Category: Prairie | Accent on Natural Landscaping

Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie – Part 1

July 19, 2019

Reference my earlier post Tallgrass Prairie. We started our Flint Hills National Scenic Byway tour at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve’s Visitor Center. Here we toured the Spring Hill Ranch buildings and sat in on a wild bird demonstration.

The three-story Spring Hill Barn was made out of limestone, as were all the outbuildings and many of the fences.

The Spring Hill home was also made out of limestone. Unfortunately it was being left to deteriorate.

Among other raptors, we were introduced to an American Kestral. I’ve never seen one up close and personal before, so I was pretty impressed. Such beautiful colors. Nor had I ever seen a Swallow-Tailed Kite before. What unusual markings and that very special tail.

Shown here is an American Kestral. What beautiful colors!

The Swallow-Tailed Kite is most often seen across Southeastern USA. Its deeply forked tail and bold black and white plumage is so striking.

Next came the best part, touring the countryside and looking at all the wildflowers. We stopped at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Bottomland Trail. There were butterflies and pollinators everywhere.

The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Bottomland Trail was predominantly grasses and gave us a good indication of the relative flat terrain of a prairie.

This tattered Red Admiral butterfly was the first insect we encountered.

Catclaw Sensitive Briar (Mimosa quadrivalvis) photo by Susan Forbes

Fiery Skipper (Hylephyla phyleus) on some kind of nettle photo by Sue Forbes

Coral Hairstreak (Satyrium titus) on Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum) photo by Sue Forbes

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) butterfly sunning itself on the gravel path

Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) butterfly also sunning itself on the gravel path.

Saturday night as we returned to our hotel from dinner in Emporia we could see there would be more thunderstorms overnight.

Tallgrass Prairie

July 17, 2019

Volunteers worked Saturday to clean up debris after an early Saturday morning storm tore through the planned site of the Symphony in the Flint Hills. Photo courtesy of Flint Hills Media Project by Kelly Glasscock

My friend Sue Forbes and I drove to Emporia, Kansas a few weeks ago to attend the Symphony in the Flint Hills held in the Tallgrass Prairie. Unfortunately, due to the horrific thunderstorms on the Friday before the Symphony, it was rescheduled for the rain date Sunday, June 16, 2019. But thunderstorms rolled through on Saturday night and the hosts finally had to cancel the day’s events including the Flint Hills Symphony.

But like all good adventurers, we made the most of our time in Kansas. Luckily, the rain occurred only in the evenings, so we were free to roam the countryside in search of all we could see, but especially the wildflowers. During the next couple of posts, I’m going to try to share our adventure with you. The prairie flowers were awesome!

Kansas Hospitality

Arriving in Emporia on Friday evening, June 14th, we ate at a local restaurant called the Radius Brewing Co. It was a 30 minute wait for a table, so we found two seats at the bar next to a lovely elderly couple from Kansas. We had a nice chat with them while waiting for our food. Upon departing, the couple told us to enjoy the symphony for them since they no longer were able to attend. They liked the fact we were from the land of the Packers and wished us well. And, to our surprise, they secretly paid for our meals as a way of treating us to Kansas’ hospitality. We do not know, of course, how to contact this delightful couple to thank them, but we are so thankful for their hospitality and so grateful for their good wishes. It helped immensely to make up for not getting to see the Symphony.

Tallgrass Prairie Natl Preserve Visitor Center Vestibule Sign.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

This national preserve is a joint endeavor between The Nature Conservancy and the National Park Service which protects 4% (10,894 acres) of the once 170 million acres of North American prairie. The Tallgrass Prairie Visitor’s Center includes access to many of the buildings which formerly made up the historic Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch.

Scenic Drives

Tallgrass Prairie Flint Hills Scenic Byway planting Sullivant’s Milkweed (*Asclepias sullivantii*).

There are a number of scenic drives in Kansas. We chose to do the Flint Hills National Scenic Byway and the Native Stone Scenic Byway. All provided us with great opportunities to sightsee and to take photos of unbelievably beautiful wildflowers.

Stay tuned for the awsome show!

What’s been Blooming in my Yard

July 3, 2019

Despite the rainy weather we’ve been having, there are many plant species blossoming in my yard which makes for a grand feast for a variety of insects.

In the mist of the sauna-type weather we’re having, the Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) invites many early morning insects like this bee to its feast.

Mother Nature throwing us a delightful suprise — White Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana) and an insect

Tall Meadow Rue (Thalictrum dasycarpum) beaten down by the rain

Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides) tree blossoms were strewn all around on the ground, broken off by all the rain.

Elderberry (Sambucus orbiculata) berries make great wine. I still have a bottle I’m saving that my mother and I made during the mid-1970s.

Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana) star-shaped blossoms point toward the sky, while the Great Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) blossoms hang toward the ground.

Lupine (Lupinus) and Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) dragonfly make a great new background for my website.

Finally a Wild Rose (Rosa virginiana) that hasn’t been eaten off by wildlife!

I love the way Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis) covers the ground like a showy carpet.

Mock Orange (Philadelphus lewisii) was the first shrub I planted in our new home in 1986.

A Northern Spreadwing (Lestes disjunctus) hanging out on the wet grasses.

Although we have Smooth Penstemon (Penstemon digitalis) growing everywhere in the prairie, this one is growing in a crack of my concrete pool deck.

Bluebonnets or Lupines

May 17, 2019

Bluebonnets

Bluebonnets are now blossoming in Texas so I thought it would be a good time to try to explain the difference between a bluebonnet and a Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis).

Texas Bluebonnet (*Lupinus texensis*) Photo by Norman G Flaigg courtesy of Wildflower Center.

Texas bluebonnets are actually six different Lupinus species with only one having the official name of Texas Bluebonnet or Lupinus texensis. Bluebonnets grow in most southwestern states, while Wild Lupine (Lupinus perrenis) grows in Wisconsin and most northeastern and southeastern states.

Although they are both in the Lupinus genus, they blossom at different times and, of course, in different climates. The shape of the petals of the Bluebonnet flower (raceme*) resembles the bonnets worn by pioneer women, hence the name. Typically blue in color, the flower florets also will grow in shades of white, pink, lavender, purple and maroon. Each floret has a wide white banner spot in the center of the banner petal. As the floret ages, this spot often turns reddish-purple. As the entire flower (raceme) ages, one of the top petals turns reddish-purple. It is considered ephemeral; it goes dormant by late spring.

According to Mike Quinn, past president of the Austin Butterfly Forum, “the bluebonnet is the larval food host for the Northern Cloudywing, Gray Hairstreak, Henry’s Elfin, Painted and American Lady, and Orange Sulphur butterflies.” (Wildflower.org)

Wild Lupine

Like the Texas Bluebonnet, Wild Lupine (Lupinus perrenis) likes well-drained soil and a sunny location. Wild Lupine, however, blooms late spring to early summer. It, too, is considered an ephemeral because it goes dormant by mid-summer. Its blooms, described as pea-like, are blue to violet in color and also have a white area at the tip of each floret.

Although the Wild Lupine is the only host plant for the Karner Blue butterfly caterpillar, a federally-endangered species native to the Great Lakes region, it is also a host plant for the Frosted Elfin and the Eastern Persius Duskywing butterflies.

Seeds and Leaves

All species of Lupinus have leaves which are palmate with anywhere from 3 to 11 leaflets. When seeds are ripe they spring from their pods with a popping sound. Before they can germinate, however, the seeds must be scarified (roughed up) to allow water uptake.

The bluebonnets and Wild Lupine belong to the Legume or Bean Family (Fabaceae or Leguminosae) which makes the plant a good source for nitrogren — a natural fertilizer. That is why plants of the Legume Family are able to grow so well in disturbed areas and often are used as a cover crop to enrich the soil.

*Spike-like cluster