You probably have noticed the orange tags on many trees in the woods.  For the most part these are the trees that have been planted over the years.  In addition, some tags are on trees that flower in the spring, mostly cherry and apple. 

Our tree count yielded many positive results.  For example, there are 21 serviceberry trees along S Maple.  When these were planted they were the size of soda straws. Serviceberries provide ripe berries early in the summer so are a good source of food for young birds. 

Our native flowers are doing well.  We continue to plant along S Maple and in the meadow but we no longer have to water the natives that were planted in previous years. We continue to experiment with varieties and locations.  Please don't pick the flowers. They  are for us to enjoy and for the insects and birds to use.  In the meadow many have identification tags.

We tried something new with our native plants and it seems to have been successful.  We always collect seeds and then scatter them back into the woods.  But in the fall of 2017 we planted some of these seeds into gardens at home.  Many sprouted in the spring of 2018 and were transplanted into large pots. By the fall of 2018 we were able to plant large, healthy plants back into the woods.  We will watch for them this spring.  We saved a lot of money growing them ourselves.