The Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area (aka – The RTA) is the City’s newest conservation area. We dedicated it in 2005. It is located in the City’s far southwest corner, located on the bluff above the Minnesota River Valley, right on our border with Chanhassen.
Photographer Todd Nordquist of Eden Prairie and amateur botanist Sean Jergens, board member at the Minnesota Native Plant Society, led a group of Eden Prairie residents on a walking tour of Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area, Saturday April 21st. The event was sponsored by Writers Rising Up and the Elizabeth Fries Ellet Interpretive Trail.
They identified and cataloged spring ephemeral wildflowers, which bloom a short time before leaves appear on trees and foliage blocks sunlight from the forest floor. The March cold spell seems to have slowed down the emergence of wildflowers this spring, but the group was able to discover of several species in bloom. They identified hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), and wild ginger (Asarum canadensis) in full bloom. The new foliage of ferns, called “fiddle heads,” were just beginning to unfurl. In the prairie they found a patch of prairie smoke (Geum triflorum) just beginning to bloom. All of the participants looked forward to returning to the site throughout the seasons to see what they might discover next.
Photo Left: Roxanne Aase and Todd Norquist of Eden Prairie.
Photo Right: Prairie Smoke by Todd Norquist of Eden Prairie
There are some interesting upcoming events scheduled at the RTA:
June 23- Saturday; 10 to Noon -Yako Myers, Ojibwa Herbalist -Plant Uses of the Native Indians: Workshop and Excursion- Yako teaches at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. $15.00 per person-
September, 9 Sunday; 1 to 3pm – Nature’s Seed Mechanism: Fruits and Seeds- -Types of fruits, dry and fleshy; dispersal methods; flower structure/MN Landscape Arboretum Instructor, Shirley Mah Kooyman -$20.00 per person-
October 6, Saturday, 2007; 8 to Noon- Local Wilderness Writing Workshop- Don Scheese- Mountains of Memory, Author, Professor Gustavus Adolphus
$30.00 per-person-
Note: Fees are paid directly to instructors for travel time and instruction and can be paid the day of the event. Families or groups who wish to participate need only pay a one person fee per family.
Come out and enjoy the RTA.
For more information about upcoming events go to:
efeinterpretivetrail@comcast.net
