The Contented Naturalist

This was the scene I arrived to at work several weeks ago. Snow overnight had glazed the unkempt meadow just outside our gates. My footsteps crunched and my breath fogged in the cold air as we got the park set up for the day. I paused briefly to snap this photo before continuing on my way to check the rest of our trails.

This meadow is so interesting to me; it’s been let grow wild without much management that I know of. Occasionally we have a volunteer project to remove some of the more invasive plants like wineberry. Generally it’s just left feral.

There are quite a few native plants in there that I would love to watch for their pollinator activity this summer. I remember ironweed and joe-pye weed blooming in the fall. There are also a few non-natives that still attract plenty of insect attention, like thistles and mullein. I know thistles can be problematic due to their aggressive nature, but they attract butterflies like crazy.

I chatted with a natural resources seasonal employee once about potentially mowing the meadow in the fall or early spring, to cut back things like sapling trees and wineberry that block light and resources from the more desireable native meadow plants. But that never came to fruition, I think their employment season ended soon after our conversation.

It’s not a priority area of the park anyway– just a personal interest of mine. It could be lovely, maybe another year we’ll have the resources to devote to it. That said, winter drapes a gorgeous veil of lace over the entire landscape– cultivated plants and feral weeds alike.

Where in nature have you found untamed beauty? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.