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| Prairie Spiderwort or Long-bracted Spiderwort (Tradescantia bracteat) - photograph ©Bruce A. Morrison |
Our Prairie Spiderwort is going strong in the pasture here in SE O'Brien County, but we now have to part the fast growing late Spring/Early Summer grasses and plants to find them! These are Prairie Spiderworts (Tradescantia bracteata); beautiful little flowers much more petite than their domesticated relatives of city gardens, or their native relative the Ohio Spiderwort. And their blossoms can range from magenta to a deep blue. Come late afternoon, the blossoms will become soft and dissolve, making way for a new one the next morning.
I only find these in the north pasture, and in two separate populations...interestingly a population along the south slope on the gravel esker here. And another population in the bottom of the north pasture's southeast corner. This little Spiderwort seems to prefer a more dry, gravely soil, and those up on the gravel esker slope look very happy each year I look for them, but those just a hundred feet or so away seem just as accepting to their location.
I have a "Prairie Moment" video for this Prairie Spiderwort; if you want to spend a minute with this beautiful native prairie flower, you can do so at the following link -
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| Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis) - photograph ©Bruce A. Morrison |
One of the earliest prairie wild flowers I think I can remember as a kid, before I even knew what it was, is likely the Canada Anemone (Meadow Anemone to some). It seems to persist in many roadside ditches; gravel roads particularly. Maybe the Wild Rose species would qualify as a close tie, but regardless - we all start somewhere don't we?
I remember when we first moved to our tiny mecca, finding Canada Anemone spread throughout the ditch next to the north pasture...I was very excited to see this familiar white wildflower! Almost as soon as the excitement was realized - a neighbor drove by with his tractor and sprayer and killed back our entire ditch! Auugh!!! Thank goodness the neighbor didn't have free reign of our pastures!!! But all was well after I had a conversation and expressed concern that this would not happen again! It wasn't too many years when the neighbor expressed interest and questions about what he was seeing here.
Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis) did make a comeback in the ditches here, once the periodic spraying stopped, and that tenacity may be it's trait of spreading with thick rhizomes forming those familiar colonies of plants we often see among the bland brome ditches. Its sure welcome here!
I have a "Prairie Moment" video for Canada Anemone; if you want to spend a minute with this beautiful native prairie flower, you can do so at the following link -
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| Growing Large-flowered Penstemon around the front of the studio. |
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| Large-flowered Penstemon (Penstemon grandiflorus) - photograph ©Bruce A. Morrison |
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| Large-flowered Penstemon even loikes to grow in the gravel around the crib here on the acreage. |
Penstemons are such cool plants - top of the list here in SE O'Brien County has got to be the Large-flowered Beardtongue (Penstemon grandiflorus). I have noticed over the years out here that although they're a perennial, they seem to have ebbs and flows in longevity. Our gravel hillsides will experience a big flush of blooms one year and a year or two later we'll find lots of newly started plants from seed but the older plants seem on their last legs. Grateful they reseed so readily.
I will admit cheating a little with these guys...I sprinkle seed around the crib and along the entry to the studio...no preparing beds or anything like that...just drop the seed (or allow established pants drop theirs), and instant Large-flowered Beardtongue next spring. They prefer gravelly/dry locations anyway.
I'll collect seed from these "nursery" plants each fall for supplementing in the pastures, but leave enough to drop and grow new for next year.
The Sphinx Moths, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and Bumblebees are very fond of these flowers - and the thick leaves have a very interesting visual and textural feel to them...nothing not to like!
I have "A Prairie Moment" video on my channel for the Large-flowered Beardtongue; if you'd like to watch, it can be found at this link -
Watching the Prairie march along!
Thank you for visiting my blog - be good to another and enjoy the season on the Tallgrass Prairie!
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