Grass

For lifelong learning, most of your time will probably be spent in your own neighborhood, and that's okay. The same things that make the universe go, that create stars and make atoms spin, are the same things that make your local world go. And all places have their points of interest.

I live at the western edge of the great plains. We have some nice wildflowers including my favorite, milkweed. The plains are home to spectacular sunflowers and there's a patch of solanum rostratum, buffalo bur, that had taken up in our back yard.

But the headliners of the plains are the grasses and their relatives, the sedges and rushes.

Most people aren't that impressed with grasses. They aren't very colorful. "Hey. I have a lawn. What's so special about grass?"

What grasses lack in color, they more than make up for in patterns. Take the three grasses I spotted the other day on a grocery run.

Setaria grasses include some of our  grains like millet and korali. These wild ones are little puffs.

These silky grasses are called bromus or cheat grasses. I identified them using Google Lens, an app that will take a photo and give you options to identify what's in the picture. I've found it very useful for identifying everything from wild plants and animals, to architecture, to landscapes. 

Blue Grama, the state grass of Colorado, puts out feathery blooms. 

Different grasses bloom and seed at different times so any hike down the Little Dry Creek trail will give me something different to see.

What's special about your area?

--- Local cactuses and succulents ---

I grew up and lived most of my life in the southeastern United States and except for ornamental plants, I did not have a lot of exposure to cactuses (lately "cacti"). Just about the only ones that grew wild there were the prickly pears. They grew all over Stewart's Hill in Riverview, Alabama where I spent much of my childhood between the ages of 10 and 15.

I don't know how well the epithet "ornamental" applies to cactuses. Perhaps "interesting" or "weird" is more appropriate, but when they bloom, they have few peers. Together with their relatives, the succulents, cactus blooms are some of the most complex, colorful, and texturally appealing flowers that there are.

Now, I live in a high desert and cactuses are at home here. Even the terrifying cholla finds it's place in local gardens.

I am working on some projects that require multiple hikes and considerable thought and blogs may appear a little slower than usual for awhile but, in the meantime, enjoy cactuses.

                                                                  [cactuses]

Do you have any native cactuses where you live? Treat yourself to a spectacle and catch them while they're flowering.

If cactuses don't grow wild in your area, I bet you can find neighbors who grow ornamental cactuses.

There are many websites that can help you identify cactuses and there are a few good phone apps.