Ken Lassman
Ironweed is a sturdy perennial that attracts butterflies and other pollinators this time of year. The purple blossoms are like a daisy without the “petals” and supposedly provide a brief, sweet chew.
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
Zoë Leos, who is in her second year working as a camp counselor at Prairie Park Nature Center, got emotional as she asked Lawrence City Commissioners not to take their budget problems out on the kids who come to camp.
Ken Lassman
Pollinators and their predators are very busy these days: flies, moths, butterflies, beetles, as well as spiders, wasps and other predators. Watch a clump of flowers to catch the unfolding drama.
Ken Lassman
This spray of butterfly milkweed blossoms feeds pollinators who help it produce seed-filled milkweed pods, which open up and are carried away in the wind to produce new plants and feed new butterflies.
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
Call it a pollinator’s delight, a butterfly haven, a nectar buffet. This Monarch Waystation is the pride of longtime Lawrence gardeners Dena Podrebarac and Heidi Rios.
Lawrence’s Sustainability Advisory Board voted unanimously today to approve an ordinance banning establishments from using single-use plastic bags. The ordinance will go on to the city commission for consideration.
The city’s Sustainability Advisory Board on Thursday will hold a special meeting to discuss a draft ordinance that would prohibit establishments from providing or selling single-use disposable plastic bags.
Ken Lassman
A hummingbird moth (top left) is working over these blooming purple prairie clovers. Pollinators will only get more active as summer progresses and nectar flow continues to increase.
Ken Lassman
This rattlesnake master emerging seedhead is something to behold. Go out on the prairie and find one for yourself!
Ken Lassman
When they first emerge, these Echinacea pallida ray flowers on the edge of the seed disk shoot skyward, then flatten out, finally relaxing enough to point down to the ground or even curve under toward the stalk.
