The idea of a prairie update didn't work out well yesterday because I hadn't thought it through. It was too hot (no breeze because of high embankments and too many trees along the stretch of trail I'd picked). Heavy rain and high wind had been hard on the stars of the show (entirely natural, but irritating to humans who expect prairie blazing star to perform). And then there was all that poison ivy, encouraged by a moist summer and creeping out across the woodland tunnels that have to be negotiated in order to reach prairie.
Then, I mistook at a considerable distance something that wasn't for a compass plant and nearly broke my neck sliding down a near-vertical incline (why is it, it's always easier to go up than to come down?). I'll try this again later.
In the meantime, here are some of the blues, pinks and purples starring elsewhere Friday morning and earlier in the week.
You can't miss blue vervain (actually hoary vervain but I like blue better), flourishing here (top) in an open field, now public land and a buffer zone along the south side of Red Haw State Park.
And swamp milkweed yesterday morning at the marsh, with bee attached, also is a no-brainer. Monarchs are buzzing the milkweed, too; none have agreed to pose --- yet.
Even the thistles are pretty right now --- and both bees and butterflies are enjoying them; tricky to touch.
But I can't for the life of me remember what this is, hiding in the grass. Need to spend a little quality time with a wildflower identification guide.
Hazy here this morning with a little rain overnight and a 50 percent chance of more in the forecast. It may be a little too wet to hit the prairie remnants again; we'll see.
1 comment:
Could this last photo be foxglove? It's a little hard to tell from this angle, but the foxglove looks like rows of little bells hanging from the stalk.
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