Back To School and the Heat Breaks

It's late summer, and school is about to start. There are still things blooming on Cave Bluff, including what I call the "Back-To-School Plant", White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima). It's a native that likes the partial shade and loamy soil. It always bloomed right around when our kids started school.

You'll also see lots of Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera), especially in the prairie areas. The pollinators are really going after these, getting that last nectar before frost comes.

Other bloomers include False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides), lots of species of Goldenrod, and grasses like Indiangrass, Little and Big Bluestem

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The heat and humidity that has lasted all summer finally broke, and that means I can get back in the woods to work. Heat doesn't agree with me after living in Alaska for a decade. Terri has been out working in that heat all summer, clearing the understory of invasives and other brush, and you will probably notice how open it is in many areas from her hard work.

I've started girdling locust trees, which is about the only effective way we've found to get rid of them. You cut a line all around the lower bark, and spray with cut with herbicide. If you don't do this, you end up with 100 trees sprouts after you cut one. Long term goal is to get rid of as many as we can, but there are hundreds.

We've also lost quite a few white and black oaks this summer, probably a combination of oak wilt and two-lined chestnut borer, both natural processes, but it's sad to see mature trees die in the span of a few weeks. There is a lot of regeneration, but our grandkids will enjoy them.

This all means there will be a lot of dead trees around. The ones near the trails we will probably take down for firewood, the ones in remote areas we'll leave as snags for the woodpeckers and owls.

The nice weather also means that hiking is great right now, so get out there!

• Tim