January 2023 Moment in Nature

I have a new sunny place in my yard that is waiting to be transformed into a pollinator garden. A mature red maple was there but I removed it because it - a young tree when we got here - had gotten too big for the space. Like many other folks, I was busy and the space sat vacant. 

We know that nature won't let it stay that way and by late summer the area was sprouting with what I thought was a fine-textured sedge. This week, I walked over to the area and realized that sedge was actually poverty oatgrass (Danthonia spicata) which develops distinctive curled foliage in the winter.

Danthonia spicata with curled leaves

Poverty oatgrass spreading on vacant soil

I am happy to have this, although I'll probably move it around as I plant the area. Until then, its curly blades are my #momentinnature.