Autumn Prairie Yard

Heath aster & little bluestem grass

Seed pods of butterfly weed and prairie cinquifoil

Stiff goldenrod in bloom

The autumn colors in the prairie are bronze, tan, and chocolate brown as the flowers dry to create seedpods with seeds tucked inside.  The goldenrods and asters still shine with color on a September day.

Wild Prairie Garden

My prairie yard is growing fast with all of the warm weather.  The blue wild indigo, Baptisia australis is in full bloom.

The white wild indigo, Baptisia alba is coming in a close second.  The cream indigos, Baptisia bracteata are finished blooming.  The alien species such as dandelions were very few.  But as usual many Chinese Elm sprouted and I weeded them out.  Many clump forming grasses, non native took a strong hold this year—and I’ve been pulling them all spring.

This white wild indigo is just starting to bloom; most of it is in bud form yet.  It will soon be in its full blooming glory.

This white wild indigo is almost in full bloom.  You can see her sister, the blue wild indigo in the background.  There's a yellow climbing rose behind the blue wild indigo, beside my east porch that has been filled with yellow blossoms.  Now just a few blossoms remain.  My beloved non-natives such as the early tulips, crocuses, and hyacinth are finished blooming for the season.  Most of the lilacs are finished too.  The flowers have such a short life of glory.  It seems one day they are blooming and the next the blooms are finished and they are making seeds.  I don’t think that it is quite that quick; it just seems that way when I’m not paying attention.

What are some of your favorite spring and early summer flowers?  Do you prefer perennial or annual flowers?  Shrubs, vines, or flowers?  Some of all of them?  What in the floral realm soothes your soul?  

Spring: First Day

As I  enjoyed the light today, I noticed some beauty in blossoms.  This magnolia was very wet from the strong rain the night before. 

A collage of flowers.

 Daffodils

Purple hyacinth budding

The Mississippi River and the blush of green on the tree limbs across the expanse.

Spring in my Yard

I saw a robin in my yard the other day.  I saw miniature irises in my friend’s yard and was graced with the gift of one.  I went home to find that my crocuses were up too.  This afternoon, I had a bit of time to remove some of the dried grasses and forbs from my yard to discover a whole path of crocuses.

I had noticed that a few perennials were peeking up.  I did a bit of careful raking to uncover some daffodils.

 

One set of daffodils was so covered with leaves but determined to find the light and warmth, it grew and grew.  It is quite yellow from under its covering, but I think that it will revive with the sunshine and light.

 A few other perennials are peaking up.  

 

I grow a short grass prairie on three sides of my house.  It is a very small space for plants that used to inhabit acres of land in the Midwest.  And by the end of the growing season, it looks a little bedraggled.  I leave the grasses and seed pods standing over the winter for birds to feast on the seed and small critters to use the grasses for bedding for their nests.  The spring is the time to rake it up and take it to the compost farm. 

When I lived in the country, the prairies were managed with fire.  Crews would go out with water backpacks to do a back burn path to create a boundary for the fire.  The weather and wind conditions were carefully considered with a burn.  In the early spring, the newly melted snow would help create the necessary wetness to help control the fire.  On those early spring days, the sun would need to be shining to help carry the fire.  In a spring like 2012 with little snow to melt, there is even greater need for watchfulness for the weather and wind conditions.  The grasses of the tall grass prairie would spark and sizzle and dance as they would burn.  It was quite an amazing sight to be part of a controlled prairie burn.

                                            As I rake the grasses, I gather them in piles.

 

We walk into my backyard to see what it growing there.  I have trees, shrubs and grass growing and a clothes line to dry my laundry.  The scent of freshly dried laundry from hanging in the sun is one of my favorite fragrances.

 Some larger lilacs have very fresh buds.

A place to relax at the picnic table

 With the deer’s help all is well.

Time to put away the tools for one day.  The deer is keeping track of the crocuses.  Oh, how considerate.  My black and white cat, Oreo was out here helping too.   She wants her own post that she calls the Antics of Oreo.  Watch for her!  That post is coming soon.