Every year the prairie is different. Last year it was glutted with black-eyed Susan (rudbeckia) and this year I have hardly seen any. The burn this spring has activated seeds of flowers we’ve never seen before. Among these, the most dramatic is the rough blazing star. Wow. Even before it blooms, it is a stunner. The smooth stem is studded with baubles that burst open like fuzzy pom pons. They are popping up in pairs, scattered throughout the prairie. This prairie is 10 years old, and it’s still surprising us.
I’ve been out to photograph the blazing stars several times, and can’t quite capture their impact. This is the best photo I’ve got.
It also shows the prairie sage and some of the big bluestem.
The prairie has really had everything, often in small sprays– purple coneflowers and a couple types of yellow coneflowers, including one a friend from Texas calls Mexican hat for its sombrero-like cone. The bergamot and most of the purples have faded, although there are still occasional sprigs of blue vervain here and there, and of course the blazing stars just coming alive. What is really prominent now is the goldenrod, really a fall flower, which will mellow into the browns of lat
e autumn.
I also don’t remember seeing this particular variety of sunflower (Maximillian sunflower) rising above the prairie. I think it has just been there in such large quantity that it didn’t stand out like it is this year.
Also, there have been so many pollinators I swear I can hear a buzz even standing next to the house. Of the bees we’ve been landlording, one colony never really got started (they discovered flies got 
in and laid maggots in June and took the box away), but the other seems to be thriving. I hope these prairie bees, which are also active in the vegetable garden, and which are loud and attentive though not aggressive, are the ones in the honey hive. They seem a vigorous bunch.
I swear, it’s been among the most beautiful summers in the prairie. There has been nothing especially dramatic, just these small pleasures you have to walk out to see. Still, especially in the evening, I could sit and look at it for hours.
Stunning individual shots, then all together so peaceful and graceful and purposeful! Your prairie is food for the soul and spirit 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
When I came to visit on the 1st of August, I was shocked at the view. Marvelous indeed and I wished I could have gazed upon it much longer. Coming from the prairies of ND, it brought me back to when I was six years old and frolicking the hills near my house. Thanks for making this chunk of the world so much better.
Thanks, DeAnn. Was that the first time you were here in summer? How lucky you are to have grown up on real prairie. Also, I keep thinking of you and laughing– I told you that tomato plant in a pot by my door was a bigger tomato but the fruit was maybe smaller because of the pot size. Doh! I clearly lost track of the ID tags on the tomatoes when I transplanted them because that is obviously a cherry tomato plant! I remember wondering why it was “indeterminate.” My peppers are also a mess– not at all what I thought I planted!
Thanks, Kathy. The photos don’t even do it justice.
They WERE cherry tomatoes?! Oh dear. Well, I’ll forgive you for lying to me but just this once.
I’ve been to your place during other summers but this summer seemed especially breathtaking. 🙂 Stunning really…