It’s wildflower season again across the Northern Plains. Lately my photography has taken me down the path of botany. Well, not fully, I guess. I’m mostly interested in flowers and florets as well as some of the myriad of creatures that can be found around or among them. That means wildflowers for sure, but also grasses, butterflies and bees, among other things. June and July are prime months to get out and search for these bits of beauty fringing the prairie grass tapestries of our region.
This spring saw good rain for much of our state, and wildflowers follow the rain. When that happens, it is hard not to fall in love all over again with the surprisingly intricate beauty of the open prairie. I was in the Slim Buttes of Harding County and the Grand River National Grasslands in Perkins County in late June. I can’t remember ever seeing more blooms there. Sego lilies, spiderwort, yucca and prickly pear, all came out to enjoy the late spring weather. While looking for pincushion cactus, I came across a new-to-me bloom called clustered broomrape. It does not have any chlorophyll and gets the nutrients it needs from host plant roots, likely sagebrush in this case. I thought plants like these only grew in forests, but the prairie proved me wrong.
Speaking of prickly pear, I don’t usually have many good things to say about that particular plant. I’ve had bad experiences stepping on, falling in or unknowingly putting my hands on this cactus in my formative years. Those are not good memories. I’ve also seen favorite pets suffer tremendously after getting entangled and then feeling awful as one of the folks had to hold it down and pry the quills out. That said, when they bloom all at once on a sunny June day, adding accents of bright colors to the prairies, well I have to say, they grow on you. Such was the sight just south of Shadehill Recreation Area in Perkins County this year.
This is the first year I’ve seen timpsila (prairie turnip) with blooms. This plant was a staple for the Lakota and other regional tribes in an earlier time. Scarlet globemallow (cowboy’s delight) also has an interesting story. In Witness: A Hunkpapa Historian’s Strong-Heart Song of the Lakotas, Josephine Waggoner describes her people rubbing the flower on their hands and arms and then plunging them into boiling water and not getting injured. It was seen as a miracle plant used to alleviate burns, sunburns and even raw skin on a pony’s back.
There is so much to learn and respect about our native prairie habitats. Seeking out and sitting with the wildflowers has taught me much. Hopefully this collection of recent photos will inspire you to take a walk in the high prairie and see what you can learn.
Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midco he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.
