Gray-headed Coneflowers

The days are breathtakingly hot and humid nationwide this July. Yet in the early morning, as the sun crests the horizon, temperatures are more tolerable and the air still fresh. The more forgiving, early sun on the prairie caught my eye and sent me back to the house for my camera to capture these sights. 

The Gray-headed Coneflowers reach for the sky and lean to the south as though they can’t get enough of the sun that bakes the rest of us.

Partridge Pea

Delicate little Partridge Peas line the outer edges of the prairie where they find the hottest, driest ground and are free of competition from the tall grasses and burly Cup plants.

Still shaded from the morning sun, the lovely blue spires of Hoary Vervain show off against the bright yellow coneflowers. When the sun is full on them, these blue tones pale by comparison. Early morning is the best time to enjoy them.

Hoary Vervain with Gray-headed Coneflowers

Though these Foxglove Beard Tongues appeared early in the spring and are long past flowering, I’m sharing them because this is the very first time these pure white flowers have shown up in my five-year-old prairie. They deserve recognition.

Foxglobe Beard Tongue

Though other gardens may wilt in this arid July heat, the prairie is undeterred. And I am fresher myself from a walk in its beauty.

Thanks for joining me!