Spring is a season of extremes. Temperatures have fluctuated between the low 20’s and the low 80’s (Fahrenheit) over the last couple weeks. That has to make life interesting for prairie animals and plants…
We’re still on the early edge of wildflower blooming, but activity has been ramping up slowly. Many of first round of flowers are going now, though most are still blooming mainly in areas cattle grazed short last year. Temperatures this weekend and next week should bring out the rest, including in the shadier/thatchier areas.
Last weekend, Kim and I went to Gjerloff Prairie on a pleasant evening. Kim was there to run trails and I was there to find flowers and just get a pulse of the prairie. Flowers were still pretty scarce that evening. A few ground plum (Astragalus crassicarpus) were blooming, along with a few isolated plants of other Astragalus species. I was hoping for prairie dandelions (Nothocalais cuspidata) but only found four blooming plants (all on grazed south-facing slopes). After walking most of the prairie to make sure there weren’t more, I returned to the biggest patch (3 plants) spent at least half an hour photographing them from various angles and perspectives.
We had a dusting of snow Monday night so I zipped out to our family prairie Tuesday morning to get some photos before it melted away. When I arrived, the temperature was still well below freezing, so I wore my insulated coveralls for what I hope was the last time this spring (though I haven’t packed them away yet).
Spring flowers are awfully tough, aren’t they? The 23 degree F temperatures and a light covering of snow didn’t seem to phase them at all. As with Gjerloff prairie, most of the flowering plants I found were where grazing had been most intense last year. Shadier areas were still pretty dormant.
I also checked out a big patch of wild plum shrubs at Lincoln Creek, here in Aurora. It was pretty cool out, but I was hoping to find at least a few pollinators using the flowers. When I arrived, I got to watch a queen bumble bee work her way through the patch, but once she left, I only saw a couple of flies, and only one of those seemed to be interested in the flowers. I might head back over this weekend when it’s warmer and see what’s moving then.
I hope you’re enjoying spring wherever you are too. This winter seemed like one of the longest in memory. I’m really looking forward to a summer full of exploration!
The Prairie Ecologist 
I put Ground plum in almost all my seed mixes and it is almost never available. It is a difficult seed to find in MN, as is veiny pea…and others. I keep asking for them knowing they are not available in the hopes that a market is shown and seed is sought by vendors.
It’s a funny species to harvest from. I haven’t figured out why it makes fruits and why it doesn’t. We had one banner year in 2001 and collected 20 or 30 gallons of pods from about 15 acres or prairie. That same site has never produced more than a handful of fruit/seed since then. We got good establishment from the seed we did harvest that year but I’d love to get more seed too.
My guess would simply be that a plant flowering so impressively early needs a very warm spring with absolutely no frost to set seeds.
The first, ‘uphill’ photo of the prairie dandelion is marvelous. Our so-called false dandelion belongs to the genus Pyrrhopappus ; the flowers resemble chicory. This one has double appeal — the flowers are pretty, but those leaves are terrific.
Hi Chris, Your photos are fantastic, especially love your lead image of the dandelion and your close-ups of the bee and the white plum blossoms.
Lovely pictures. It’s incredible how plants and flowers, and especially insects like bees and even butterflies, can survive freezing conditions. The real vikings :-)
First Prairie flower to flower for me this year has been Prairie Violets. But the cluster that flowered are in a sheltered favorable micro climate. Other prairie violets in less favorable areas are just coming out of the ground.
I have noticed the differences in several woodland flowers too. Bloodroots for example haven’t come up yet but I have one patch of them that is just setting seed pods already.
Its been an odd spring, very uneven plant growth.
Cory, I have Veiny Pea in a couple of places in my woods, they like burns and the deer like them too. They are up and get about 6-10″ tall and the deer browse them down. I have thought of fencing the area to see how their growth responds. Too many deer to eliminate them.
Don’t forget that deer is an important part of the ecosystem.
They have become a detriment to the ecosystem in much of their range. To the point that they will eliminate many species of plants due to browsing. Many studies and methods have been done to exclude deer from the ecosystem to the ecosystems benefit.
Trouble is their is a lack of natural predators in much of their range and the human predator has proven ineffective. Humans prefer to harvest the larger, healthier males of the species which does very little to control the population.
You are right, too many is just as bad as too few.
So, yes, the lack of top-predators like wolves in the ecosystem is a problem.
Any missing species is a problem, just that we don’t know much about how.