Mmmmmmmm!

Wild Plum
(Prunus americana)

There is a wonderful fragrance in the air here at the Prairie Hill Farm Studio - intoxicating! There are Wild Plum thickets all over the acreage that we planted in 2003. One clump is behind the studio, another on the west end of the south side and another just across the drive near the barn. I can see the barn clump as I type...the combination of these small thickets cause an olfactory delight!


Wild Plums put on the most beautiful show here in early spring - up and down the valley. But their show is too short lived, and if the weather turns wet and windy (as it has now), the show is soon finished for the year.

This past Thursday I managed to steal time in the early morning to run down along the Little Sioux valley again - this time for my "annual" Wild Plum celebration. I chase the plum bloom each year as a right of spring I guess...something fleeting like the spring wildflowers.

The plums are spread through the tallgrass prairie and the woodland edges...and the early light of day treats them well photographically.

I started a Wild Plum painting last year and got stuck. These things happen...all I can do is keep the fire going and maybe attempt another. The thickets I saw this past week have brought new inspiration...maybe there's hope yet?!

Now that they are mostly waning, I'll think more of the fruits late this coming summer! Gotta love those Wild Plums!