This felt like the real first week of spring in our local prairies. Wildflowers are starting to pop, especially where fire or grazing has removed a lot of the thatch and the soil is warming more quickly. Both at our family prairie and The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies, bees and other early pollinators should be having an easier time finding food.
The Fellows and I spent a little time walking the prairies together yesterday after finishing a short prescribed fire. We talked about how the prairies look pretty barren from the road, and that even from 10 or 20 feet away, many of the wildflowers are hard to see. But because we were walking around and really looking, we found plenty of color. I’ve said before that spring wildflower walks are much like Easter egg hunts, and it felt a little like that yesterday too.
As temperatures in the soil and air continue to rise, so will the amount of color in our local prairies. After a long winter, watching that progression is always exhilarating.
The Prairie Ecologist 
Beautiful
Maybe a silly question, but I just moved here from New Mexico. If you get a plot of land and want it to revert back to nature, do you plant certain growy things, or do you just let nature take it back? What kind of trees grow here/are native to here?
Not a silly question at all – it’s a really important one. Shoot me an email and tell me more specifically you’re at (what part of Kansas) and I’ll help you find someone close by that can give you some good local advice. chelzer@tnc.org
Hey, thanks! I’ll send you an email soon!
I just sent you an email…thank you so much for the advice and tips!
addendum…to the area. I moved to Kansas.
Impressive to see Buffalo pea flower so early.
Chris: Katie Stevens here from Moab — we were stopped by the big March snowstorm and couldn’t make it to Platte River Prairies — but next year for sure. I just wanted to let you know that I forwarded your blog to a David Pals. He works with me at the Moab BLM, but he was with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for many years and has a real interest in prairies. I’m sure he’ll enjoy your posts — and the more scientific the better.
Keep up the good work.
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