The Last Day of Spring!

The last day of spring - can you believe it!!!?  I've got a few thing to cover before the summer solstice tomorrow, but I can't get to them all...here's a couple to tide things over a bit! 

Prairie Liliy (or Wood Lily) - Lilium philadelphicum - photo ©Bruce A. Morrison

Our Prairie Lilies have begun blooming here on our north pasture. Last year we were robbed of blooms due to rabbits…snipped the bud right off as it swelled to almost bloom. Unfortunately I had to cage them to prevent a repeat of that this year. Frustrating!!! (The year before, voles dug up two bulbs...a small pasture has a lot of negative pressure!)

 

I have noticed the Range map "Floristic Synthesis of North America (BONAP)", lists this plant - Lilium philadelphicum , as not present in O'Brien County...well they are wrong. I first observed and photographed Lilium philadelphicum in O'Brien County, on the Waterman Prairie Complex in Waterman Township, in SE O'Brien. And that was the year before the complex was turned over to the state. I was alerted to the pending acquisition early by a DNR official who gave me permission to walk it and look for native plants to photograph. I remember he was surprised when I showed him a slide (ya, remember slide film?) of a plant in bloom.

 

Prairie Liliy (or Wood Lily) - Lilium philadelphicum - photo ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

I previously knew Lilium philadelphicum as "Wood Liliy", and used to see and photograph them along the shoreline of the north shore of Lake Superior. It was pretty cool to learn they were a prairie forb as well! I have since found them at Steele Prairie, just below the O'Brien County border in Cherokee County. When on the Prairie I refer to them as Prairie Lilies...up north I think of them as Wood Lilies...I guess its the most common native Lily in North America - that's fun to know!

 

We have two more plants coming up...one is in early bud stage now...the other may not put one on this year...not showing any sign of budding soon.

 

These are electric to the eye against the green for sure!

 

Prairie Garlic (Allium canadense) - Photograph - ©Bruce A. Morrison

 

And its that time in the native pasture here in SE O'Brien County where so much is happening, and often things are starting to get buried in the under-story, going unnoticed. But I always look for this one - even if I have to dig through the taller plants for it.

 

Sometimes referred to as Prairie Garlic, Wild Garlic or Meadow Garlic, this native prairie plant is the first Allium to show up on our pasture in the summer. By early June it can be seen down among the grasses and new plant growth, reaching for an opening of sunlight. You'll see their top-set bulbs form before the flowers...and the white and pink blossoms reach out beyond the knobby bulblets - creating almost a starburst effect.

 

Since the Mrs grows lots of garlic in her garden, we don't need to sample this beautiful little native Allium - just enjoy it's showy progression in the late spring through early summer!

If you'd like to view "A Prairie Moment" short video of Wild Garlic, you can do so on my channel at the following link - 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGB1KEW1iYE

  

Thank you for visiting my blog - enjoy the summer ahead - and be good to one another...we're all in this together!

 

Hope to see you on the Tallgrass! 

 

From the Tallgrass at the Neal Smith NWR

 

This is a slight duplication from my Prairie Hill farm studio blog, but definitely prairie related.  And I'm afraid that this exhibit has taken much of my time this spring and early summer to prepare.  Oh, I have had the odd chance here and there to spend time in our own prairie pasture here...not a lot new there except I am finding more Prairie Garlic (Allium canadense) this year.  I believe I saw my first plant here in 2012; they are now in two separate locations...not a lot of plants but encouraging to find more.  I have not "knowingly" harvested this for seeding before, so I'm presuming I am either wrong in that respect or they were here to begin with and are just now making some effort to come back.

I am seeing some early success of the seeding I did in the south pasture "top" late in the winter.  I only had enough seed for about the top third of the acre there...I'm seeing asters, some Partriidge Pea, and some goldenrods and Gray-headed coneflowers (of course), and even some false Gromwell...which surprised me a bit because it always seemed slower on the start-up.  But the spot is weedy and nothing I can mow to assist things getting a head start.  I did spend an afternoon on my knees in there pulling weeds, and it hopefully helped.  Time will tell.

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

(click on image for a larger view) 

I got an interesting photograph there last week during some of our rain storms - some pretty wild clouds looking up that south pasture toward the SW.  I have no idea what these formations would be called, but for about 4 hours after this was taken, we had mammatus formations pop up constantly...an unusual evening.

The pastures started out very slow and somewhat sparse this spring - we hadn't had rain here since June of 2013.  But the sky busted loose in late May and it just doesn't seem to want to stop.  We've easily had over 13 inches of rain here since June 1st!  Not to mention hail and high winds...we're still cleaning up branches and larger limbs in the yard from a big blow that completely blocked our driveway with a huge tree trunk a week ago last Wednesday.

But more about the "From the Tallgrass" exhibit at the Neal Smith NWR.

Just 22 miles east of Des Moines, near Prairie City, Iowa, you'll find a truly unique refuge.  The Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1990, within the National Wildlife Refuge System, to "actively protect, restore, reconstruct and manage the diverse native ecosystems of tallgrass prairie, oak savanna, and sedge meadow. These were the native habitats existing on the Refuge’s 5600 acres prior to Euro-American settlement."

The refuge approached me in 2012 to do an exhibit of artwork and photography depicting the tallgrass, and I accepted.  This solo exhibit, at their J.N. "Ding" Darling Art Gallery, will feature work on the prairie theme and genre.

The exhibit will open on July 1st in the afternoon, and will run through August 20th.  More information about the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, its hours and other contact information can be found online at - http://www.fws.gov/refuge/neal_smith

Its a great place to visit, as I've mentioned here on this blog in the past, and I'm looking forward to it!  If you're passing by the area this summer, take a little time and stop for a visit, you will be glad you did! 

 

Hope to see you on the Tallgrass!