Summer is Browning

Browning Leaves

Browning Leaves © 2008

Out and about this Labor Day weekend, always seems like this is the last weekend of summer, though the calendar insists otherwise. But studying the prairie signs on this morning’s hike, everything looks very fall-ish. Seeds are turning dark and scattering, the asters are beginning to show purple, berries are ripening, and the leaves are turning a soft shade of brown.

Simply Marigolds

Marigolds

Garden Marigolds © 2008

…sweet and snappy. And filled with pure beauty. And in autumn’s brighter colors, too.

Black-Eyed Susans

Balloonflower

Black-Eyed Susans © 2008

Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there.  ~ Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732

I think Thomas Fuller made a very true observation.

Since it is raining, with some much needed rain, thought I would post some sweet Susans from my backyard garden. A touch of sunshine in these ladies, no matter how inclement the weather.

What’s Blooming in the Prairie?

Thistles in the Blue

Thistles in the Blue © 2008 Bo Mackison

Thistle, prickly to the hand and quite noxious to other plants as it tends to take over and monopolize the land to the detriment of other plants. The name “thistle” is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “to stab” – the plant is appropriately named, full of thorn set as a defense against crawling creatures after the flowers’ extremely sweet nectar. Birds and butterflies can easily approach though, and goldfinches are especially fond of both the seed as food and the down as nesting material.

Butterfly Weed

Butterfly Weed © 2008 Bo Mackison

Butterfly Weed, as the name implies, is an irresistible plant for butterflies. The huge domes make lovely landing pads and dining palaces for many adult butterflies and the foliage feeds the larvae of the monarchs. It is the orange member of the milkweed family.

Queen Anne's Lace

Queen Anne’s Lace © 2008 Bo Mackison

Queen Anne’s Lace, also called Wild Carrot. Its leaves, stem and root taste and smell like the garden carrot, its taproot can be eaten as a vegetable or roasted as a “coffee”. And legend says that if the “flowers of the lace are mixed in sweet red wine and drunk long into the evening” it acts not only as a love potion, but also as a contraceptive. Can’t speak for or against that lore.

Milkweed

Milkweed © 2008 Bo Mackison

The Common Milkweed might as well be called the Monarch Butterfly Plant, as it is essential to all stages of that butterfly’s existence. They lay their eggs on the plant; the caterpillars spend their entire lives feeding on the leaves. Once mature, they build their chrysalises on the undersides of the leaves, and when the butterflies emerge from their cocoons, they feed on the flowers. The plant also provides protection to the Monarchs as the sap the caterpillars feed on is distasteful and keeps away predatory birds.

Opening in the Sun

Purple Cornflower Beginning Its Bloom

Purple Cornflower Beginning © 2008 Bo Mackison

A pale purple coneflower just beginning to open.

This plant is common in Wisconsin and found in dry prairies and open savannas from Nebraska and Iowa east to Arkansas and Indiana. Farther east, it is seen occasionally usually an escape from cultivation. Illegal digging represents a major threat to this plant in some regions.