The New MnNPS Website

Check out the newly updated MnNPS Website if you haven’t already. It features some outstanding new photos of native plants, information on upcoming field trips, and other Society news. It will be updated as more information becomes available for our Annual Symposium, “The Prairie Coteau,” on March 31, 2007. What do you think about the website? Any comments or suggestions?

Maplewood Nature Center

Over the Thanksgiving weekend my two kids (Muira and Sawyer) and I made it over to Maplewood Nature Center to preview the plants before this weekend’s field trip. We were surprised to see that the New England asters were still in bloom right next to the nature center building as well as the common witchhazel shrub by the parking lot.

We made it around the large wetland complex and walked across the floating boardwalk where we got to see the first ice beginning to form on the water and lots of ducks feeding. Muira was quick to notice the large exposed roots of the water lilies as we made our way along the boardwalk. Sawyer was more interested in the thin sheets of ice that he would shatter after lifting them out of the water.

Spending the afternoon at the nature center was a great way to enjoy one of the last warm days of the year. Although the weather may be a little cooler this coming weekend, I hope to see several of you on Saturday for Winter Botany at Maplewood Nature Center with Scott Milburn and myself.

Winter Botany at Maplewood Nature Center

We have an upcoming field trip at Mapleweekd Nature Center on Saturday, December 2nd at 9:00 AM.

Join Scott Milburn (Botanist and MN NPS President) and Ken Arndt (Urban Forester and MN NPS Board Member) at Maplewood Nature Center for a morning of Winter Botany. We will begin the day starting at 9:00 AM with a brief lecture inside the nature center on winter botany and how to identify plants outside of the growing season. After that we will be going outside and exploring the trails around the nature center property to take a closer look at what grows around the lake and in the oak woodlands of Maplewood Nature Center.

Details and a map are available on the MnNPS website.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Minnesota Native Plant Society Blog! This blog will continue to be updated over the coming months. Please check back often. In the mean time, visit the MnNPS website at http://www.mnnps.org