Bird & Nature Adventures | Edna Taylor

Prairie Seed Collection ~ Join Master Naturalist Alex Singer for a free family friendly guided walk to see and learn about seed dispersal strategies of prairie plants.  Anyone can help start native wildflower seeds and plant them for birds, butterflies, and bees! What do you look for when collecting seeds?  How can you start a native wildflower garden in your yard? What do Madison ordinances say about native plantings? Start with something simple like Milkweed and Coneflowers that are easy to identify and great for Butterflies!  Look for a Milkweed pod along the path that is turning brown. Open it to reveal hundreds of seeds inside, each attached to a white fluffy parachute plume that can carry it on the wind to a new location where it might take root. Help Mother Nature along by taking some seeds to a nearby unmowed natural area or corner of your yard and use your heel to scrape and stomp some native seeds into the soil. Most native prairie seeds do not have to be buried very deep. They need to be somewhat exposed and freeze over winter to germinate. The new shoots get started and take root in the Spring.

Join a naturalist for an easy family-friendly walk from Aldo Leopold Nature Center into beautiful Edna Taylor Conservation Park and enjoy a bit of nature education along the way. Walk will begin at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center, 330 Femrite Drive. Meet outside at the Children's Shack. Co-sponsored by Madison Parks, Badgerland Bird Alliance, and Aldo Leopold Nature Center . No registration is required. No pets are allowed.

See Bird & Nature Adventures for other free nature events.