Join Me for a Short Hike on a Misty, Summer Morning

(It's Wordless Wednesday and Wildflower Wednesday! Join the fun!)

Mesmerizing Views: The Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

For those who've taken road trips across the U.S., do you take a northern or a southern route? Over the years, we've tended to drive through Iowa and Nebraska on our way to family reunions and gatherings in Colorado and New Mexico. A few times, we've taken the southern route through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, and the panhandle of Texas.

But for some reason, I'd always wanted to drive through Kansas. I'm fascinated by it. It's the middle of the country, in so many ways. I don't know...maybe it stems from watching "The Wizard of Oz" as a kid and wondering what the vast, open prairies of Kansas actually look like (in reality, it was filmed at MGM Studios in California).



So, I talked the fishman into driving through Kansas on the way to and from our family reunion last summer. After seeing dramatic views at the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Ariz., Monument Valley, Durango, Colo., and the Four Corners area, one might think Kansas would seem ho-hum.



Au contraire--at least for me. While all those destinations were awesome, Kansas was nifty, too. We took a side trip on the way home to stop at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, which protects a nationally significant 11,000-acre remnant of the once vast tallgrass prairie that covered 170 million acres of North America. Today, less than 4% remains, mostly in the Kansas Flint Hills.

Depending on the source, and the specificity of the data, the North American tallgrass prairie stretched from Manitoba south through Eastern Oklahoma and parts of Texas, and from Nebraska east through Indiana and parts of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennesee. This was prime bison country, and to see a map of where the bison once roamed is mind-boggling. (Sadly, the bison area of the preserve was closed off the day we were there, although I've seen bison in other locations.)

Of course, my first priority was to study the prairie plants at the preserve. Since Southern Wisconsin includes Oak Savanna and Prairie plant communities, most of the plants at the preserve also are native and commonly found here. What I didn't expect was the smaller size of these plants in Kansas--likely due to somewhat lower precipitation levels, difficult soil conditions (rock and clay), and a harsher, more windy habitat than in my area.

It's a testament to their toughness, though, that these plants survive and thrive in the severe, open prairie habitat.

Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta)

Illinois Bundleflower (Desmanthus illinoensis)

White Prairie Clover (Dalea candida)

Wavyleaf Thistle (Cirsium undulatum)

Common Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa)

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Leadplant (Amorpha canescens) and Butterfly Weed

Green Milkweed (Asclepias viridis)

Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum)

The plants were awesome, but the views were mesmerizing--prairie as far as the eye could see. The day was misty, which created an air of mystery to the landscape. If you click on the next photos, you'll get a better idea of the expansive landscape at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve--definitely worth a side trip next time you're traveling through Kansas.

Cheap Tricks and Silly Solutions

When wicked winds bend your stems and critters gnaw new seedlings, do you finish what they started ... clip the tops or trash the plants, and move on?

Wooden skewers, electrical tape, and floral tape.

Or do you break out some cheap tools and see if you can save the plants, the flowers, and the new growth?



Sometimes it's worth applying a little tender loving care, right? And if you're lucky (and there's still enough life flowing through), you'll see this:



And this:



And this:



And this:



(Of course, deadheading an established plant and spent blooms are entirely different matters.)

An Afternoon With Rockford's Roses

On a recent picture-perfect Midwestern day, I needed some rose therapy. I headed down to Rockford, Illinois, to Sinnissippi Gardens--a little over an hour’s drive from my house.

Because of the perfect weather, and the fact that it was a Friday afternoon, many people were walking dogs, jogging, and sightseeing along the Rock River, which borders the gardens.

Sinnissippi Gardens features an All-American Rose Selection (AARS) accredited rose garden with about 2,000 rose plants of 62 varieties, including the year’s newest award-winners. (Since AARS is now gone, the new roses are trialed by the American Rose Trials for Sustainability (A.R.T.S.) and Earh-Kind. See Pat's--The Common Weeder--comment at the end. Thanks, Pat!)

The rose garden adjoins the Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens complex, which I’ll share in a later post.







This summer, the gardens have an installed light show. I didn’t stick around to see it at night, but you can see highlights from their Instagram feed.



As you walk from the conservatory toward the rose garden, the views are grand.



As are the views from the rose garden back to the conservatory.



The trellis is the focal point of the rose garden and gives the entire area simple architectural interest.



A 32-foot floral clock planted with annuals changes every season.

The highlight this time, for me, was the roses, and I lost myself in the beauty for a few hours. Here’s a sampling of the roses, in no particular order:

'Winnepeg Parks' Canadian Shrub Rose

'Wild Ginger' Griffith Buck Shrub Rose

Unmarked Floribunda

'Sweet Fragrance' Grandiflora

'Sunshine Daydream' Grandiflora

'Strike It Rich' Grandiflora

'Serendipity' Griffith Buck Shrub Rose

'Rainbow Sorbet' Floribunda

'Queen Elizabeth' Grandiflora

'Prairie Clogger' Griffith Buck Shrub Rose

'Nearly Wild' Floribunda

'Modern Fireglow' Canadian Shrub Rose

'Honeysweet' Griffith Buck Shrub Rose

'Flamingo Kolorscape' Shrub Rose

'Easy Does It' Floribunda

'Prairie Star' Canadian Shrub Rose

'Double Knockout' Shrub Rose

'Hawkeye Belle' Griffith Buck Shrub Rose

'Dick Clark' Grandiflora

'Cinco de Mayo' Floribunda

'Morden Blush' Canadian Shrub Rose

'Cherry Parfait' Grandiflora

'Glowing Peace' Grandiflora

'Champlain' Canadian Shrub Rose

'Carefree Beauty' Shrub Rose

'Aunt Honey' Griffith Buck Shrub Rose

'Winter Sunset' Griffith Buck Shrub Rose

'All the Rage' Shrub Rose

'Quietness' Griffith Buck Shrub Rose

If you live near Rockford or you're planning a visit nearby, it’s definitely worth a trip to Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens. In the summertime, be sure to check out the rose garden.

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Happy Independence Day to friends and gardeners in the U.S.! And to everyone: Peace be with you.