture created from woven plant material in Spring 2015, we invite Schuylkill Center visitors to participate right now in creating the tapestry panels which will comprise it. In this way, the exploration of global plant migration, and the ecological and cultural roles of non-native plants, becomes a hands-on, engaging experience, with a cumulative, archival result. The following photos show some moments in the process-- from the…
The Biggest Day in 50 Years
September 17, 2014By Mike Weilbacher, Executive Director
This piece was originally published in the Roxborough Review on Thursday, September 10 in the column Natural Selections
Saturday, September 27 might just be the biggest day in the Schuylkill Center’s storied 50-year history. On that day, we’re offering the first bird seed sale of the year, the last native plant sale of the year, and launching the University of Nature, a full day of outdoor learning for adults. We’re beginning the day by presenting the ninth annual Henry Meigs Award for environmental leadership to Ann Fowler Rhoads, and ending the day by unveiling a new show in our…
What’s the bbuzzz?
June 6, 2014By LandLab Resident Artists Maggie Mills, B.H. Mills, and Marguerita Hagan
Colony Collapse Disorder
The LandLab installation by Marguerita Hagan, B.H. Mills, and Maggie Mills addresses colony collapse disorder and the devastating global loss of honeybees. At present in the United States alone, 1/3 of the honeybee population has been lost to this disorder. These mini, mighty pollinators make every third bite of food we take possible. Ironically, it is human behavior that is responsible for the honeybees’ catastrophic disappearance. Our installation provides a chemical free, native pollinator garden for the bee population on the grounds of the Schuylkill Center.…
