We have reached late summer and the prairie continues to be bursting with ever-changing beauty. Right now sunflowers of many types are taking center stage alongside with continuing Indian grass and big blue stem that are in bloom. Goldenrods, Asters and others are also beautiful at this time. With all these plants in bloom now is a very good time to visit your local prairie or take a look on Iowa’s wonderful restore roadsides. This picture above is from the Annett Nature Center prairie just south of Indianola which I had the pleasure of visiting for the first time this week. This is not a remnant prairie, but actually a restored prairie but it is one of the most diverse restored prairie I’ve ever come across making this a must see prairie.

 

Here is a look at the Cumming Prairie remnant as a whole. The springs burn has really made this remnant start to come back to life! However with the ragweed in bloom it is really easy to see where invasive weedy species are trying to overtake this beautiful piece of land and it is especially evident on the hill along the east side of the prairie. With continued quarterly burns that should easily begin to see natives fill back in on their own.

 

Yellow seems to be the color flower of late summer as most of the flowers blooming in the prairie right now are yellow. Not only that but many of them are sunflowers. The Tick Tooth Sunflowers one of the sunflowers in bloom and is abundant not only throughout the edges of this prairie but they can be easily found along the entire trail.

 

Swamp Sunflower. Not a nice name for such a beautiful plant! These are seen on the eastern edge of the prairie right along the trail. They are shorter than typically seen but also smell great.

 

Stiff Goldenrod looks much different then the showy goldenrod you likely have blooming in your fields right now. These have a rounded leaf and look more almost more succulent-like. The presence of stiff goldenrod is a very typical sign of a prairie remnant. These plants are rare and only seen in prairie remnants or very well done restorations. Both showy and stiff Goldenrod are very important for late summer monarch butterflies as a food source.

Ionic flower of late summer, The New England Aster offers a different color to the trail flowers besides yellow. This is not blooming in the prairie but along the great western tail it’s self just as you enter the trail head going south at Cumming. These flowers are beautiful purple, attract butterflies and smell nice. Asters are this weeks only plant that is widely available for retail sale and are one of the most important for offering late summer color.

 

Another beautiful little purple colored flower. This is Ironweed and it was also not found in the prairie it’s self but along the trail between where the prairie is and the trail head. Another rare plant not seen often except for established areas. These were lucky enough to be located in small strips of prairie about 2 feet wide along the path in parts of the trail that have not yet been taken over by weedy trees.