All posts by GVMEcology Admin

Solar Panels in GVM

Articles, Green Living

Spring 2009 Glacier Viewpoint article by Linda Bell: GVM is slowly going “green” – is now a good time to harness the sun as well? As spring arrives and summer heat is just around the corner, it is hard to imagine those cold days of December when homeowners were hostage to rising fuel costs – whether for propane, electricity, pellets, or snow-covered fire wood.

Jim Paulson from Solargreen
Jim Paulson, Solargreen

Have you noticed that some GVM residents have already installed solar panels to harness our ever-present winter sun? They might be betting on fuel costs continuing to rise, being in their homes long enough to see a substantial monetary gain for their forethought, or having something already installed a prospective homebuyer will jump at. What are the options? A group of interested GVM homeowners met in March with a representative of a Denver based solar energy company to get first-hand information on products that could be easily retrofitted or installed on new construction. Continue reading Solar Panels in GVM →

Riddle Lake Work Day

Noxious Weeds, Plant List, Work Days

Last Saturday, 5/16/09, Ellen, Harry, Judy and Linda B. met at Riddle Lake to remove musk thistle rosettes and view a patch of Mountain Sagebrush Linda had spotted on the south slope above the lake. Jim Erdman joined us to view the sagebrush and wildflowers. Using shovels, weed tools, and a crowbar, we dug out ~500 musk thistle rosettes, which have a distinctive white outline around their leaves.

May Work Weekend

Hiking Trails, Noxious Weeds, Work Days

Our Ecology Work Day has morphed into a Work Weekend!
Saturday 5/16 9:00am @ Riddle Lake, (located 1/2 mile in from Gate 1). We will work on musk thistle and view mountain sagebrush (see Linda B’s email below). So far it looks like Harry, Judy, Linda B., Jim, and Ellen plan to be there.
Sunday 5/17 9:00am @ Crellin Lake We will work on Hiking Trails maintenance. So far it looks like Casey, Jeff, Odell, and Peggy plan to be there.

Continue reading May Work Weekend →

May Wildflowers

Plant List, Wildflowers

May flowers seen in GVM, please email us your sightings.

Blue-eyed Mary
Blue-eyed Mary

5/31/09 Jim emailed: “spotted another even more diminutive annual called, appropriately, Blue-eyed Mary or Hunchback Flower (Collinsia parviflora). I knew it from some work I did as the taxonomist on a multi-agency, post-fire study a few summers back at the Sheldon National Wildlife Area in the northwestern corner of NV. Only one species in the genus, parviflora means small-flowered; but a beautiful one it is. Weber & Wittmann write: “Very common but inconspicuous and delicate annual, blossoming very early at low altitudes. . . . Leaves usually strongly purplish-tinged. The hump-backed corolla is distinctive.”

Madwort
Madwort

5/31/09 Jim emailed: Madwort (Asperugo procumbens). I spotted this amongst other weeds as I was climbing my stairs to the house; the tiny purple flowers catching my eye. My immediate thought was a borage. From Weber & Whitman: “The name borage comes from a Middle Latin source, burra, meaning rough hair or wool, just as the modern word, bur.”  One of the few exceptions to having very stiff hairs on the stems and leaves, our bluebells (Mertensia lanceolata) now in full bloom. As for this madwort, Weber & Whitman state: “Alien on disturbed ground at the base of the Front Range. The enlarged and flat-open calyx becomes conspicuous after the flowers wither, and it is provided with hooked bristles. An unmistakable plant.”

Tufted evening primrose
Tufted evening primrose

5/27/09 Ellen sent: Tufted Evening Primrose (Oenothera caespitosa). We have three plants blooming our “back yard.”

 

 

Continue reading May Wildflowers →