Fall Colors on the Prairie

Last weekend I took Morgan for a walk at Carleton College's Cowling Arboretum, and the prairie was so magnificent that I had to go back to take pictures. Yesterday was, in all probability, the last day of Indian Summer here in Minnesota, with a high in the mid-80's, and was gorgeous! Morgan ran for about 15 minutes before being overcome with the heat, so she walked nicely on leash for the rest of the outing.



The "Arb," as it is known on campus, stretches along the Cannon River and ranges from floodplain forest to oak savannah to tall-grass prairie. This last area is what interested me the most on this trip. When I was at Carleton 23 years ago the prairie consisted only of a hillside that began to be restored in the 1970's. Work on this area continued, and restoration of nearby areas that were originally oak savannah began in the 80's. I didn't pay much attention to further restoration efforts, so I was amazed and delighted to see that prairie restoration has exploded. When I was there in the mid-80's, Carleton owned a lot of land that was still used for crop production, but apparently not only has the land been taken out of production, but it has been aggressively restored with prairie plants. The scope of restoration, given the small hillside they started with, is breathtaking! And at this time of year, a visual delight! The photos don't really do justice to the riot of color and texture on the landscape. Remember, 20 years ago these were cornfields.




Here are a few macro shots I took of some of the prairie plants. I used to know my plants fairly well, but I have no idea what the last one it! I've never seen it before. Looks like I'll have to ask the Arb Director....