Prairie Parade

It seems appropriate to discuss parades on this holiday weekend. A parade is a celebration, with sequential units passing by. Each unit is unique, and we wait in anticipation for what the next display will be. As summer marches on, it reminds me of a parade. The various flowers and fruits make their appearance in predictable order.

I’ve made a few trips up to the bluff prairie this Spring and Summer, and the act is different each time. The discrete little pasque flowers always kick it off in March or April. Then we get a smattering of hairy puccoon, various violets, and other flowers in May, followed by a procession of wild columbine, prairie phlox, tall thimbleweed (anemone), harebell and others through June. But in July the spectacular acts march past: brilliant orange butterfly milkweed, purple flower spikes of leadplant, bright golden prairie coreopsis and compass plant flowers, and a flush of lavender colored wild bergamot. The explosion of color is an amazing show!  I’m curious to see which acts will come next.

My seasonal favorite fruit, the blackcap raspberry, gets to claim a spot in the prairie parade, as they are found along the edge of the prairies and in old fields and pastures that are trying to decide whether they will become woodlands or prairies. The blackcaps are finishing their act. It’s been a good one this year. I’m glad they are in the annual line-up, and I look forward to their return next year!

I am so blessed to have a front row seat to the ongoing parade of plants and fruits in their seasons, but it does make me sad when each season passes. The anticipation of the next act keeps me going, and the promise that a similar parade will return next year gives me hope.

At Iowisota, the season has become busy. I plan to go visit my kids “up north” next weekend and hopefully catch a bit of the wild blueberry act. Then I come home to host a prairie workshop by Sam Thayer on July 19 (it is full and has a waiting list). I’m teaming up with a couple other local artists to offer a kids pottery session on July 30^th. Maybe I’ll finally get some public nature hikes (I’m thinking a “women’s walk in the woods” and a “barking up the right tree” session on tree identification) on the schedule by early August.  Early September is already quite full, with the “Wildcrafted Bitters” workshop by Ellen Zachos on September 11^th, followed by me attending the Midwest Wild Harvest Festival. But watch the calendar for some additions in later September.  I’m also trying to complete a few kiln loads of my own pottery before a “Lansing Maker’s Market” on October 5^th, and we have a smattering of private retreats and other overnight guests. Sometimes it seems more like a race than a parade!

We all need to take time to celebrate each season, so don’t let it pass you by. If you want to come stay or go for a hike with us and there isn’t anything “on the schedule”, make sure you reach out and we will fit something in.