project

This five acre “yard” is being planted with expansive gardens and pocket recreation areas. The “gardens” are not massed plantings of carefully arranged species; they are self-organizing communities planted for their intrinsic value:

An expansive natural or wild garden in place of a lawn.

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the grassland

 

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there was a grassland. It was one among many ecozones on the continent where it was. It was a big ecozone and it was in the middle of the continent. A person could travel for days, even weeks, from east to west, and the grassland was there; it took months to traverse it from north to south. After just one day’s walk into it, the grassland stretched in every direction as far as the eye could see.

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blog

From time to time we have something to say about the task at hand and things we’ve learned having taken it up:

• timing isn't everything
• Native versus introduced
• imitating a horse
• a European thistle by any other name
• more than just a pretty [flower]
• the vagaries of replanting to Native
• Quality of Life
• whether by accident or by design
• How shall I say that?
• a process of succession

site visit

Site Visit

Tallgrass Prairie is delightful from early May well into mid-October. And, it really puts on a show around the middle of August to mid-September.

We are on site most days in the spring, summer and fall. Stop by or contact us ahead of time to arrange a walk through. A short tour takes about half an hour. A full tour can be up to two hours.

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flora

We have, over the years, researched and photographed the Tallgrass Prairie flora we are planting on our site. We decided to make this information available to assist others. It is displayed on image and data pages, categorized as noted in the following links to summary pages with tabular data:

• grasses

• forbs (flowers)

• rushes & sedges

• shrubs & vines

fauna

Native flora, of course, attracts Native fauna. The varieties and numbers has been surprising; ours is a popular spot. We have been able to capture images of some:

• ants, beetles, bugs
• flies, drone flies, hover flies
• bees, hornets, wasps
• grasshoppers, crickets, katydids
• moths, skippers, caterpillars
• butterflies, caterpillars
• damsel/dragonflies, spreadwings
• spiders, ticks
• amphibians, reptiles
• field birds
• marsh birds
• shore birds
• water birds
• mammals

we are tallgrass prairie 2018

 

A presentaton—in journal format—of the goings on at this location. Along with photos of them are comments from some of the various flora and fauna.

This walkabout starts with the return of the "honkers" and other birds (which is a prelude to the arrival of spring in southern Manitoba).

It kicks into gear with the emergence of the flora (as temperatures rise). And includes the fauna as they show up.

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