We were long overdue for a walk at the arboretum so we went this morning. The prairies were so lush and colorful it was hard to believe that just a few months ago they were all burned and black. Here’s what we saw today. I’ve put them in consecutive order as we saw them during our walk:

Solomon’s seal seed pods

Monarda

Green-headed coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)

This prairie was black and burned to the ground in early spring

Baptisia seed pods

Compass plant (Silphium laciniatum)

Blazing star and gray-headed coneflower

Japanese beetles

Beech seed pods- they look to me like they’re laughing/talking

Mourning cloak

Ironweed

Glade

Brown-eyed Susan in the glade

Tall bellflower

Crawfish head- remains of a racoon’s dinner

Raccoon dinner which he hauled up out of the creek eat under a tree