Monday, August 22, 2005

FLOWERS OF THE BLUESTEM PRAIRIE

After dropping my daughter off at school this morning I took a little detour and visited the trail down the way.  I was delighted to see the prairie ablaze with color.  These evening primroses still have dew on their petals.

An interesting thing about the desert paintbrush is that the orange part is not the flower.  The blossom is actually the green stemlike piece protruding from with the orange sheath.

I tried to find the proper name for this flower, other than 'pretty yellow thing' as I have called them in the past.  My amature flower identification skills pointed me to the 'arnica', which may not be right, but it looks better than 'yellow thing'.

Liatris spicata (thanks Pookie!)
This beauty will have to remain nameless for the time being unless anyone out there knows the name of it.  I searched for an hour on numberous websites but was unable to identify it.

As I walked among the cactus and yucca this morning I found myself shaking my head in amazement that I once actually thought of Colorado at this time of year to be barren and unattractive!  It just goes to prove how much beauty there is around us if we would only get out and open our eyes.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

AMEN to that last statement!!!  In this case, you did not "stop and smell the roses, you "stopped and smelled the desert flowers, lol."  Hee Hee!

http://journals.aol.com/rjet33/CountryLivingSouthernStyle

Anonymous said...

You are going to leave me that camera in your will right??? lol
Amazing!!!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for these glimpses.  I really miss the prairie. ;)  C.  http://journals.aol.com/gdireneoe/thedailies

Anonymous said...

All those are very pretty. The yellow ones favors the daisy doesn't it? Thanks for sharing them. Helen

Anonymous said...

Colorado is such an amazing place.  Your photos are tremendous.    mark

Anonymous said...

I love your photos, they are sooooo beautiful!  You certainly have an "eye" for this picture taking "thing"!!! Thanks for sharing.  Melissa

Anonymous said...

I love your pictures. Love your Evening Primrose. We have Evening primroses but ours aren't so  delicate, they are bigger and yellow. Thanks for sharing your love of wildlife.
Sylvia
http://journals.co.uk/sylviam4000/JottingsfromtheSticks/

Anonymous said...

I think my favorite is the nameless purple flowers, they're beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Your pictures literally pop off the page at me!  Great shots, they make me feel like I am right there!  Thanks!

Anonymous said...

HI DORN, I HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT YOUR PICTURES LATELY, AND THEY ARE JUST BEAUTIFUL. I ALSO ENJOY TAKING PICTURES, AND WE ARE ON THE SAME PAGE AS FAR AS THE TYPES OF THINGS WE ENJOY TAKING PICTURES OF, THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT MINE ARE NOT QUITE AS NICE AS YOURS (I hope they will be some day I have been taking these type of pictures for 2 years and I see so much improvement from the ones I took at frist.How long have you been taking pictures?) AND THE SCENERY IS MUCH DIFFERENT HERE IN NEW ENGLAND I TAKE ALOT OF OCEAN PICTURES BUT I LOVE TAKING PICTURES OF FLOWERS AND WILDLIFE AND MY FAMILY. ANYHOW I THINK I CAN IDENTIFY THE PURPLE FLOWER BUT I MAY BE WRONG, IT LOOKS LIKE A PERENNIAL I HAVE IN MY GARDEN, AND IS QUITE COMMON HERE IN RHODE ISLAND. IT IS KNOWN AS LIATRIS spicata aka spike gay feather or LIATRIS spicata 'Kobold' (Blazing Star) THEY ARE IN ALOT OF GARDENS AROUND HERE JUNE thru JULY, AND THE BUTTERFLIES LOVE THEM, I GET SOME OF MY BEST PICTURES OF BUTTERFLIES ON MINE.If you look up that name on the internet I am sure you will get a picture of them and see if you agree if that is the same as the ones in your picture.

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