How Tall Is a Redwood Tree?

It can be hard to understand the true size of a California coast redwood tree (Sequoia sempervirens) until you measure it out. 

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That is exactly what school children from the Santa Barbara Charter School have done at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden as part of a temporary fiber arts installation. 

See more of the fiber arts in the garden.

Walk the length of the world's tallest tree: "Hyperion" a 379 ft California coast redwood tree.

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden's redwoods are only 79-90 years old. They are still babies.

More Earth Minutes with:
California native plants
Morning in a Habitat Garden
Redwoods State & National Parks
Sequoia National Park - More than big trees 
Yucca Blooms on Angeles Crest Hwy

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How Do Trees Dream?

In vivid color.

Take a walk through the dreams of trees and plants as envisioned at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Look for the "rain catcher."

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fiber sculpture California poppy

"Dormant Dreams" is a temporary fiber arts installation by Yarn Blaster Babes and their collaborators at the Santa Barbara Fiber Arts Guild and students from Santa Barbara Charter School.

Especially in the quiet rain, you could hear the trees dreaming.

More Earth Minutes with CA native plants:

CA Native Plants with Leaves to Fight Drought

Morning in a Habitat Garden

CA Locations for Hiking

More Earth Minutes with Art:
Malibu Legacy Park
Walk to the Getty Center 
Temple of Aphrodite

Visit Weekly for a new Earth Minute. 

Leaves on CA Native Plants Fight Drought

San Nicolas Island buckwheat

Despite the drought, you can still have green landscaping in California if you go native. Take a minute and appreciate the variety of leaves among our native plants.

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These natives are green and healthy even at the end of a dry summer. 

CA coast redwood

How do they do it?  Adaptations to their leaves help them avoid moisture loss. 

Some leaves are fuzzy with tiny filaments that help break of the sun's pounding rays. A velvety leaf also reduces air movement across the surface, thereby reducing transpiration of moisture.

Waxy leaves help seal in moisture, also reducing transpiration. 

San Nicolas Island chamise

Narrow leaves reduce surface area exposed to the sun. Some plants like the fairy duster (Calliandra) respond to direct sunlight by closing up their leaves to further reduce exposure. When the sun is less severe, the narrow leaves unfurl and open wide.

sword fern

Many California native plants have evolved with combinations of these adaptations making them successful drought survivors and good choices for planting in yards.

Here is a list of the plants as they appear in the video:

• hollyleaf cherry (Prunus ilicifolia ilicifolia) more on CA native cherry
• ceanothus (Ceanothus variety of species) flowers in the spring
• white sage (Salvia apiana)
• San Nicolas Island buckwheat (Eriogonum grande timorum)
• manzanita (Arctostaphylos variety of species)
• hollyleaf cherry (Prunus ilicifolia ilicifolia) 
• coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia)
• toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) more on toyon
• lemonadeberry (Rhus integrifolia)
• penstemon (Penstemon variety of species)
• prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica)
• San Nicolas Island chamise (Adenostoma fasciculaton 'Nicolas') See more of San Nicolas Island
• pink fairduster (Calliandra eriophylla)
• sword fern (Polystichium munitum)
• CA coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
• giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
• Santa Rosa Island torrey pine (Pinus torreyana insularis)
• western sycamore (Platanus racemosa)
• mallow (Sphaeralcea variety of species)

See how native plants create habitat in a backyard

For more California Native plants see:
Visit Malibu Legacy Park - Hidden Gardens of L.A. #2
Visit Pierce College Botanical Garden - Hidden Gardens of L.A. #3
Visit Conejo Valley Botanical Garden - Hidden Gardens of L.A. #4

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Great Horned Owl Takes Shelter

Jarrett Prairie Reserve, Byron Illinois

Wind thunders across the North American prairie. During the night, tornado warnings kept everyone on edge. The next morning the wind still had a strong hand, but it was a fraction of what it had been. The perfect time to go for a walk and experience an Earth Minute.

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Can you spot the camouflaged owl in the tree?

I came across a great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) sheltering from the stormy weather.

It had its back to me the whole time.

The North American tall grass prairie is a vanishing habitat. Jarrett Prairie Reserve offers a wonderful opportunity to experience tall grass prairie, even the butterflies of Illinois.

Find other natural areas to experience wildlife in California and around the world.

Where will you find your Earth Minute? 

Visit TheEarthMinute.com weekly for a new minute of discovery.

Butterflies in Illinois

Red Admiral butterfly

Discover the variety of butterflies on an Illinois summer day. 

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Most of these delicate beauties were all seen on one multi-trunked tree in the moments following a summer rain shower at White Pines Forest State Park.

They have great names:

• Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis)
• Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma)
• Tawny Emperor (Asterocampa clyton)
• Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
• Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax)

Atlantis fritillary

The Atlantis fritillary (Speyeria atlantis) and Monarch (Danaus plexippus) are more grassland butterflies and were spotted in the tall grass prairie. Experience Jarrett Prairie Reserve in Byron, IL. 

Hear more midwestern insects Train Crossing in Illinois - Listen to August.

See more Earth Minutes with insects (from Australian green tree ants to Valley Carpenter bees)

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Dawn on the Illinois Prairie - Jarrett Prairie Center

big bluestem grass and St. Catherine's lace

When you think of prairie do you think of giant grass taller than a human? 

Flowers reaching up above your head?

You should.

Take a dawn stroll through the Illinois tallgrass prairie.

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even the pollen on big bluestem grass (Andropogon gerardi) is huge

Tallgrass prairie once stretched across North America's northern, central plains. But this land of the bison also offered prime agricultural soil. Most of our tallgrass prairie disappeared under a plow over the last 200 years.

Fortunately, a number of farm families are preserving areas of tallgrass prairie, sections that were never plowed or only slightly used for agriculture. Some individuals are passing on this heritage by willing parcels of land to conservation groups. 

The Jarrett Prairie Reserve and Center in Byron, Illinois, is a shining example of preservation, restoration, and conservation. Here you can experience a taste of tall grass. Listen to it whisper in the breeze and watch it come to life with the animal species that have returned to this oasis of habitat.

red-headed woodpecker in dawn light

On my morning bird-watching hike, I saw:
Canada geese
turkey vulture
Cooper's hawks
bald eagle (on the Rock River)
ruby-throated hummingbird
northern flicker
olive-sided flycatcher
eastern phoebe
warbling vireo
American crow
barn swallow
house wren
blue-gray gnatcatcher
American robin
gray catbird
European starling
cedar waxwing
chipping sparrow
field sparrow
northern cardinal
indigo bunting
red-winged blackbird
house fince
American goldfinch

Hear sounds of Illinois
More locations to see wildlife
Wildflowers of southern CA; Santa Cruz Island, CA;  Redwoods National Park, CA; Wyoming.

Where will you find your Earth Minute 

this week?

Water for Hot Summer Bees

Provide Backyard Water for Hot Summer Bees!

A birdbath is an important stopover place 
for water-stressed birds and bees.

In dry Southern California, fresh water is at a premium. 

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Listen to the bees thank you for the water! 
 

 

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