Cindy
I have always had a warm spot in my heart for the Great Plains, and remember
being in thralled reading "Jewels of the Plains” as a child.
As a new young gardener, forty five years ago, I cut my "gardening baby teeth"
on the Northern Great Plains flora. Spending hours wandering across miles
of short grass prairie and badlands in search of garden worthy species. There
were many that were at home in our farmstead's, native short grass lawn and
many that were moved in.
It was always a thrill in the early spring to seek out the first blossoms of
Anemone patens ("Spring Crocus" ). The soft fuzzy buds working their way up
through the drab matted remnants of last years growth. Often seen on sloping
hay fields by the hundreds or at special sights by the thousands, before the
snow was all melted away.
Or the thrill of coming upon a clump or two of Cypripedium parviflorum var.
pubescens ("Yellow Lady's Slipper Orchid") or Cypripedium candidum ("Small
White Lady's Slipper Orchid") in a shallow moist depression, and in full bloom.
One of my favorite environments to explore were the weathered ridges, composed
of layered sandstone, the fractures filled with rich sandy loam. A better
crevice garden design I can not envision. The fractures were studded with mats
of Phlox hoodii (Hood's Phlox). Clumps of Astragalus missourensis (Missouri pea
flower), Qxytropis lambertii (Locoweed), Penstemon grandiflora (Shell Leaf
Penstemon), Echinacea angustifolia (Purple Cone flower), Liatrus punctata
(Dotted Gayfeather) and Eriogonum flavum (Yellow Buckwheat). Highlighted by
Zigadenus elegans (Death Camas), Amphora canescens (Lead Plant), and Cirsium
undulatum (Purple Bull Thistle). All tied together with a lacing of
Antennnaria parvifolia (Pussy Toes), Sphaeralcea coccinea (Red mallow) and
Campanula rotundifolia (Hairbell) (to name but a few in the vernacular from my
formative years ).
The biggest thrill is to be out walking the prairie, on a hot day and see the
snow white thunder heads billowing up thousands of feet over head. You start to
feel the breeze cooling off, all the while picking up speed from the west. The
sky darkens to a deep purple and you know the storm is heading your way. The
grass is thrashing as you are pelted by rain. No place to hide but the car!
You make a run for the car and hear the first crack of thunder!
It doesn't get much better, in experience!!
>From the High Desert Steppe
of the Great Basin and the Eastern
Escarpment of the Sierra Nevada Range
Located in Reno/Sparks,NV
[email protected]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierrarainshadow/
John P Weiser
--- On Thu, 1/13/11, Cindy Reed <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Cindy Reed <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Alpine-l] rockless rock garden, was all that other stuff
To: [email protected]
Date: Thursday, January 13, 2011, 1:26 PM
On 1/13/2011 11:25 AM, Ilse Burch wrote:
> "For every minion of the peaks there are a dozen steppe children
> growing in the dry Continental heart of all hemispheres still unknown
> to horticulture". quote used by Bob Nold
It is for these "steppe children" that I and a few others formed the
Great Plains Native Plant Society nearly 30 years ago. That and the
urge to carry on where our friend and neighbor Claude Barr left off.
After a lengthy series of adventures, we have nearly completed a
structure which will serve as the visitor center on a piece of land
where you may tramp around and see some of the unimproved native plains
flora. We hope to eventually deserve the interest of serious wildflower
gardeners.
Your visit is welcome any time - but contact us before your
arrival, as we are now open by appointment, only. With good timing you
can see many interesting little plants in bloom.
Yesterday the temperature was 20 degrees below 0 (F.), but today it
is 36 degrees above. The durability developed by eons of such
variability is likely to be more appreciated if our climate changes in
the ways some expect.
Cindy Reed, z.4 South Dakota
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