Prime Prairie

I'll admit it... There are times of the year when the prairie isn't the most aesthetically interesting ecosystem. But she is coming into her own now, and from June through October, the prairie will display staggering biodiversity.  A slowly but constantly changing cast of colorful characters will appear in the endless sea of waving grass.

Here is a partial (because I won't remember them all) list of what I saw blooming in the prairie today:

Shooting stars (still holding on!), golden Alexander, spiderwort, cream false indigo, wild indigo, wild roses (pictured below), lupine (pictured below below), wild hyacinth (pictured way below), wild geraniums, Canada anemone, daisies, fleabane, mustards -- yellow, white and garlic (I didn't say all the flowers were desirable), cow parsnip, bladder campion, hawkweed, irises, a patch of something bright red and far off the trail in a wetter area, no idea what it was... That's all I'm remembering at the moment.  I'm sure there was more, but I probably got the best ones. Even so... That's a lot!

Back in the Swing (For Now)

Between last week and this week, some things I've missed photographing:

• mayapples blooming
• wasps making nests everywhere
• assuming last frost was last week -- 5/14 was in the 30's -- SUPER COLD -- we planted all the vegetables in the garden this weekend.  I did hear Tom Skilling say on the radio this morning that he thinks the warmth is here to stay.  Now if he could take the thunderstorms out of the forecast for my last camping trip, that'd be good. 
• pretty much all trees have leaves now, including ashes and oaks, our late leafer-outers
• I saw a really beautiful wood duck yesterday, just floating along by the boardwalk at Rollins Savannah

And here are some observations from the actual May 23:

Spittlebug spittle is quite common now.

Cream False Indigo blooming:


Daisies:

Alien Day

Some non-natives blooming today... Dame's Rocket.

Star-of-Bethlehem.

Blooming but not pictured:

daisies, wild roses.