Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Prairie Update

The front prairie is starting to take shape. At this time last year, I was digging out St. Augustine and Bermuda grass. Now I am enjoying flowers and the wildlife they attract.


Weeds continue to pop up between the four-nerve daisies, winecups, and Little Bluestem. They are easy enough to control with a daily walk through the prairie.

This is my first year to grow winecup. They had a slow start because the rabbits kept nibbling on their stems. They still keep a couple of plants closely cropped. My understanding is that winecup will fizzle out in June. It will be interesting to see what fills the void.

I have a couple of Black Samson Echinacea (Echinacea augustifolia) in the prairie. The flowers are a little smaller and not as colorful as the commercially common Echinacea purpurea, however Black Samson is the variety that grows wild in this area.
This is a plant I "resuced" from a field last fall. I did not know what it was, but it had a dried flower stalk so I brought it home to see if it was anything interesting. I think it is a type of plantago or plantain.
Here is a close up of the flowers. It is interesting enough. I just hope it does not pop up all over the place.

7 comments:

  1. My winecups are winding down in Austin. Your meadow is looking good.

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  2. Not meadow. Front prairie, I meant. :-)

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  4. I am not sure if it is a meadow or prairie. It does look a little meadowish. All I know for sure is that it is not turf grass.

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  5. how are the fuzzy bunnies liking your prairie?

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  6. Gorgeous prairie!!! And so much more alive than a lawn. I loved looking at the interspersed flowers.

    Did you plant tubers for the winecups or seeds? Our perennial winecup seeding didn't take--maybe due to deer, maybe drought...but the annual winecup seeds that went into good soil & got water came up happily. I expect them to go to seed soon.

    You were truly dedicated to dig out the grass--particularly the bermuda. And the result is spectacularly worth it. Are you keeping a butterfly log?

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  7. Hi Kathleen. I planted the winecups from four inch pots last fall. I hope they reseed. I want many more. I have not tried annual winecups yet,

    I don't have a butterfly log. I have trouble identifying the different kinds of skippers and hairstreaks.

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