It has been almost been a month since we had the prescribed burn here at Gwynedd. The native warm season grasses are just starting to regenerate as the soil temperatures start to increase with the warming weather.
Almost all of the undesired plants have been killed by the fire. The one lone invasive plant that survived the fire--and in fact is benefited by it--is the Canada Thistle. Thistle hadn't been growing in the meadow prior to the burn, although its seeds had been lying dormant in the soil from many years before, unable to grow due to the thick matte of grasses over them. By burning away the grasses, we've released these seeds to sprout. Even with the growth of the the thistle, though, the burn has done more good than harm. Only a few small patches of the thistle are growing, and all of the other invasives are gone, so overall we need less herbicide to control the invasives in the meadow.
In these photos you can see the warm seasons regenerating. You can also see the oriental bittersweet has not come back from such intense heat from the fire.