i picked this prairie grass stem on my walk today, mostly because the zippered seed head caught my eye. however, part of the mission of STILL blog is not just to display, but to identify, the flora and fauna that appear each day. so when i got home, i sat down at my iMac and got to work. i knew it was one of the many tall stem prairie grasses, but i didn’t know which one. i searched every reference i could think of…indian grass, bluestem grass, switchgrass, bottle grass, timothy grass. after many dead ends, i finally landed on foxtail barley grass. i am pretty sure that is what i have here. but i’m not entirely certain, because, as vast as the internet visual library is, it seems photographers have only wanted to photograph this plant (backlit) in its full feathery late summer glory. (google it. you’ll see.) so, i feel as though i am performing a minor civic duty by posting to the internet a foxtail barley grass seed head before it opens. internet, you’re welcome.
foxtail barley prairie grass
rice creek, saint paul, minnesota
sensitive
i like to tease my husband about his occasionally being a s.n.a.g. or a “sensitive new age guy.” on the other hand, trying to respond to the world as any kind of artist sometimes feels as if i am the female equivalent of a s.n.a.g.: a “sensitive new age gal.” some days i feel like a single heart, suspended and exposed, with my skin peeled away, and a single delicate lobe of nerve endings left hanging in the lacerating winds of daily life.
bleeding heart flower
saint paul, minnesota
five doves
columbine flowers are named after the latin word for “dove.” the flower is said to resemble five doves facing each other in a circle. if you look closely at the petals of the flower above, you can can just make out the the small convocation of coral colored doves with their necks stretched and erect, and their tail feathers drooping. they are probably talking about spring. or predicting rain. or dreading the arrival of summer.
wild columbine
turtle lake, shoreview, minnesota
phenotypic plasticity
i just received my favorite email in a long while from a graduate student in neuroscience who studied photography and genetics as an undergrad. she congratulated me on how my photos capture the phenotypic plasticity found in nature. in other words, how genetically similar individuals vary in appearance and behavior based on their environment. yes, i thought to myself. phenotypic plasticity. yes, indeed. god bless the scientists and the nerds. they (ok, we) are the best people.
feral bearded garden iris from along our driveway
turtle lake, shoreview, minnesota
candle
at the opposite end of the year from december, when we brighten winter’s gloom with fir boughs and white twinkle lights, these little candle flame clematis buds are preparing to brighten the almost oppressive green of spring with their showy white flames.
clematis bud
saint paul, minnesota
