The Field Studies in Conservation Biology class added to the pollinator meadow by filling in some gaps in our Phase 1 area by planting our greenhouse grown native species. We planted these in the early evening of May 30th and watered them regularly for the next 10 days. Photos by Josh Kouri, teaching assistant
The pollinator meadow is thriving in this usually wet spring and early summer. I can’t say if we would have had as much success with seed germination or perennial plant growth without the abundant rain we have received this season. During the two week period May 28-June 7, I observed over 17 butterfly species in … More Pollinator Meadow – early summer
Phase 1 of the pollinator meadow that we planted with perennials during the summer of 2018 was filled with leaves that needed to be raked in the early spring. This revealed a lot of bare dirt that is good for ground nesting bees and annual seeds to sprout. Not much was available in this section … More Spring in the Pollinator Meadow – April-May 2019
Last year was my first year attempting to start native plant indoors from seed. I learned a little and seem to be having more success this year. We have transplanted at least 1000 pollinator plants into the greenhouse from the lab where they germinated. We are growing several species of milkweed which we purchased from … More Adventures in Greenhouse Growing
Mid-December we held a field day to collect and plant seeds in the second phase of our pollinator meadow at the OU Biological Station at Lake Texoma. Students and private landowners helped to gather seeds from a nearby remnant prairie and spread them in a newly solarized patch of ground.
Last week I had the privilege to attend the Tribal Alliance for Pollinators workshop in northeast Oklahoma. TAP provides training and technical support for tribes throughout North America that want to conserve and restore grassland ecosystems in order to help threatened pollinators and to preserve the native plants that serve as the foundation for Indigenous … More Inspiration for Pollinators
BioBlitz! weekend is my most favorite, stressful, and fun work days of the year. My favorite thing is showing people the amazing organisms that live right hear in Oklahoma. Our featured organism this year, and star of this year’s event shirt, was the American Burying Beetle – a federally protected endangered species. I was immensely … More BioBlitz! Oklahoma 2018
The pollinator meadow at the OU Biological Station, Lake Texoma was planted by student of my Field Studies in Conservation Biology class during the hottest two weeks of the summer! Staff and volunteers of the BioStation continued to water the plants during August. And may of the plants survived! We even had pollinators! The rains … More Progress of the Pollinator Meadow
We have begun preparing the area of the pollinator meadow at the OU Biological Station! Last week we placed clear plastic over the weedy patch of lawn near the office at the BioStation. We are solarizing the area with plastic sheeting to kill lawn grass, weeds, and weed seeds in the soil. The plastic sheeting … More Solar Energy
Chloe Paden, undergraduate research assistant, and I have been planting a bunch of germinating milkweeds the past few days. We have at least 1000 tiny plants of five species (Asclepius speciosa, A. viridis, A. asperula, A. tuberosa, and A. syriaca) growing in our greenhouses. Chloe will be writing up the results of the germination trials – we used … More 1000+ Milkweeds!
Priscilla H. C. Crawford 