July 1, 2024

Gone are the days when the current state of the prairie could be described by a dominant color. There are now splashes of gold, white, and varying shades of pink and purple, as leadplant, wild bergamot, hoary vervain, and Canada milkvetch add their blooms to the vibrant plant community.

White wild indigo

Common milkweed

Wild quinine

Wild bergamot

Compass plant

Pale purple coneflower

Hoary vervain

Yellow coneflower

Canada milkvetch

Leadplant (Amorpha canescens) is opening more blooms of rich purple with feathery orange stamens.

Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) is also making more of a presence with its fragrant, bright lavendar petals.

We are enjoying the beautiful pink and purple flowers of Canada tick trefoil (Desmodium canadense) before the seeds, which are coated in tiny hooks, spread throughout our house.

Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) is beginning to reveal its spiky, spherical flowers.

Down the hill from our house are a pair of pear trees, and I was excited to see their growth. I have been dreaming of lying in the shade of the pear trees, surrounded by the tallgrass prairie, with delicious snacks and blue skies overhead.