Posted by Melody on Friday, Sep 15, 2017
If you are wondering why the leaves are changing colors early this year--yes, indeed: it's because of drought.* According to the U.S. drought monitor, all of Johnson County is colored "abnormally dry" on its Iowa map. This means you'll have to grab your favorite flora identification books ASAP if you want to go on some lovely, tree and shrub-identifying fall hikes.
The Bur Oak guides are my favorite. The full-page photos make for some easy matching of the leaves you see in person with the leaves you see on the page. Two I can't recommend highly enough are Forest and Shade Trees of Iowa and Shrubs and Vines of Iowa. They will teach you the difference between red and white mulberry.
Can't make it to the library? The Iowa DOT has a 54-page PDF Guide to Common Trees & Shrubs, and the Iowa State University Forestry Extension has an Interactive Tree Identification tool you can play around with.
Happy hiking!
*The Des Moines Register reported on this effect a couple of days ago.
I really ate this audiobook up. It is one of those that inspired me do my chores more thoroughly just so I could keep listening. I enjoyed the debates about love marriages versus arranged marriages that Southeast Asian immigrant families must navigate, as well as the love-hate-love-love enemies to lovers trope. The characters were all likeable, and I found myself salivating at the aloo parathas our heroine has for breakfast. Why doesn't IHOP or Denny's offer these on their menu? I'd be there daily. Heads up that there are some profanity and steamy love scenes, if that's not your thing. The female narrator is Soneela Nankani, who also performs in Sonali Dev's Jane Austen-inspired The Rajes series. Worth the listen! -Melody