Tag: native plants

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Dirty Work

By Christian Begeman

I have to admit that my photography hobby could fool people at a casual glance. If you didn’t know me and happened to catch me when the photography muse strikes, I could forgive you for thinking that my elevator may not reach top floor. What other passion takes you out in the middle of clear, moonless nights for hours at a time miles from home … on a weeknight? What other hobby causes a grown man to sprawl spread eagle on the open prairie, awkwardly avoiding cactus and cowpies while brushing off bloodthirsty creepy crawlies just to get the best angle of light on a flower?

I’ve ripped countless jeans in far too many places from pesky barbed wire or simply awkward positioning in the heat of the photography moment. I single handedly keep insect repellent companies in business during the summer. I’ve gone to work looking like I was in a bar fight the night before because a gnat bit my eyelid and it nearly swelled shut. I got a satisfying kick out of saying,”you should have seen the other guy … squashed him like a bug,” to any co-worker who asked (and some who didn’t). Photography is probably proving that I’m a touch on the crazy side.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed by country churches and stormy skies. There is something, however, that can break me away even from those pursuits. Anytime I spot a patch of blooming wildflowers, I can’t help but grab a camera and start shooting. When I can get flowers with a country church, then it’s near photographic nirvana.

It’s been a late and wet spring. That means wildflowers have been going strong this year. I took a trip in late May to the western half of our state and found hillsides in bloom in Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park. On my way back east, I stopped at Sica Hollow State Park to find more woodland beauties. Most of the spring flowers are done now, but the sunflowers, coneflower and prairie roses of early summer are out just waiting for you take their photos. Here are a couple suggestions on shooting wildflowers to get you prepared:

  • If possible, buy or borrow a macro lens. These lenses are engineered to allow very close focusing, which allows small buds and petals to appear large and detailed in a photograph. The first time I put on one my camera, I didn’t want to take it off for days. It can transform how you see a flower or even a bug.
  • Make use of a wide angle lens. Shooting as wide as possible does two things: it makes your depth of field rather big so more of the scene will be in focus, and it allows you to show the general area where the flowers are found. So you can show the entire hillside of flowers instead of just a few.
  • Don’t be afraid to get dirty. Anybody can shoot a flower from a standing eye level looking down. Interesting angles and details not always seen can be found at or below the flower’s level.
  • Watch for distractions in the shot. I’ve been frustrated more times than I like to admit when I notice an odd piece of grass in the composition that I didn’t notice while shooting. It is easy to get so focused on the flower that the surrounding details don’t get noticed. This is a tough one for me, but it pays to pay attention to everything in the frame.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Eating Wild Cactus

Wild plants like the prickly pear cactus have served many purposes

By Ruth Steil

Prickly pear cactus thrive in dry conditions on slopes and hills, like these yellow flowered cacti found along Highway 1804 near Fort Pierre. Photo by Chad Coppess/S.D. Tourism.

As a young boy Joe Delvaux spent school years with his mother in Yankton and summers with his father in Pickstown, a government town built in the 1950s to house the families of construction workers at Fort Randall Dam. But by the 1970s, Pickstown had dwindled from a high of 5,000 people to less than 100. It could be a solitary setting for a kid who was a”big city” implant.

Delvaux spent hot South Dakota summer afternoons roaming the sun-baked hills surrounding the Missouri River with two older brothers who pointed out plants and insects.”It became natural for me to notice vegetation and to look under rocks,” he says.”It was what we were about and who we were.”

Plants held less interest for Delvaux when he entered high school and later college. But in the summer of 2001, when the National Parks Service opened an office in Yankton, he took a position as a Seasonal Park Ranger.”We were given the freedom to connect an interest to the public and plants were my interest,” Delvaux says.”I got a small library of books to read and took them into the field with me to collect specimens.” He drove back roads and hiked meadows looking for buffaloberry, sumac, sage and chokecherry.

Photo by Stephen Gassman.

His research evolved into a park program called Cultural, Medicinal and Edible Plants along the Missouri River. Delvaux often tells his classes about how Meriwether Lewis was introduced to the benefits of chokecherry. During the 1804 expedition, Lewis became very ill with fever and diarrhea. He’d tried the medical treatments of his time, including bleeding, with no alleviation of the symptoms. But then he made some tea from the bark of the chokecherry. He felt so much better that he hiked several miles the next morning.

Prickly pear is among the edible plants that Delvaux brings for the class to sample. It can be found throughout South Dakota and most Western states. He harvests the cactus pads from plants in ditches by Pickstown, near places he wandered as a youth.

Kay Young says in her book Wild Seasons: Gathering and Cooking Wild Plants of the Great Plains that prickly pear cactus pads and ripe fruits are not poisonous — it’s the spines and glochids (barbed hairs) that pose a danger. She recommends handling the pads with tongs or pliers when washing and preparing them. She singes older pads over a flame to remove spines and glochids before cooking, but cooks young pads just as they are, removing the stickers once the pads have cooled.

Delvaux prepares the prickly cactus for his class by filleting the outer skin off the pads, rinsing away the gelatinous juice, patting the pads dry and then cutting them into bite-size pieces.”I’ve cooked it a couple of times — battered it and fried it, but I really prefer it raw and chilled,” Delvaux says.”Fried it tastes a little like fried green tomatoes.”

Cactus Salad

6 cups prickly pear cactus pads, cut into 1/2 inch squares
3 bunches green onion
7 tablespoons salt
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
2 medium plum tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup white onion, finely chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
Juice of two Key limes
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano

In a medium stockpot, cover the pads with at least three inches of water. Add a bunch of green onions and two tablespoons salt and bring to a rolling boil. Let boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into colander. Discard onions and rinse pads in cold water until cool. Repeat the boiling twice using the remaining green onions and four tablespoons salt. This will remove the slimy stuff from the cactus pads. You will now have half the amount you started with.

Mix diced pads, jalapeno, white onion, tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, oregano and remaining teaspoon salt. Let stand 45 minutes for flavors to blend.

— Recipe From I.M. Cowgirl Magazine

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story is revised from the July/Aug 2010 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order this back issue or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.

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A Capitol Spring

By John Andrews

The state capitol in Pierre is a colorful place in spring. Winter’s subtle grays and browns give way to lush greens and vivid reds, pinks and purples. The capitol grounds change every year, as new flowers, shrubs and trees take root. Tree care specialist Kevin Johnson always has something different in mind.

“We want to present a very colorful entrance that holds people’s interest,” Johnson says. That means careful planning and a lot of man-hours in selecting new plants and finding ways to arrange them. This year Johnson and the grounds crew will spend about a week planting 10,000 flowers around the 120-acre capitol grounds. The scheme will include a new disease-resistant zinnia, petunias and salvia (a type of sage). He tries to select plants that tolerate heat and drought.”These are surrounded by parking lots, so they have to be tough little things to get through the year,” he says.

In his 16 years at the capitol, Johnson has found mid-May to be the ideal flower planting time, but the weather can still play tricks.”It’s not real pleasant being in here at 3 in the morning running sprinklers to keep frost off the flowers,” he says.”I’m at Mother Nature’s beck and call.”

Johnson also experiments with new trees. He is lining the streets near the governor’s mansion with non-fruiting spring snow crab trees. They, along with Canada red cherry trees and a few magnolias he planted last year, usually blossom in mid-May. Long-leafed catalpas develop beautiful, white flowers later in the summer.

Visitors walking the Arboretum Trail also see familiar trees like elm, ash, cottonwood, cedar and Black Hills spruce. Hilger’s Gulch, north of the capitol, is another place to find flora and fauna. Capitol Lake, the centerpiece of the capitol campus, was dug by workers in the early 1900s. Fed by an artesian well, its warm waters attract ducks and Canada geese. The gulch includes a mile-long walking trail, flower gardens and Governor’s Grove, which contains trees and markers honoring South Dakota’s governors.

There are few places in the West where visitors can enjoy the color and diversity of the state capitol in springtime.

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the May/June 2009 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.

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Good Earth State Park

Scott Korsten shared these photos from a hike yesterday in Good Earth State Park at Blood Run. The park southeast of Sioux Falls is South Dakota’s newest state park and one of the oldest sites of long-term human habitation in the United States. Early occupants of the 600 acres of land were primarily Oneota Tradition Peoples, including Omaha, Ponca, Ioway and Otto. Naturalists are restoring the area to its original grasses and wild flowers.

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Dakota’s Other Dunes

By Christian Begeman

Every year as I travel South Dakota’s roads something new surprises me. The latest example was discovering the north edge of the Nebraska Sand Hills is actually located in South Dakota. South of Martin, in Bennett County, the Sand Hills march at least seven miles across the border. When I discovered this, I looked at a topographic map and noticed the lack of roads in this region, which intrigued me. Doing more research, I stumbled across an article online that lamented the fact that hardly any photos can be found of the region in state publications or South Dakota Tourism material. Sounded like a challenge to me.

The Sand Hills eco-region is fascinating. Most of the area has never been under the farmer’s plow, mostly because no decent crops can be grown. It is just over 20,000 square miles of land that is 85% intact natural habitat. Geologists say the area used to be active sand dunes as recent as eleven hundred years ago. It is hard to imagine Sahara-like dunes in South Dakota but once you take a hike out into the hills, it is actually pretty easy to see it. The ground is soft and easy to move. The grasses and plants are not as dense as in other South Dakota grasslands, but the variety of species are surprisingly vast. It is good cattle country and many large, sprawling ranches still thrive.

Sitting on top of the vast Ogallala Aquifer, the Sand Hills boast many wetlands and small lakes throughout the rugged country. Because of this, the area has become a hugely important corridor for migrating birds. Right up against the northern edge of the Sand Hills, pretty little Lake Creek sends a healthy stream out into the picturesque valley of LaCreek National Wildlife Refuge. The US Fish and Wildlife Services maintain this important wetland area of over 5,000 acres. I spent a good amount of time traveling the refuge’s roads, hiking a few trails looking for wildlife and being surprised by brilliant wildflowers at almost every stop.

LaCreek is full of wildlife in the summer, but if birding is your thing, then the refuge is actually better visited in the spring or fall during the migratory seasons. I saw an owl, a couple eagles and a few pelicans, but these sightings are nothing compared to the numbers of birds the place hosts at migration’s high tide. Trumpeter swans are the biggest attraction — LaCreek was a key place that helped the bird’s population rebound in the United States in the early to mid-1900s. A group of cygnets (young swans) was transplanted from Montana and a new colony grew and soon thrived at LaCreek.

Although I missed the swans, I thoroughly enjoyed my two-day stay in Bennett County. The weather was hazy and humid. In the evening the setting sun resembled a molten ball of rock settling into the west. As I looked out over the wide valley and into the Sand Hills on the horizon, it struck me that this place reminded me of my visit to East Africa’s Serengeti in December 2009. I mean, there are no lions or zebras at LaCreek, but I could easily imagine a hippo or two popping out of one of the trout pools. It is funny how the mind plays tricks on you out alone under a vast South Dakota sky. Then again, there used to be real sand dunes and a desert on the southern horizon. So who am I to question South Dakota’s variety and ability to continue to surprise?

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog. To view Christian’s columns featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.


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Where the Mighty Mo Bends

By Christian Begeman

The Mighty Missouri. You can’t do a landmark series without talking about the great river that cuts our state in half. I never knew the river before the big dams were constructed. My earliest memory of the Missouri is coming down red-top hill on old Highway 20 near where the Grand River joins Lake Oahe just west of Mobridge. It was the biggest body of water I had ever seen. (This held true until I was in high school and saw the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston Island in Texas.) The Missouri is a thing of beauty even in its dammed state. The hills and bluffs on either side provide cover for wildlife and are rugged enough to have never been touched by the farmer’s plow. This means they are havens for prairie wildflowers as well.

One winter while I was in college, I was in a small plane flying to Rapid City on a moonlit night. There was snow on the ground so the moonlight made all the contours of the land visible. One of the most interesting sights I saw that evening was the meandering of Big Bend on the Missouri. It is one thing to look at the biggest bend of any river in the United States on a map, but it is quite another to view it in person.

I’ve always been fascinated by this part of the state and just within the last few years discovered the Narrows of the Big Bend area just beyond Lower Brule. In the days of the steamboat freight and fur trading on the river, the boats would stop along the eastern shore of the Missouri and allow their passengers to stretch their legs and walk the mile and half across the Narrows while the boat traversed the full bend of well over 20 miles. I often wonder what kinds of stories or adventures happened on those hikes.

A short walk takes you up onto the bluffs between the bends of the Missouri and allows great views of Lake Sharpe in both directions. Wildflowers and birds abound. I’ve never seen as much blooming yucca anywhere else in the state. I visited three times this spring and early summer to catch as many wildflowers as possible. On my most recent trip, the yucca were in full bloom and I was even able to photograph a yucca moth, which is so closely related to yucca that it is the only insect that pollinates the plants.

Further up the river is another interesting bend to visit. The Mighty Mo seems to bend to the west to meet the Cheyenne River some twenty miles west of Onida. I’ve heard the view looking west from this area called Sunset Point, as one can see for miles down the Cheyenne from the high hills of the Little Bend narrows. The first time I visited this area was a brisk day in November. Lake Oahe was deep blue against the tan and brown bluffs. The view was just as exquisite when I visited again this spring. I tried my luck at Sunset Point, and although the sun sets quite a bit to the northwest this time of year, the scenery was still spectacular.

I’ve spent a lot of time enjoying the fishing and water recreation that the Missouri River system offers South Dakotans, but have just recently realized what a treasure the hills and bluffs that neighbor the mighty lakes are. Hiking the bluffs seem to take me back to an earlier time. With each step, the sounds of civilization seem to get lost behind the hills, leaving just the wildflowers and wind to keep me company — a little bit of heaven on earth for me.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog. To view Christian’s columns featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.


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Between the Prairies and the Mountains

By Christian Begeman

Earlier this spring I rode with retired Bureau of Land Management Biologist Chuck Berdan to view and photograph Greater Sage Grouse mating displays. Along the way we started talking about interesting places in South Dakota for a photographer to visit. He told me that I needed to visit the Hogback and Racetrack surrounding the Black Hills in the springtime. This bio-diverse area, located where the plains meet the mountains, is full of wildflowers and wildlife — just what the doctor ordered for an outdoor photographer like me. The problem was that I had not heard about these landforms before. After further explanation by Chuck and some research in a few books about geology, I learned that I have indeed spent a lot of time on the Racetrack and crossed the Hogback numerous times without even realizing it.

When I was a kid, my family lived in Ziebach County. Whenever we drove down to Sturgis to visit my aunt and uncle, I distinctly remember coming into town on Highway 34 and going through steep cliffs just after passing Fort Meade. The hills and ridges that formed those first cliffs is the Hogback. I also remember that the rest of Sturgis was nestled in a somewhat wide valley with red dirt before the hills of the Black Hills really got going. This red valley is the Racetrack.

Chuck told me the Fort Meade Recreation Area was a great place to explore the Hogback. There are basically two areas to explore: the ridge portion south of Sturgis that borders Alkali Creek and the prairie portion to the north of town that goes right up to Bear Butte State Park. This area is steeped in history as well as culture. As you hike the trails, it is easy to picture yourself in the days of the Old West. There are stagecoach tracks visible and cavalry jumps still in place. There is even the grave of Curly Grimes, an outlaw buried where he was shot — on the shoulders of the Hogback just west of the campground.

If you take a larger step back into history and culture of the Native Americans, the place has an even more interesting story to tell. According to Lakota legend, the red valley Racetrack surrounding the Black Hills was created with the blood of animals in a great race. The buffalo won the race and was determined the supreme animal on the plains and sacred to the Lakota.

As for me and my camera, Chuck was absolutely right. The place is full of wildflowers and colorful birds and butterflies. I was surprised that a recreation area so close to a well-known South Dakota town was so unknown. The campsite on Alkali Creek was not even half full on the Saturday that I was there. I did, however, get to meet Sandy, the campground hosts’ three-legged dog. She had lost her 4th leg to a copperhead snakebite in Texas, but this injury didn’t faze her at all as she hiked happily with her owners. My guess is after an ordeal with a copperhead, an occasional encounter with the prairie rattlers that inhabit the Hogback and Racetrack probably wouldn’t scare her a bit … which is more than I can say for myself. Regardless, I plan on going back to the area in the fall to see what it looks like when the leaves of the trees turn. The time between seasons is always beautiful. Fittingly, I’m sure it will be even more so in this place between the prairies and the mountains.


Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog. To view Christian’s columns featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.

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Rediscovering the Spirit of Exploration

By Christian Begeman


On a sweltering August day in 1804, Lewis and Clark led a small group of men from their camp near the Missouri River on a nine mile hike northward into the prairie. Their destination was Spirit Mound, the last hill on the extreme end of Turkey Ridge in southeast South Dakota. In the early 1800s, the names Turkey Ridge and South Dakota were yet to be, however, the Spirit Mound was well known among the Plains Indians in the region. Strange stories about the inhabitants of the hill enticed the explorers to make the journey.

Clark’s journal records,”… and by the different nations of Indians in this quarter is suppose to be the residence of Deavels. That they are in human form with remarkable large heads, and about 18 inches high, that they are very watchful and are arm’d with sharp arrows with which they can kill at a great distance; they are said to kill all persons who are so hardy as to attempt to approach the hill; they state that tradition informs them that many Indians have suffered by these little people. So much do the Maha [Omaha], Soues [Sioux], Ottoes [Otoes] and other neighboring nations believe this fable, that no consideration is sufficient to induce them to approach the hill. (DeVoto 1997, 22).

The expedition did not find the little devils of the legends but they did see a vast array of wildlife and beauty as they gazed in all directions from the top of the hill. Today, Spirit Mound is one of the few remaining physical features on the Upper Missouri River that is readily identifiable as a place Lewis and Clark visited and recorded. Nowadays it is surrounded by fertile farmland and bordered by SD Highway 19 to the east. At the southeast corner of the park, there is a trailhead to the summit with interpretive signs along the way describing not only the historical facts surrounding the mound, but also the recent efforts to restore the prairie at the base of the hill to what it once was.

Clark’s journal went on to reason that one of the factors that may have contributed to the stories surrounding Spirit Mound was that there always seemed to be a large assemblage of birds about the hill. That is still true today. From red-wing blackbirds to dickcissels and warblers to meadowlarks, the place is full of birdsong, especially in the evening.

Spirit Mound is located along one of the main highways of migrating Monarch butterflies. Every year as summer wanes, Jody Moats, a biologist with Adams Nature Preserve, conducts butterfly tagging expeditions in the small tree patch located just below the southeast shoulder of the hill. The butterflies gather to roost just before sunset. Those that are caught are gently tagged on the wing in order to study their journey as well as survival rates. Their final destination is Mexico, where it stays just warm enough in the winter for them to survive and start the whole migration over again.

Wildflowers also abound along the hiking trail to the summit. I’ve hiked the mound numerous times in high summer and always find beautiful colors along the way. From maximilian sunflowers to bright orange butterfly milkweed, it is a great place to take out a macro lens and explore. When you think about it, exploration is what places like this are all about. If you are like me, it is hard not to wonder what the landscape really looked like when Lewis and Clark climbed the hill. Time may have changed the view, but as I wander the hiking trail along the hillside, I can’t help but think that the spirit of exploration still lives on at Spirit Mound.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog. To view Christian’s columns featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.


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Spring Journal for 2013

By Christian Begeman

It is amazing how different things can be in just one year’s time. Last spring came about as early as any I can remember. I found and photographed my first pasque flower of the season on March 14 on the edge of Lake Vermillion Recreation Area. This time around, cold weather didn’t want to leave the area. I didn’t find my first pasque until May 5, nearly two months later than last year. Here’s a journal showing some of the photos I took while impatiently waiting for spring to arrive.

April 11

An ice storm that started on the 9th plunged Sioux Falls and the surrounding area into a cold mess. Thousands of people had no electricity due to downed tree branches. I guess the local wildlife had it pretty tough, too. After work, I saw a somewhat bewildered and cold rooster pheasant wandering in ice-covered corn stubble on the northwest edge of town.

April 13

Overnight, another snowfall covered eastern South Dakota. The sun finally broke through for the first time in days as I drove up to Moody County to find something interesting to photograph. On the Minnesota border, I found Salem United Methodist Church surrounded by untouched snow under a gorgeous sky. In a small creek nearby, a blue heron waded along the snowy banks.

April 20

Another weather system brought low overcast skies to the area. The area lakes were now pretty much ice free even though snow still lingered on the ground. North of Humboldt, I watched hundreds of waterfowl including many white pelicans happily fishing at a small lake. Later in the day I drove down to Union County and photographed St. Paul Lutheran Church against the low clouds. This historic church will celebrate 150 years of existence later this year.

April 22

I don’t remember seeing as many gulls in the area as I have this year. At dusk, south of Clear Lake in northwest Minnehaha County, I took a quick shot of a pulsating mass of black-headed gulls flocking as I slowly drove by.

April 24

Flurries mixed with rain and sleet moved through the area all day. The cold, wet wind smelled like spring, but still felt like winter. This lone deer watched me on a hill near Hartford, South Dakota.

May 4

The back edge of a large rain system settled in over the area. I drove north and west at sunset to an abandoned barn in northwest Minnehaha County I discovered on an earlier trip. The setting sun painted the clouds in fantastic colors just after sunset.

May 5

The weather warmed a bit, but low clouds continued to linger over the area. After church on Sunday, I caught a bit of cabin fever and drove out to check a known pasque patch in McCook County. I couldn’t find any. To the west, it looked like clear sky under low clouds at the horizon line so I decided to check a place I know in Hanson County. I wasn’t disappointed. The flowers were pretty new and not fully grown, but they were the first pasque find of the season and I couldn’t resist getting the camera out to snap their portraits.

May 7

Spring must finally be here. The smell of rain is again on the noticeably warmer air. The sound of red-winged black birds mixed with meadowlarks floated along with me as I drove the country roads, and another perfect South Dakota sunset settled in behind a prairie windmill and small, leaning outbuilding just east of Hartford, South Dakota.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog.



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Wild Idea Buffalo Co.

Cheyenne River Ranch buffalo roam freely on thousands of acres of native grasses. The ranch is owned by Dan and Jill O’Brien with a focus on grassland restoration and humanely harvested meat sold via Wild Idea Buffalo Co. Dan has been a wildlife biologist and rancher for over 30 years and is author of Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch.

Bonny Fleming captured these photos by 4-wheeler this spring. View more of her photos or purchase prints here.