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When I was young, my siblings and I would play leaf catch. The goal was to catch as many leaves as you could falling from the trees. I hold onto that memory, revisiting it each and every year as the leaves let go.

Walking in the prairie is like I'm dreaming. There's distant out-of-reach white noise from far off streets. A gentleness to the wind, though I feel the brisk of autumn on my exposed hands holding the camera. An almost in focus wash of morning sun filters through the fronds and stems of grasses and yesterday's blooms.

Native plantings are not without maintenance. There is a natural reforestation that wants to happen. Prairie burns are often used to control their growth, setting the cherry, maple, hackberry, and mulberry back so the deep rooted prairie plants can enjoy less competition. Burns in the suburbs are not often recommended, and so we cut these tree saplings every so often.

Getting close to the native plants puts me in there on their scale. On the scale of bees and lacewings. It's a different world up close. Noticing the small bits of yellow coneflower pedals and broken seed pods is an interesting exercise. It takes some time to acclimate to the smaller scale of this world. But then, suddenly, there are miniature scenes everywhere.

Each week, the native planting captivates and surprises me. From a distance, it's a field of browns and whites, a bunch of spent blooms, but within are these perfect little scenes. Nature's interior designer is quite competent. Not to say there isn't maintenance happening. Recently, Anne has been cutting back some of the common goldenrod seeds to keep them from taking over the space. The golden...

There is an old oak near the prairie. It sustained major damage from an intense wind storm a few years ago, but it's still going. It casts shadows where its branches extend over the native planting, creating different conditions for certain species to adapt or grow elsewhere. The walnut trees are to the north and far enough away so as to not cause major issues. Yes, the nuts will find their way...

Crickets and the neighbor's dog replace the morning bird songs. Early evening as the sun sets on the prairie provides a new sound scape and visual variety. Backlight and glowing edges are everywhere. Pollinators shine as they flit near the lens. The asters and goldenrod and grasses paint the prairie in muted tones. Only twelve more days until it is officially fall.

It is nearly September. Every bloom at this stage feels like a gift. There wasn't much blue vervain in the prairie this year. But the little patches that I did see created quiet corners. This is where I might hang out if I were a tiny prairie creature. Asters and goldenrod demand most attention and I need to look more intentionally to find my compositions. The sun rises more quickly it seems an...

There are at least two goldenrod species in the prairie: common and showy. There are at least two species of praying mantis in our area, but the invasive and larger variety is the one we see most often. We've been catching and releasing these amazing bugs at parks in the area. Probably a futile effort, but after finding piles of monarch wings in the prairie, taking some action felt better than ...

The combination of new and spent blooms create lovely combinations. The dark heads of dried cone flowers stand in dark contrast to the glowing feathery golden rod. The blue and orange of the Smooth Blue Aster predict an early Fall. But then everything was early this year.

The morning sun begins brushing the prairie nearer 7am now. Birds must compete with the tires rolling on nearby thoroughfares. The suburban noise isn't too noticeable when I focus on the vignettes in front of me. A tall yellow bloom stand as sentry identity unknown. Different varieties of goldenrod are about to say hello. Button Blazing Star has been lighting up the lower portion of the meadow....

The prairie can be subtle sometimes. Hoary Vervain hides beneath the giants of the meadow. It blooms like like reverse sparkler, only a bit at a time, up from the base. Unlike the new liatris variety demanding and receiving its fair share of attention. Cone flowers continue to march on toward autumn. One compass plant is blooming though it was knocked over with recent rains. I spotted an impres...

The train whistle was carried well into the prairie this morning. We had some heavy rains recently that have plastered plants sideways. It changes some of the vistas into the middle. More spent flowers pull my attention away from the showy blooms. And yet the blooms do not disappoint. Even as some cone flower is dried and done, more continues to open. A new aster was spotted. A yet to open liat...

I thought I'd be featuring culver's root this morning, but the Liatris had other plans for me. It's been teasing a bloom for several weeks now. Priming me to pay attention, though difficult to avoid at this stage. The prairie as a whole is noticeably entering a new phase where seed heads are becoming more prominent adding texture and browns to the greens, yellows and purples. I was a little slo...

Yes, Yellow Coneflowers!

Rattlesnake Master Don't Bite

Wild Bergamot Wows

Navigating Cone Flower Rivers

A Morning Walk with Butterfly Milkweed

Pale Purple Cone Flowers Begin

A Butterfly in the Prairie

What's Blooming in the Prairie?

Lupine Blooms