---

Native remnant prairies, especially those in the Flint Hills, provide inspiration for landscaping the places we live. The vegetation, wildlife, unique substrate below, and treeless sky above collectively compose for me the most beloved and iconic landscape of native Kansas.

Consider joining Brad Guhr on Wednesday, June 18, to visit a favorite place at Chase State Fishing Lake (CSFL), a Flint Hills location with diverse plant assemblages. This special place can inspire your home planting designs while delighting the senses in a variety of ways that only an ancient native landscape can do.

No need to RSVP. Carpool from Dyck Arboretum at 6 p.m. or meet at CSFL at 7 p.m. along the gravel road next to the dam. We will return by twilight. Cost is $10.

We will start by visiting a cool oasis along the spillway stream with woodland vegetation, water falls, shallow pools, and shelves of limestone to explore. Proceed up the bluff overlooking the reservoir with blooming prairie wildflowers all around. There you will be surrounded by buffalo wallows, waves of prairie meeting the horizon, and endless wind and sky as the sun sets.

In mid June, we are likely to see a number of wildflowers in bloom. First and foremost, there will be the stunning display of orange and red butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). Other flowering species will include tuberous Indian plantain (Arnoglossum plantagineum), narrow-leaved milkweed (Asclepias stenophylla), smooth or Sullivant’s milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii), green milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora), serrate-leaf evening primrose (Calylophus serrulatus), white prairie-clover (Dalea candida), purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea), Illinois tickclover (Desmodium illinoense), narrow-leaved coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia), narrow-leaf bluets (Hedyotis nigricans), catclaw sensitive briar (Mimosa quadrivalvis), and prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera).

We provide many of these species at our plant sales and are working to collect seed and propagate others not traditionally available in the nursery industry. In your garden, these plants will attract monarch larvae (milkweeds) and other pollinators, fix nitrogen (legumes) and provide year-round visual interest.