Yucca aka Soapweed

Soapweed Blossom

Crawford County Kansas

The yuccas we transplanted form my wife's farm are just about past blooming here is SE Kansas.
According to my wildflower book; "Small soapweed (Yucca glauca Nutt.) a member of the Agave Family is so named because the roots yield lather when pulverized and rubbed in water. Leaf fibers were used to make rope nets and mats. In addition the flowers are edible. Pollination of the species requires the small yucca moth, which collects pollen from a flower, flies to another and deposits the pollen on the stigma. The moth then lays its eggs in the ovary where the grubs feed on developing seeds. In this well balanced relationship sufficient seeds remain to ensure the survival of the yucca."
They always have been one of our favorite summer blooms, standing out against the blue sky during the bright hot afternoons.

Wheat Field

Wheat Field with Blackeyed Susans

Labette County Kansas

Skywatch Friday

After the Storm

Crawford County Kansas

To participate in Skywatch Friday visit Tom at Wiggers World for all of the details: http://womtig.blogspot.com/

Ruth Nixon Memorial Trail

Yesterday I wandered over to Big Hill Lake in Labette County Kansas. Its a nice place carefully kept by the Army Corp of Engineers. I explored a bit and found the Ruth Nixon Memorial Trail. Loaded down with tackle box, chair, fishing poles and a minnow bucket, not to mention my camera I headed into the woods from the sunny parking lot. Apparently there was a secluded fishing spot about a 1/4 mile from here.
The Ruth Nixon memorial trail meanders along the western side of the lake for about a mile. The wooded hills through which the trails pass are called the "Little Ozarks", not a typical Kansas landscape.
I stopped and listened to some songbirds high above in the trees at this old bench.
Red oaks, post oak, and blackjack oak trees provide acorns for much of the areas wildlife.
Wild plum, mulberry, hackberry, elm, persimmon, walnut and hickory make up the majority of other tree species, although others are present.

The trees were not always as plentiful before European settlers arrived here. Prairie wildfires succeeded in controlling most of the timber growth except for those right along the streams. Once the fires were controlled and the ground being too rugged to till, conditions became ideal here for natural plant succession as the prairie grasses gave way to invading trees.
As I hiked I noticed the sunlight created patterns throughout the mid day woods.
With all the rain we have had this month there were numerous small creeks running to the lake. The woods at this time of day are alive with flying insects. Despite my pleas , "hey sit still for a minute", a zebra swallowtail butterfly bounced silently from plant to plant not sitting long enough for me to get a photo. A small skink shot along a log also too fast for me to unload the fishing equipment.
At last the lake appeared. I found a sunny spot and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to outsmart the local bass, turns out they are a lot smarter than me.

Gravel Roads

Wildflowers

Crawford County Kansas

Looking South along a Gravel Road

Crawford County

We have had a rough week of storms and constant rain, the sun finally appeared late yesterday afternoon. Twice this week we had to seek shelter as the sirens sounded in our nearby town. Usually one of my daughters will call and in an annoyed and nervous voice say; "why are you guys still home don't you hear the sirens"? We jump into the car and head into town to the hospital as we have no real basement.

So yesterday when the sun came out so did I. Gravel roads are great places to walk they beat the heck out of a treadmill at the YMCA. You can find solitude and are usually serenaded by the local birds, no headphones and i-pods needed.
As i hiked along I stopped at flooded ponds and creeks, red wing blackbirds singing here. Further down the road a nighthawk sat on the top wire of a barb wire fence and watched me approach. Its rare that you see one like this. They usually are flying. As I approached it sounded a low guttural version of its call and flew when I got too close. I did manage a photo but was not at all satisfied when I enlarged the section with the night hawk, I need to get a zoom for these walks.

Wildflowers are blooming everywhere, yarrow, daisy fleabane, red clover as well as many I don't know but am learning. This wet weather has been very good to them. After such a stormy week there is somehting about coming out here that takes you to a different place, a frame of mind or even time but your not alone. Western kingbirds, dickcissels, meadowlarks, grasshopper sparrows, cowbirds, a kestrel, and even a great blue heron all join you on these gravel roads.

Summer Ditch Lillies

It wouldn't be summer without these plants. When we first moved here and built our home over ten years ago one of the first things we did to landscape was to transplant a wheelbarrow of these from the ditch by the road. Partly because we were broke and couldn't afford much else but mostly because my wife had an attachment to them.
Next to the 120 year old farmhouse that she grew up in was a huge bed of these flowers affectionately known as ditch lillies. Her mother who was born in that house couldn't remember a time when they were not there.
They greet us every June, you cant kill them. They are tough. Apparently "Heremrocallis fulva Eurpoa" naturalized from early European settlers gardens and have spread wildly ever since. Definitely invasive but for us a welcome visitor. Sterile they spread from roots sending out new growth and even a small piece of root will give it a good attempt. Ive seen gardening sites advise "do not plant in perennial beds as they will multiply and grow among them". I take more than a reasonable amount of photos of them each year. They remind us of childhood summer nights, humidity, staying out late with the longer daylight, noisy nighthawks circling overhead, and visits from old friends.

Rainy Week

Its been an wet and stormy week here is SE Kansas. Thunder storms have rumbled through at all hours for several days now bringing tornadoes to the north and south of us.

The pastures are lush and green. They remind me of the rich green cool pastures of Ireland when we visited several years ago. As I walk out I watch for crawdads making their way back to the small hills they leave and explore. There is so much water in the pasture its like walking on a sponge.
Between helping one of our daughters move and the outside chores Ive had little time for photos or hiking or fishing. Its alright though the summers just starting.
My wife's poppies seem to enjoy the cool wet spring.

The spiderwort is enjoying the wet spring immensely. I am still seeing migrant species of birds moving through. Indigo Buntings are still here, I haven't seen any Orioles yet. I watched three Scissor tail Flycatchers sitting in a drizzle side by side on the power line overhead. I'm sure they were wondering the same thing I was: "is it ever gonna let up?" Even so, May and June are two of my favorite months here in Kansas.

I know in August when its dry I will look to the west for storm clouds again but for now Id like a little blue sky.