We live on the edge of "Bluff Country," that
unglaciated corner of southeastern Minnesota, which borders the mighty
Mississippi. A limestone region carved into hills and valley's by small but
beautiful trout streams. Just a few miles to the west, the land levels out into
flat farmland and ultimately ranches, stretching a thousand miles to the Rocky
Mountains. Once, going back a little more than one hundred and fifty years ago,
it was a vast prairie grassland. There native Americans made their living
surrounded by millions of buffalo. It was, according to its first explorers,
Lewis and Clark, a veritable paradise.
I take the very short drive to Lake Louise State Park. On my
bike, camera in hand, I headed west on the Shooting Star Trail. Emerging from
the woods, in my minds eye, I could imagine antelope, vast herds of bison and a sea
of Big Bluestem grass. Actually, here the trail corridor was mostly only a hundred yards
wide. It was on an abandoned railroad right of way. Now surrounded by soybean, cornfields and pastures, I took the narrow view,
focusing on the mid-summer wildflowers along the trail. Come on along and take
a look. 
Butterfly Weed
The Prairie or Wood Lily, is extremely
rare in Minnesota. I was lucky to spot several.
Pale Coneflowers
Prairie Larkspur
.JPG)
Purple Prairie Clover
Rough Blazing Star
It was a twenty mile round trip bike ride with lots of stops for photography and one stop to stretch out and have a "prairie smoke" break. And what a rare and beautiful find they were.....:)
loved this tour! beautiful blooms - growing wild, the best kind. loved that last photo, too. :)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely gorgeous array of wildflowers! It really surprises me that all of those different species were overlapping their bloom cycles. In this area of the country they'd be much more spread out, time wise.
ReplyDeleteYou are either really know your wild flowers, or are really good at making stuff up. I'm guessing you know your stuff.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures!
150 years ago it was a very beautiful land. I like to find stretches of prairie that have not been developed.
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful! I'm impressed you know the names of all these blooms!
ReplyDeleteThat is on our "to-do" list--looks like such a great place to ride. Love the Prairie Smoke--looking forward to seeing that!
ReplyDeleteYou are in good shape to ride that far. A few years ago I could do it but not now. The flowers are lovely.
ReplyDeletePrairie Smoke... what a fascinating flower. I like the name Prairie, it's so much nicer than our Meadow.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting tour you have taken us on. You have a keen eye and good knowledge of plants.
ReplyDeleteGreat collection of prairie flowers!
ReplyDeleteWhat fabulous flowers! I especially love that last one, not just because of the wildlife, but that flower is exceptional. :-)
ReplyDeleteLoved the flowers on this bike path ~
ReplyDeletebut your GQ photo stole the show ! :)
Looks like you are having a fun Summer.
What a beautiful trip. I can imagine the folks who traveled this way so many years ago. Nature provided the lovely wildflowers that also brought healing from many ills.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really nice tour, TB. Loved all the beauty you saw and photographed. That last photo is a keeper!!
ReplyDeleteWere all those flowers from one trip? I've found many of them here, but not all at the same time.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful wild flowers. Thank you for sharing your finds. I'm thinking Hominum reclinas is the name of that last picture...rare indeed for those parts.
ReplyDeleteI could name like 2 of the flowers, sure got me beat lol great shots
ReplyDeleteWow what a great ride! Very impressive flowers!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing trail with lots of beauty. Smoke is a fun plant that I haven't got on my land. I have been looking at the cameras that mount on your handlebars or headband.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great bike trail. I love all of the flower shots, but the prairie smoke is my favorite!
ReplyDeleteI like that last "flower" shot! ;)
ReplyDeleteLovely prairie flowers. Everything looks so green and healthy.
Now that is a great patch of Prairie Smoke! You found lots of great wild flowers! :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour!
That's a good looking spot out there - and a REALLY nice mix of native plants too! We just got back from Shawnee NF (another unglaciated spot) downstate. Hope to post about it soon :)
ReplyDeleteDC
Those flowers are just beautiful. Thanks for including my favorite butterfly weed. Anything called a weed and is still lovely has my vote.
ReplyDeleteLoved the level bike trail. Now I could do that.
well that answered several of my questions! I was trying to figure out what ST John's wart was along with several others you named. I love bike rides like that or in my case walks as apparently I'm a hazard on a bike. They won't let me do anything fun. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful -- to spend such time in the glory of nature must be so rewarding. -- barbara
ReplyDelete