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!

 

More Spring on the Tallgrass

Prairie Ragworts

Things are advancing here at Prairie Hill Farm Studio...well I'm "still" stuck on inside work but the prairie pasture is doing nicely.

Prairie Smoke

The Prairie Ragwort is now blooming strong on the dry gravel north facing esker. The Prairie Smoke is in bloom on the lower east side of the north pasture and the Prairie Spiderwort is blooming in the south section.

Prairie Spiderwort

The Ragwort survived through the past owners solely because it was on a steep slope that would have escaped spraying.

The Spiderwort is also native to this site but we introduced the Prairie Smoke from a native plant nursery north east of us. (The Prairie Flower Nursery) The photograph of the Prairie Smoke was the only one not taken on our prairie site. This plant does grow in our area though - within about 30 miles of here. We're trying to reintroduce native forbs that would have been encountered here 150 years ago...before settlers came and disrupted the native plant communities.

Something I've always said and will say again, I am very interested in diversity on our remnant prairie site - biological diversity. The best biological community is one that is diverse. A community that provides more than just a limited few plants and insects, will not support an equitable population or variety of wildlife. If you compare a patch of brome with a diverse prairie you'll not only see an aesthetic difference visually, but you'll see the difference in what creatures each can support. A monoculture of any one species is a miserable failure in it's support of wildlife, especially compared to a diverse prairie!

Some day this spring or summer I'll be able to break away from previous work commitments - when I do I'll be out there and possibly at the easel again...hope you can do the same!