Prairie Plants
A Growing Photo Gallery
This page is the start of an ongoing project to create a photo album of the plants found in the St. John's prairie restoration.
Below, Left: Prairie phlox (Phlox pilosa) is a common early summer beauty found among the dominant grasses. Below, Right: It blooms at about the same time as hyssop (Agastache sp.).
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Below, Left: Prairie larkspur (Delphinium virescens) was a welcome find in the summer of 1998. Below, Right: Big and little bluestem (Andropogon gerardii & Schizachyrium scoparium) show off their autumn colors.
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Below, Right: False sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides) is a common and glorious mid-summer bloomer. Below, Right: Another amazing early-summer display is given by the poorly-named butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), which is pollinated by bees.
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Below, Right: Delicate flowers of harebells (Campanula rotundifolia) are commonly seen among grasses in June and July. Below, Right: Bedstraw (Galium boreale) is often found in clumps in early summer.
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Below, Left: Lead plant (Amorpha canescens) is a woody legume whose grayish foliage and delicate blue inflorescences make it strikingly beautiful. Below, Right: Though it is introduced, Echium sp. is a colorful species in early summer along firebreaks.
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The plants of the St. John's restoration project are also the sites of many small-scale ecological interactions. Below Left: A predatory lacewing closes in on a clone of aphids on a stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida). Below, Right: A camouflaged crab spider waits for a pollinator/meal to visit a false sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides).
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All photographs by Gordon Brown