The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group, a place where everyone is welcome to note the observations you have made of the natural world around you. Insects, weather, fish, climate, birds and/or plants: all are worthy additions to the bucket. Ask questions if you have them and someone here may well have an answer.
A few miles west-northwest of Gooseville, WI
This restored mesic prairie is thriving in the middle of the Kettle Moraine State Forest-Northern Unit on an old glacial outwash plain. It's managed by mowing and prescribed burns or sometimes by a carelessly tossed cigarette.
This prairie is an old friend from my paid working days, as I once dragged a drip torch in early spring to fire-up the winter-dead grasses, sedges and forbs and then worked to exhaustion at the blackened edges of the fireline to put it out.
More often than not, in the quiet years, it offered peaceful lunchtime shade in cool shadow of the old oak that still stands there, beckoning.
We both lived through the passing of fires.
Jersey Flats Prairie
Yellow Coneflowers Ratibida pinnata
Molded by fire, extreme cold, heat and drought, prairie plants have survived by sheltering two-thirds of their growth in roots and food reserves stored deeply underground. I can smell the heavy earthiness of the unseen plant parts warming in the sun. It rained last night.
Narrow-leaved Purple Coneflower Echinacea angustifolia
Fire might consume the entire prairie plant on the surface and sweep the area black, but large root systems and underground buds allow them to spring back to life immediately. It helps to add a little rain and sunshine to the mix.
Wild Bergamot Monarda fistulosa
Most prairie plants are perennials that stake out their territory year after year. I imagine the beneficial 'stand your ground' works in prairie communities without much violence and they sort of snuggle in together anyway.
I heard an Eastern Meadowlark singing on the wind from the southwest. Sweetness, added to my walk.
Rattlesnake Master Eryngium yuccifolium
Some avoid survival extremes by completing their entire lifecycle in a few short spring weeks. I missed finding a Pasque Flower this year. It's a treasure.
Goldenrod
Culver's Root Veronicastrum virginicum
Tick Trefoil
Compass Plant Silphium laciniatum
Constant wind and abundant insect life in the prairie makes pollination easier. I'll chose the wind today, as pollinators tend to bug me when I stick my camera in their face.
Marsh Milkweed Asclepias incarnata
Prairie Blazing Star Liatris pycnostachya
I almost forgot to add the prairie dogs I walked with!
Prairie Dogs Canis lupus familiaris
Most prairie flowers don't have much of a smell. Without a bath my prairie dogs do. I hope you enjoyed this small bucket of prairie blooms. What's new in your neck of the woods?
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"Green Diary Rescue" is Back!
After a hiatus of over 1 1/2 years, Meteor Blades has revived his excellent series. As MB explained, this weekly diary is a "round-up with excerpts and links... of the hard work so many Kossacks put into bringing matters of environmental concern to the community... I'll be starting out with some commentary of my own on an issue related to the environment, a word I take in its broadest meaning."
"Green Diary Rescue" will be posted every Saturday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time on the Daily Kos front page. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.