The Clay County Trailblazers 1689 took first place in the senior team division at the State Wildlife Habitat Education Program competition, held April 11 at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory in Milford. Team members include Andrew Baker, Abigail Roush, David Roush and Hannah Roush...

There are several options for creating a lawn using turf-like alternatives to the traditional grasses grown in lawns. In Iowa, the most commonly grown turfgrasses are Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, and fine fescues.  These cool-season grasses require many inputs to keep them healthy and attractive.  Additionally, they typically go dormant for part of the summer, leaving the lawn brown in July and August unless regularly irrigated.  Several plants that look much like the turfgrasses we are familiar with but require fewer inputs are available.  Most of these turfgrass alternatives can be minimally mowed or, in some cases, not mowed at all...

The recent announcement of monarch overwintering numbers for the 2025-26 season shows a population increase for the second year in a row. This year, monarchs occupied 7.24 acres (2.93 hectares) at their overwintering sites in Mexico. These numbers, released by the World Wildlife Fund and Mexico’s National Commission of Protected Natural Areas, reflect a 64% increase from last year’s 4.42 acres (1.79 hectares).