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! 

 

Still Waiting...

 

"Prairie Lily"  

(Lilium philadelphicum) 

color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison 

(click on image for a larger view)

Still waiting in the wings for spring!  Aren't we all?!  But there is hope in the air with predictions of day time highs above freezing toward the end of the week! 

A year ago we were only days away from seeing our Great Blue Herons returning to the rookery across the valley and were seeing the area Bald Eagles sitting tight on their nest.   The Great Horned Owls are apparently incubating/hatching nearby...we see the top of the "sitter's" head when we pass by and crane our necks.  And the numbers of Mourning Doves is stretching a bit here on the acreage...we haven't seen huge flocks of Red-wing Blackbirds yet but a few individuals have been on the feeders in the yard.

But I've been working on early summer on the drawing board; another prairie forb  has grown to fruition.  I chose a lily that is native to my county (O'Brien) and still exists in a state remnant nearby.  I won't disclose its location as there are a meager few left and I don't want them stressed any more than they already are. 

I first came upon "Lilium philadelphicum" on the north shore of Lake Superior and in the adjacent forests, where it is locally known as the "Wood Lily".  I was quite surprised to find this beautiful small lily back in the mid 1990's here in O'Brien County when the state acquired a wonderful native prairie remnant; we walked the remnant the year prior to its public disclosure and found the "Wood" Lily on the prairie there!  I discovered the "Lilium philadelphicum" was one and the same as on NE Minnesota's "Arrowhead" region, and was pleased to call it "Prairie Lily" for the first time! 

I drew this color pencil drawing from that very same "first" Prairie Lily here...from a slide I took of the plant in bloom that morning of discovery. Hmmm, "slides", that's something I haven't worked from in a long while!

Its been cathartic doing these prairie plant drawings, getting that winter "thing" purged from my system!  I do hope to do more when I can.

I have an exhibit on the prairie coming up in July-August this summer, down at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City, Iowa.  Neal Smith has a large and quite nice visitor center and the exhibit will be at the J. N. "Ding" Darling Gallery there.  The exhibit will follow my past "From the Tallgrass" theme, relating wholly to the Tallgrass Prairie.  I'll follow up more in a future blog on the details.

Still waiting and trying to be patient!

Bio Blitz

 Prairie Larkspur

(Delphinium virescens)

Ever been to a Bio Blitz?  I witnessed my first one last summer at the Lost Island Prairie Wetland Nature Center north of Ruthven, Iowa.  It was a blast!  Various professionals in different fields headed groups of volunteers out into the marshes, woodlands, and prairies in the Lost Island Lake area.  Each group was focused on a specific plant, animal or invertebrate, and would explore the area's habitat for those species and tally what they found.  I had volunteered last year to just float from group to group as they inventoried their finds and found it fascinating what everyone was finding.  

Lost Island Naturalist Miriam Patton is carrying out another Bio Blitz this summer and asked me if I would help with the "prairie plant" part of this year's effort.  If running around and identifying prairie plants interests you - why not come over and join us!?  Besides - I "really" could use the help!  More eyes and heads are often better than one.  Any way, it'll be fun!  If plants aren't your thing, you can also volunteer to assist in finding Butterflies and Moths, Birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, aquatic specific species, and so on!  What could be more fun than that?  :) 

I'll paste an agenda here for more information -

Those interested in participating should make reservations by calling the Nature Center at 712-837-4866.  Let us know which session(s) you will be attending.  There is no charge for this event.

The schedule is as follows:

Saturday, August 7

12:00 -1:00  Registration at Nature Center

1:00 Welcome and logistics

1:30-5:00  Field Session

5:00-5:45  Sack Supper

5:45-7:45  Field Session

8:00 Lake Management Update

9:30 Moth Field Session

Sunday, August 8

6:00-8:00 Bird Field Session

9:00-12:00  Field Session

12:00 Sack Lunch

1:00 Final Report

Bring a sack lunch/supper, wear sturdy shoes that can get wet or muddy (no flip flops or open toed sandals), sunscreen, bug repellent, water bottle to re-fill, and binoculars.

 Wood Lily

(Lilium philadelphicum)

One thing I find interesting about identifying forbs during mid to late summer is identifying the late spring and early summer plants with their seed capsules in place instead of their flowers.  I often wish I'd find the time to photograph forbs in seed...would you recognize the Prairie Larkspur gone to seed?  I think it's amazingly similar to the shape of columbine when it's gone to seed...except larger and paler, maybe even somewhat more "papery" (if that's really a word!?).

If you're familiar with lilies in your garden, then you'll likely recognize the Wood Lily gone to fruit...these are perhaps some forbs we'll be able to find at the "Bioblitz:  A 24 Hour Nature Scavenger Hunt" at Lost Island on August 7th and 8th.  If you're free, and game for a real "hunt", come on over and give me a hand!  :)