Tipton's Prairie

And on Sunday afternoon Colleen and I went to Tipton's Prairie for a guided tour. This is untouched land and what the prairie looked like before man settled in. There are spots of it here and there throughout the state but anymore you need a guide to find them or to know what you are looking at once you do.

                                     Prairie Sage

                                    Lead weed

                               The experts doing their inspecting.

                                Below:That's Ty Smedes taking photos of the pieces of the fabulously rich web of life in a tiny four acre remnant that has survived for at least five thousand years along the Raccoon River. Thanks Greene County for caring.

                                 Compass weed

                                  Compass weed in bloom

                                Butterfly weed

                           Curved horned beetle- The insect lady was glad to see him/her.

When crafting they tell us to look to nature for color combinations. This weed is a very striking soft pink and sage green.

The leaves on this plant curl up in a big way after death.

 This is Prairie Drop Seed- When Mickey and I made our trip to Minnesota we stopped at the Story City Iowa rest area at mile marker 119 on I 35 and they had a very large patch of Prairie Drop Seed at the entrance to the building. At the time I did not know what it was but I recognized it among the prairie grasses and one of the experts told me its identity. It has a very distinctive aroma I found to be pleasant but in large doses at the rest area it was also a bit overwhelming.

The whitish plant is prairie sage in the photo above and the plant in the foreground of the photo below is Blazing Star.

 Colleen is not going to be happy about the abundance of photos containing her image but she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

                 This is small Blazing Star

 This bloom is long gone but still left a beautiful image.

This was outside the prairie area. It was a 2.5 mile walk in and out of the area where the prairie is located. Cross country walking is a whole different way to go-slower but you see more.

Here are some websites of interest if you have an interest in Iowa's prairies.
http://www.northraccoon.org/North_Raccoon/RRWA.html

Eileen was the insect lady so be sure to check out her blog. It is located on the left of the page. I am sure the other links on the left are equally interesting.

Mike Delaney led our prairie walk and you can find his blog here:
http://www.northraccoon.org/North_Raccoon/Delaneys_Blog.html