Saturday Night Ride

Last evening on our ride around the neighborhood we saw the Prairie Smoke shimmering in the evening light.

Prairie Smoke a Native Wildflower…the old timers call it Old Man’s Whiskers or Grandfather’s Whiskers/Beard. It is really Geum triflorum.

Vi’s Iris along the fence row…and Ashley’s horses.

As I am hanging my head out the window wondering if I can get the horses to look up if I whistle a pickup pulls up so we have ladies aid in the middle of the road.  We got all caught up with my cousin Dale. Always good to see him…he is all recovered from the open heart surgery he had last winter.

A barn in the neighborhood….always a scenic spot.  Sometimes we see deer here but not last night.  The green of that hay field almost hurts my eyes.

Then we mosey on down the road…Chance wants to stop and see his friends..so we do. Jo  is watering her flower garden and Steve is watching TV….we visit on the deck. When Chance and Putzer have chased the ball until their tongues are hanging out and Odda has got a really good back scratch…we head for home.

That’s the way it is in the boonies on a Saturday night in the summertime.

Ladies Aid in the middle of the road =  Two vehicles meet, turn off their engines and visit until another vehicle comes along or you are all caught up with the news.

Prairie Smoke

Nope nothing is on fire..it is a plant. Geum triflorum to be exact, better known as Prairie Smoke, or old man's whiskers or old mans beard. This is another plant native to Minnesota. It grows wild in the ditches, we have several plants here, another of Far Guy's acquisitions..after all he was the Native Plant expert. He ordered a bunch from a Native Wholesale Nursery..they have grown well here in the "Wildflower Gardens".

Prairie Smoke, note the distinctive foliage, this is one of Far Guys plants.

One of the advantages of growing plants native to your area, is that they will rarely croak. They won't be upset with your watering or fertilizing schedule, or sub zero temperatures day after day, you don't have to fuss with them and cover them up with leaves in the fall and uncover them again in the spring. They just grow and thrive wherever they are. No, they won't be drop dead gorgeous all summer, they have limited bloom times, but you won't have to replace them every year either. Here in the boonies every week something new is blooming, something exciting, something that not everyone has in their yard.

This is what it looks like growing wild in area ditches. Click on the photo to enlarge!

I have not purchased any plants this year, not a one. It is not that I don't enjoy flowers, because I do. I just refuse to be a slave to a watering hose. Sure I enjoy photographing flowers, but I have a whole lot more fun hunting for them with my camera than I ever did actually growing them. That may seem foreign to you, but when you are off watering, fertilizing, deadheading and weeding..I am enjoying the native plants..which have over the years adapted to their natural environment. God provides the rain, and the leaf duff..and I just reap the rewards:)
It's plumes look like little puffs of smoke, or tiny feather dusters..or old mens long beards. This was a plant blooming in the ditch:)