Too Fast...

As usual - Spring is moving by too fast.  We've had so much cool weather...several light frosts and very little rain...until just a few days ago.  No we've had our first 1" rain in May here...we had a pittance in April and March as well.  But that one inch and all the humidity brought on by southern Gulf air has transformed everything into a jungle of green!  Although we are being listed in a "Severe" drought so far this year, it "looks" pretty enticing for the moment.

Gray Catbird

photograph -  © Bruce A. Morrison

Most of our favorite birds have returned...still waiting on the Dickcissels.  Although most are "favorites", we seem to have some very social Gray Catbirds this spring; so fun to watch!  It is bird song heaven around here now, and even the Cricket Frogs started singing last night.  You know the temps have warmed the water when your hear these little buggers...the American Toads have been singing each night for some time now too, and the Chorus and Northern Leopard frogs seem to be done with their monkey business for another year. 

 

I've been working in the pastures here more than normal...trying to rein in some bad actors.  Been mowing parts short and seeing what shakes out when I keep it up through the summer.  Right now there's some really nice things blooming - all the usual early/mid spring forbs like Blue-eyed Grass, Starry Solomon Seal, Fringed Puccoon, Ground Plum, and the Golden Alexanders. 

 

Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium campestre)

photograph -  © Bruce A. Morrison

 

The Blue-eyed Grass in the pasture varies from blue to light blue, to white.  I automatically look for it here on May 15th each year...I've only found it earlier in unusually warm and early Springs.

 

Fringed Puccoon (Lithospermum incisum)

photograph -  © Bruce A. Morrison

 

The Fringed Puccoon is always out before or with the Blue-eyed Grass, and I'm beginning to find it in more locations around both the north and south pastures.  I'ts likely always been in both but possibly the grazing of sheep and/or cattle in years previous to our arrival had suppressed these and they're just making a come-back again...? 

 

Ground Plum (Astragalus crassicarpus)

photograph -  © Bruce A. Morrison

The Ground Plum is a fun one...I personally like the common name "Buffalo Berry" but the fruit is more "plum" size and in appearance.  I guess its edible but its restricted to just one location on the pastutre and I'm being very protective of it...would like it to spread around some.

I'm far behind with chores around here and these are all the forbs I've been able to photograph so far this spring!

Hope your spring is a nice relief from the covid year we left behind, and that you're able to get out and enjoy it again; its moving too fast!

Be good to one another and see you again down the road to summer!

 

Count Down 1!!!

Prairie plants composite from the Pasture

here at Prairie Hill Farm in 2009

Yesterday afternoon, as I was gazing out the living room window in awe at the deep snow still caressing the acreage, Georgie mentioned to me that daylight savings time starts this weekend. That is just amazing to me, but I'm seemingly getting used to everything surprising me this year. How can it be?! Well, get used to it Bruce...that's the way it is!

Happily though, these changes are most welcome! Our first American Robins of the year were in the yard two days ago! The past couple days have had about three dozen Red-winged Blackbirds in the yard as well...this all means things "are" changing for the good!

Even though we've not seen 40 degrees here at Prairie Hill Farm Studio since late November, it has changed from snowing to raining! Messy - yes, but a step in the right direction! This morning we still have maybe a third or a quarter of the 65 inches of snow that has covered us since December, but I can now "see" the daily progress the rain is making...our hillside driveway is now clear!

Last year the pasture here was amazing...this memory has sustained us all winter long. I put together a small composite for this blog celebrating the spring and summer to come. We are now a week and a half from the vernal equinox, but spring has really begun; the small signs now tell us it is here - it will just get better!

Counting down (but already enjoying)!

Spring on the Tallgrass

(Fringed Puccoon at Prairie Hill Farm)

This is truly spring on the Tallgrass Prairie here at Prairie Hill Farm Studio. It may be not "typical" because it's been a very undecisive spring here so far. Some rain, but not much. Some warm weather, but not much. Up and down certainly, but still nice to get out and , if only momentarily, away from the inside work I've been plugging away at the past 4-5 weeks.

Since I haven't had the time to get back to the easel, I thought it'd be a nice distraction to see what's in bloom on our prairie remnant here at the present time. In the last blog, Golden Alexander was in bloom...it still is, even more so. But now we're in the midst of Fringed Puccoon, Blue-eyed and White-eyed Grass, and Prairie Violets.


The Fringed Puccoon is a native plant with butter yellow colored flowers. It, like most early prairie natives, is a shorter statured plant of maybe 8-10 inches or so with multiple blossoms. This plants can really move around and make headway on a prairie site. We started with only 3-4 surviving plants on our remnant but now have upwards of 50 and they're moving around quite well. I think the ants have a hand in spreading the seeds, as they do the Prairie Violets.

Prairie Violet being visited by an ant

The Prairie Violet is a special early prairie flower here...we have less than a half dozen plants. I look deftly for it each spring, and some springs it cannot be found. I suspect it suffered (as all the forbs on our prairie remnant) over the years from spraying and over grazing here before we arrived. I found them again this year after not seeing any since 2006 so I'm hopeful they'll gain a few more progeny this season! Prairie Violets are different in appearance from the more common violet by their leaves. Common violets have a familiar rounded leaf whereas this small prairie native has a rosette of basal leaves that are deeply lobed in a palmate structure...you can see this in the image below.

Prairie Violet - note the palmate leaf structure

One native Prairie flower we see each year here and along the road side is Blue-eyed Grass. (below)

Blue-eyed Grass at Prairie Hill Farm

This "very" small wild flower is from the iris family (Iridaceae)...the seeds from this plant are about half the size of a typical pin head! The flower itself is usually around about a half inch in size, maybe slightly smaller. There are two flowers of the same genus one is this Blue-eyed Grass - the other is the White-eyed Grass. I believe the Blue-eyed Grass here on the Prairie Hill Farm remnant is the "Sisyrinchium campestre" but there are many variants of this small flower...most on our remnant are paler blue to white, however those on the road nearby are blue, so I'm not positive of the variant causes.


I look for this little plant each May around the 15th...it showed up in time as usual but is now about in it's last week of flower here...they're easy to overlook as they close later in the day or during cloudy cool weather (as we're having now), and are only around 5-6 inches tall here...they look just like grass after the flowers are finished which may be why they have occassionally escaped being sprayed by unsuspecting farmers here.

If I'm going to be stuck inside working this spring, I'll take any opportunity I can to escape for a little walk through our prairie to get some fresh air and recharge. Take some of the same for yourtself if you can! Spring will be over soon!