Still, There are Blossoms

Aromatic Asters

Prairie Color in Asters © 2012 Bo Mackison

“What is seen by the eye is transformed and colored by the vision of the mind.” ~ Robert Wade

These asters are my favorite of all the asters. Not delicate and petite, but rather “in your face” and frazzled, full of the spirit that they require as one of the last flowering prairie plants of the autumn. They can manage a bit of stress, too. They can survive a mild frost easy enough, though once a hard frost hits, the prairie fades from golden and russet to deeper shades of brown. The flowers’ pale, shrivel, and drop upon the prairie earth.

So when I walk in the prairie as the season turns (officially) from summer to autumn, I always check on how the spirited, aromatic asters are doing. I smile at the bits of color left in the prairie, those blossoms of bright purple.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Walking in the prairie is a walk for the senses and a balm for the depleted soul.

In Glorious Detail

Allium - In Glorious Detail

Allium - In Glorious Detail © 2012 Bo Mackison

Nature is not a place to visit, it is home.  ~ Gary Snyder

I have reached a lull in flowers. How is that possible? The peonies are not quite in bloom yet, the lilacs are gone. My perennial garden is full of foliage, but not a single flower has shown its colors though it is early to expect anything to be blooming in mid-May. I’ve seen a few iris in bloom, but only on private property. And so I reach back into my photo catalogs and pull out another allium photograph.

(I finally have my external hard drives back from the computer magician and they are in working order – yay!)

Couldn’t result pulling out the detail in this single allium, especially since the top flowers and the two largest flowers in the center of the florets were in focus, and so remained natural. The other florets took on an outlined effect. I love the overall wispy effect.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Bo enjoys her large catalog of allium photographs as she discovers new ways to post-process this simple flower.

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

Buenos Aires Grassland

Buenos Aires Grassland © 2012 Bo Mackison

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona is 118,000 acres of grassland, mountain ranges in the background, riparian corridors rippling through the land. The habitat, a semi-arid grassland, is land of the masked bobwhite quail and pronghorn antelope, both of which are being re-introduced in the region. Grasses once filled the Altar Valley, and are now maintained and restored by prescribed burns.

The Pleasures of Simplicity

The Pleasures of Simplicity © 2012 Bo Mackison

In the 1800s, Altar valley was open grassland. Pronghorns had free range, falcons and hawks filled the air with their swooping, gliding, and soaring.  Mexican wolves, black bears and jaguars roamed in the grasses, traveling the corridors between the mountain ranges.

Poppies at Buenos Aires NWR

Poppies at Buenos Aires NWR © 2012 Bo Mackison

Then the Valley began filling with small towns and ranches in the 1860s, and the delicate balance maintaining the ecosystems gradually suffered. As ranchers expanded and grazing bared much the grasslands and exposed the land to the monsoon rains, erosion of the barren soils quickly followed.

With the grass gone and natural fires suppressed, mesquite gained a foothold. The grassland no longer supported the masked bobwhite quail or aplomado falcon. Pronghorn, wolves, bear, and jaguar were hunted or trapped.  Lehmann’s lovegrass, a non-Native grass, was introduced in the 1970s to help stop erosion. But this poor substitute for native grasses and now considered an invasive species, did nothing of benefit.

 Spring in Arivaca Cienega

Spring in Arivaca Cienega © 2012 Bo Mackison

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1982 to re-establish the grasslands habitat and protect the Arivaca Cienga ( spring fed marshy area) and the Arivaca Creek and its watershed, and important resource for the several hundreds of kinds of birds that either live in the region, migrate through, or winter over.

The area is again lush with grasses. The wildflowers are abundant — Mexican poppies turn areas golden with bright color, purple bunches of Verbena add contrast.

A beautiful place, an important resource to protect and preserve.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC, living and photographing in southern Arizona. There are days Bo wanders the roads and imagines pronghorn ranging, wild and free.

Pale Purple Coneflowers

Prairie Flowers Pale Purple Conneflowers

Pale Purple Coneflowers © 2010 Bo Mackison

My first wander through the Wisconsin prairies this summer – a feast of color. The pale purple coneflowers were in full bloom and danced merrily with huge stands of  orange milkweed. There were a few tall yellow compass plants, towering a good five or six feet high and bright orange wood lilies, too. Plus the waving grasses.

I so love the prairie in bloom.

Purple Blaze

Purple Blaze © 2010 Bo Mackison

Purple Blaze © 2010 Bo Mackison

Spending the day in hospital waiting rooms while a loved one has surgery. Not serious — a cranky knee with a few torn bits that needs some repair. Wish us luck!