The cover of Iowa Nature Year 2027

Guides Iowa

Iowa Nature Year 2027

Everything Birch Compass knows about a year of nature in one state — the book, the posters, the sky calendar, the life list, and a weekly note through 2027.

  • The full year as a book — twelve chapters, every zone's garden notes
  • A week-by-week layer: 52 entries, not 12
  • Four printable posters, at letter size and 18x24
  • The 2027 sky calendar for your latitude
  • A life list built to last three seasons

$34.00one-time

Instant download · yours to keep, with no account and no renewal · full refund within 30 days

A look inside

What the Iowa pages actually look like

Download a two-page sample — real pages from the Iowa edition, not a mock-up.

From the Iowa edition

Some of what is actually in it

The garden chapters carry 51 native species for Iowa, each with its bloom window and zone timing. Among them:

  • Purple Coneflower
  • Black-Eyed Susan
  • Butterfly Weed
  • Common Milkweed
  • Swamp Milkweed
  • Wild Bergamot
  • New England Aster
  • Aromatic Aster
  • Showy Goldenrod
  • Stiff Goldenrod
  • Wild Columbine
  • Cardinal Flower

How the Iowa year breaks down

Counted, not claimed

Something in the Iowa list is in bloom from March through November, and June is the peak — 24 of the 51 species are flowering then.

17 of them are caterpillar host plants and 20 support specialist bees — the ones that do the most work in Iowa yards.

In the box

Exactly what you receive

The book53 pages, twelve chapters — one per month of the Iowa year
Sky calendar5 pages, computed for Iowa's latitude, dated to 2027
Printable posters8 files — four designs, each at letter size and 18×24 inches
Life list1 page with first-sighting columns for 2027, 2028 and 2029
Weekly noteOne short Iowa email a week through 2027, from this same data
FilesEleven in all, on one Iowa library page — each downloadable on its own
FormatPDF, laid out for both Letter and A4
DeliveryAn instant download link, plus a link you can re-open for 72 hours
AccessYours to keep — no expiry, no account, no subscription
RefundsFull refund within 30 days, no questions

How it works

From checkout to the field

  1. Buy it

    Checkout takes a card and an email address — no account to create.

  2. Open it straight away

    The download link appears immediately and the Iowa files are yours to keep.

  3. Use it through the year

    Every week through 2027 a short Iowa note arrives — what to look for in the days ahead, from the same data.

Free and paid, side by side

The Iowa pages here stay free. Here is what the edition adds.

The free Iowa pagesIowa Nature Year 2027
What it coversThe month Iowa is in, free and alwaysAll twelve Iowa months, planned before they arrive
Garden timingThe notes for your zone, once the site knows itEvery Iowa zone from 4a–6b, side by side on the page
Where you can read itOn a screen, wherever Iowa has signalOn paper, in the field, with no signal at all
Through the yearYou come back and look it upA short Iowa note each week tells you what is happening now
PriceFree, and staying that way$34.00 once — no renewal, no account

Before you buy

Who this is for

Made for

  • Someone who wants the whole Iowa year in one place, planned ahead
  • Households where more than one person goes outside
  • Anyone who would rather print it once than look it up twelve times

Not for

  • Anyone who only ever needs one month — the free Iowa pages already do that well

Everything here describes typical timing across Iowa, drawn from long-run records — weather, elevation and how close you are to water all move the real dates around. So the Iowa pages say "usually early May" and never "May 4th", which is not hedging but the most the data can honestly carry.

Where it comes from

Compiled from

USGS Breeding Bird Survey · State fish & wildlife agencies · USA National Phenology Network · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center · The Xerces Society · USDA PLANTS Database · GBIF occurrence records · USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map · Cooperative Extension (land-grant directory) · International Meteor Organization. How each of these is used in the Iowa edition, and which figures are measured rather than modeled, is set out in the methodology.

Questions

Before you decide

Is this specific to Iowa, or a national guide with the name swapped in?

It is built from Iowa's own data. Every chapter is Iowa's — its species, its timing, and garden notes for every zone from 4a–6b.

Iowa spans several hardiness zones — which one does this cover?

All of them. Iowa runs 4a–6b, and the guide carries each zone's timing rather than picking one and hoping it fits your garden.

How accurate is the timing for Iowa?

It describes typical timing across Iowa drawn from long-run records, and because weather, elevation and habitat move real Iowa dates around it says "usually early May" rather than "May 4th".

Is it worth paying when the Iowa pages here are free?

The free Iowa pages are the month you are in; this is the whole Iowa year, planned before it arrives and printable, so you are not holding a screen in the garden.

Will it work for my part of Iowa, or just the big cities?

It is written at state resolution — Iowa as a whole, with regional notes where Iowa genuinely differs end to end, and nothing behind it is recorded finely enough to honestly promise more than that.

What format is the Iowa edition, and can I print it?

A PDF laid out for both Letter and A4, one page per sheet — printing it is the point, since the Iowa pages are made to be carried outside.

What is the weekly Iowa note, and does it stop?

One short email a week through 2027, built from this same Iowa data — what to look for that week. It runs the edition year, then stops; it is not a subscription and there is nothing to cancel.

What if the Iowa guide is not what I expected?

Email hello@birchcompass.com within 30 days for a full refund on the Iowa edition, and keep the files either way — asking for them back would be theatre.

Every month of this book has a free page on the site — start with the Iowa guide. The book carries every zone's garden notes; the page only ever shows you yours.

The rest of the Iowa shelf

Also for Iowa