Prairie.
That word evokes wide open spaces, wind-swept oceans of grass and many of my all time favorite plants – compass plant, baptisia, butterfly weed, lead plant, hairy mountain mint, echinacea and obedient plant. Being from a prairie State I think there is something in my DNA that binds me to this landscape and has always pulled me to explore its wonder.
I recently had a chance to spend some time in/on the prairie in Kansas – at the University of Kansas field station – just outside Lawrence. I don’t anything could have prepared me for how inspiring and beautiful it was. The views of the waving grasses, and the colors that deepened and faded as the light changed were sublime. I loved seeing that intersection of grass and sky – something so rare here in the East where I live – nestled among the hills. And the plants!
As a landscape designer, I have used the plants I mentioned in the first paragraph constantly in many different landscapes, combinations and settings. Suddenly, they were all together – not as large as what I would find at a nursery – and more evenly distributed within a square meter than a typical “landscape planting” that I or others might install. What a revelation, to see a harmonious intermingling of these plants, distributed equally in a fairly consistent matrix. I was amazed. It was like that feeling of understanding someone better after meeting their family and seeing where they grew up – that’s the sensation I had after seeing these plants that I integrate into landscape and medicine.
