Canandaigua Botanical Society walk at Burroughs Audubon Nature Sanctuary,

Saturday, July 22, 2023; 10 AM,

301 Railroad Mills Road, Victor, NY.  

The Burroughs Audubon Nature Club (BANC) is an organization of hikers, birdwatchers, butterfly, wildflower, and nature lovers who are dedicated to promoting the natural sciences, ecology, and conservation through regular programs and field trips.

On Saturday, July 22 we will meet at the Burroughs Audubon Nature Club, adjacent to Irondequoit Creek, to enjoy a walk through the 30-acre nature sanctuary with trails and a clubhouse. Discover the flora and fauna of midsummer and connect with friends.  You may find yourself joining both organizations sharing similar interests and a wide variety of programs.

Feel free to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy after the walk and before heading out for the afternoon.

 

Early Summer happenings you may be interested in...

 

*Huckleberry Bog    (more strenuous trail with .83 mile uphill to get to the 3 mile bog trail)

 This is a five mile hike from Bean Station Road south of Prattsburg, NY.  It's a wonderful hike throughout the year but now is the time to visit the pink lady slippers, gay-wings, may apples, sarsaparilla, pink azalea, and late spring/early summer plants.

*Ontario County Historical Society  (free admission year round)

There are several exhibits at the OCHS, 53 North Main Street, Canandaigua, NY.

Please be sure to get there before June 23 to see:

*Burning Springs Open Garden weekends

Saturdays and Sundays May 27 & 28, June 3 & 4

View the burning spring that Senecas revered and showed to French explorers in 1669, walk up the gully to a scenic waterfall and tour the spring-blooming gardens. The private property's owner, who allows access only during this annual event, will give a talk on the site's history at 2 p.m. on each of the four days the site is open.

 *Manchester Gateway Trail (wide flat trail, fine for wheelchairs, strollers, bikes, walking, and leashed pets)

This is the time of year that Leucojum (summer snowflake) are blooming.  A native of Europe has made it's way to the Eastern USA and can be found on the south end of the Manchester Gateway Trail near Water Street.   (As of May 27 the summer snowflakes are spent.  Must be the warmth of April brought them out early this year.)

 * Click on bold leads for more information.

Lesser Celandine removal at Mertensia Park

 Thanks to Emily for creating this flyer for our lesser celandine dig on Thursday, May 18 at 3:30 PM

May 19, 2023:  Reporting back that our Invasive Lesser Celandine dig was a success!

Emily and Laura met at Mertensia Park and got right to work flagging, digging, and bagging as much lesser celandine as they saw.  They certainly made a positive impact on removing most of the lesser celandine and look forward to being joined by others to dig again in March or April of 2024 before the bluebells bloom.

Patch of lesser celandine flagged for removal

pink marked the lesser celandine

Best efforts were made to remove as much of the plants with bulblets and tubers as possible 

Full bags ready to move to Rotary sign for pick up

Job well done!

Emily and Laura with the 7 garbage bags full of lesser celandine.

Thanks to the Town of Farmington for picking up the bagged lesser celandine.

Tree Identification Walk at Wesley Hill

 The Finger Lakes Land Trust will be leading a tree identification walk at Wesley Hill Nature Preserve on Saturday, June 10th at 10 AM.  Registration is required.  

Ontario Pathways walk; June 3, 2023

 Saturday, June 3, 2023    10 AM Ontario Pathways, County Fairgrounds on CR 10

     We will be helping to celebrate the Ontario Pathways 30th Anniversary as we enjoy the newly installed Eagle project this National Trails Day.  Please park at the Ontario County fairgrounds on CR 10.  We will meet on the trail to the west side of CR 10.  Our hope is to have Eagle Scout, Rhianna Yates walking with us!  

click here for Ontario Pathways website

 

Early bloom and change of plans?

This post was made on the morning of Friday, April 28, 2023.

The Canandaigua City Tree City USA National Arbor Day tree planting is going to happen at 1 PM on the city pier.  Please plan to attend and pick up a free NYS DEC Arbor Day poster.

Tomorrow, Saturday, April 29th the weather forecast is calling for rain and temperatures in the high forties.  We will be meeting at the parking lot behind the Fishers Fire Station at 10 AM to enjoy the spring ephemeral plants rain or shine!

Just in case you prefer to remain on the dry side, you may want to consider checking out our favorite Plantman.  Dr. Bruce Gilman has invited us to his presentation at 10 AM, Saturday, April 29 at the Bristol Springs Grange Hall, 6457 State Route 64, Naples NY

After the IceAge:The Return of Plant Life to the Bristol Hills

How did plant life develop in our region over the last 12,000 years, since the Great Ice Age? In his third and final talk in a series that started with the glaciers’ effects on our landscape and soils, Dr. Bruce Gilman tells how certain native plants thrived in those soils. He then will then take us on a virtual tour of our woodland habitats today featuring spring wildflowers.

 

Also happening tomorrow is the "Brown Birds" reception at the Ontario County Historical Society from 1-3 PM.  Not to worry, it looks like you can visit OCHS to see the "For The Birds" exhibit (which includes over fifty species of hand carved wooden birds!) until June 23.

 

 

Bluebells are blooming now!

 

We are cancelling our bluebells walk at Mertensia Park on Saturday, May 13th as it may be too late to enjoy the carpet of blue which has already begun to bloom.  SO, we will meet at Mertensia Park, Saturday, May 6th at 10am to enjoy the bluebells in full bloom. 

 

INVASIVE SPECIES

An invasive species is any species—plant, animal, fungus, microorganism—that is not native to a region and that is likely to cause harm to the environment, economy, or public health. They can be found on the land, in the water, or even in our backyards. Invasive species compete with native plants and animals for space, nutrients, and/or water. Once an infestation is established, invasive species damage forests, destroy wildlife habitat, take over fields and wetlands, dominate waterways, ruin crops, and cause human health problems.

For more information please check out the Finger Lakes PRISM (Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management) 

And thanks to the Adirondack Botanical Society for sharing this ADK Invasive Species Fact Sheet  (which are similar to the Finger Lakes). 

 LESSER CELANDINE and GARLIC MUSTARD

One of our members brought the infestation of lesser celandine at Mertensia Park to our attention.  Lesser celandine is often mistaken for our native marsh marigold.  Lesser celandine is now growing at Mertensia Park where we had seen hundreds of bluebells in past years.  Helping to eradicate the lesser celandine now may help to restore the patches of bluebells in the future.  These photos were taken on April 29, 2023.

Yellow rings indicates lesser celandine (where we saw bluebells in past years)

lesser celandine invasive which needs to be dug out with tubers - do not compost!

looking south from the bridge at Mertensia Park where bluebells have grown in past years

We will be meeting at Mertensia Park on Thursday, May 18th at 3:30 PM to dig as much lesser celandine as possible.  PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING US!! Let us know you are planning to help by sending us an email to canandaiguabotanical@gmail.com.

     Also a growing concern at Mertesia is the increase of garlic mustard over the years.  This could/should be pulled out and removed/bagged, preferably before it seeds.

Spring Ephemerals

 Laura Ouimette took a stroll through Fishers Park on April 14, 2023.  Here's some of what she saw:

Wild Geranium

Marsh Marigold

Marsh Marigold and skunk cabbage

Partridge berry

Colt's foot

Trout Lily, yellow adder's tongue

skunk cabbage and trout lily

Angelica?  will check back in a few weeks

blood root

blood root

lots of skunk cabbage

skunk cabbage bloom

English daisy

And then a quick stop at Mertensia Park to check on the White adder's tongue / trout lily

And some NY Flora plates:

Pussytoes seen at Burroughs Audubon Nature Club on Saturday, April 29, 2023:

Also, lots of Jeffersonian Twinleaf and Mayapples!