Great Blue Lobelia

Great Blue Lobelia, Lobelia siphilitica Brilliant drops of blue sky with wispy white clouds. All atop a native perennial, sky at my fingertips. The best billboards for pollinator passersby.

Creeping into Autumn

I took this picture a couple weeks ago as the local Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) population began changing into its vibrant red garb.  Thank you, Nature!!! Virginia Creeper often gets mistaken for Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), but is 5-leaved, whereas the Poison Ivy is 3-leaved.  Both are native to this area, but I’d highly recommend

Bring back Wildflowers, Bring back Monarchs!

Orange, Black, White. In flight. Delicate beauty. Glorious sight. Please don’t disappear! Picky young eater. So no Milkweed, no Monarchs! Grow native, save lives. Learn more: The St. Louis Butterfly Project: Milkweeds for Monarchs Initiative. Bring Back the Monarchs via MonarchWatch Grow Native with Native Plants and Natural Landscaping!

Bluebell Symphony

They are here!  The Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are finally in bloom.  I walked down to the bottoms near the Meramec River at the Shaw Nature Reserve to find these wonderful spring colors filling the forest floor.  It had just rained the day before, so the cloudy day and the excess moisture certainly presented some

Spring Almost

Last week I enjoyed a solitary walk through Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center and Reserve near Kirkwood, Missouri.  All was fairly quiet.  A gentle, cool breeze swept through the bare tree branches and rattled the brown leaves still clinging to a few stubborn oaks and maples.  Leaf litter decorates the entire forest floor;  it crackles

Gift of the Goldenrod

Took a quick walk today in the unseasonably warm weather to Queeny County Park in the suburbs west of St. Louis.  In the small restored prairie, most of the growing season’s activity was done…shades of brown, dull greens, and faded reds mark the latter days of autumn.  But late-blooming plants like Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) have

Muir’s Biblical Reason for Praising Plants

On his 1,000 mile walk from Indiana to the Gulf of Mexico, not long after the Civil War ended, John Muir encountered a man who questioned his motive to study plants, or ‘botanize’ as he often put it. The man said, “You look like a strong-minded man, and surely you are able to do something

Desaturated Prairie

Here’s the last photo from my visit to Shaw Nature Reserve last weekend. Another prairie plant I’m unfamiliar with.  I suppose that makes it easier for me to mess with the saturation/contrast of the original then… The original. Let me know if you’re familiar with this plant species, genus, or family.

More Prairie, More Fall Color

One more photo from our trail walk at Shaw Nature Reserve on Prairie Day. I almost NEVER edit my photos beyond the occasional crop and resize.  The first photo, however, I thought Looked pretty good.  Here are both.  

Fall Bloomer in the Prairie

This was also in the prairie at Shaw Nature Reserve along with the Gentian (See previous entry).  It appears to be Slender False Foxglove (Agalinis tenuifolia), formerly known as Gerardia tenuifolia.  It is a beautiful native, late-season annual.