Late Spring on the Prairie

Porcupine Grass (Hesperosita spartea) - photo ©Bruce A. Morrison

  

When most think "prairies" they think "grass" for the most part. That's kind of stereotypical of course because there is so much more there. But the native cool and warm season grasses are pretty iconic and cool at the same time...one of our early (cool season) grasses that I really like is the Porcupine Grass (Hesperostipa spartea). The visual presentation and form of this grass always catches my eye with the long awns bowing over the grasses in their arch-like form until their release, when the grass becomes pretty much invisible to passersby...

 

I have a favorite thing I like to do with this grass - when the seed/awn is mature I pick them off and throw them around like darts. I like to pick areas we have that are erosion prone, like the county ditch along our fence line. I toss them like a dart and they almost always faithfully stick into the exposed soils, where they soon twist themselves into the ground and there ya go - more erosion control with just a bit of fun effort!

 

I have a "Prairie Moment" video for Porcupine Grass if you want to spend a minute with the grasses and bird songs at the following link -  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZI0oWmAmFE

 

In the meantime, above is a close-up of the long awns in the late spring morning dew.

 

Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) - photo ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

Many things are showing up in our two native pastures here in SE O'Brien County - I haven't been able to follow up with the camera...maybe I'll get a chance soon? Been very busy working with our south pasture, doing support work with the winter seeding, plus some Leafy Spurge follow up work in the north pasture and several other things.

 

But as you approach the pastures here, or as you drive by, most obvious are the Golden Alexanders...some parts are blanketed with it , while other parts are spotted with that characteristic yellow. There's a lot more blooming there and I hope I can share those in the days and weeks ahead.

 

In the meantime I'm trying not to let Spring slip by - lots to do!

 

Thank you for visiting my Blog - I do hope you're enjoying Spring!  

 

Be good to one another! 

 

Still Here!

Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)

photograph  © Bruce A. Morrison

I'm still here!  Its the spring season in high gear and I'm getting run over by it at each turn!

 Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)

photograph  © Bruce A. Morrison

The prairie pasture here is no exception - everything is weeks ahead...ahead of itself and ahead of me as well.

 

Large-flowered Beardtongue (Penstemon grandiflorus)

photograph  © Bruce A. Morrison

The 2012 Artisan Road Trip is gearing up for its 2012 traveling exhibits for the season...the first show will be at the Witter...being that I just exhibited there last month - I need to find some things that weren't just there!  Easier said than done!

 Porcupine Grass (Heterostipa spartea)

photograph  © Bruce A. Morrison

Been trying to keep up with the inspiration the native pasture here has to give too, but its ahead of me as well as its usual self.

 False Gromwell (Onosmodium molle)

photograph  © Bruce A. Morrison

This year is different from any I've ever witnessed...I'm sure it has been for most of us out there.  The prairie pasture here has plants whose blossoms fried in the late frosts, after the unusually warm weather.  Those plants are probably going to bounce back but the weather has eliminated some of the early "stars" of the pasture...or made them very spotty this year.  The unusually dry late summer/fall and winter didn't help matters much though either.

 Prairie Phlox (Phlox pilosa)

photograph  © Bruce A. Morrison

But I'm still here!  I haven't forgotten the blog! :)  I'm just trying to catch up - just like the pasture here at Prairie Hill Farm! I hope you'll enjoy some of the plants that I photographed here this week!

 

Late Spring on the Tallgrass

Golden Alexander and Prairie Sage
(click on photo for a larger image)

It's June! Ah, but still spring...this is important to me. There is still so much to be done here at the Prairie Hill Farm Studio and I'm grateful that summer is still about 3 weeks away...speaking of the solstice of course.

Our native pasture has a degree of difference and evolution each year, but there are still the stalwart standbys that we can count on seeing each spring. A couple plants that seem to flourish and increase each season we burn portions of the pasture are the Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea) and the White or Prairie Sage (Artemisia ludoviciana). I'd never really put the two together in my mind but they've done it for me in one section of the east pasture; some Golden Alexander has wandered into a heavily vegetated area of sage and it really has an interesting, but subtle, visual relationship...nearly a mono tonal effect in some ways as the sage picks up color of surrounding vegetation, but also as a foil supporting backdrop.

Part of the thing that keeps my mind working visually are new experiences in nature, this case being the very prairie remnant I try hard to walk through each day. I find that without this mental exercise I become still in my expression...when this happens, things just don't feel right...the process and emotion needs feeding!

I've been on this road I chose for over half a century now...I have to be be visually creative, it's just something I must do and I doubt I could ever explain it. So I'm very grateful for the intermingling species on the tallgrass here, I'm grateful for the ever present scheme of things chlorophylled, feathered, furred, and scaled here...what fodder for the senses!

The sage is noted in journals as having been used by native Americans for medicinal and ceremonial uses and to repel insects...I wonder how it would work on Black Flies??? Those little buggers are still driving us crazy...the photo above was taken while wearing a bug hat; kinda hard seeing through the camera's viewfinder with bug netting in the way.

There's more awakening out there now, I'll have to go have another look!