The plant is a gray-head (or gray-headed) coneflower or Ratibida pinnata. They have large yellow flowers with drooping petals that surround a gray/brown seed head. Plants bloom profusely all summer, and birds eat the seed if old flowers are left on the plant. It will self-seed and spread. It is good for prairies and meadows and it is great for erosion control (as most prairie plants are).
And, there you have it! ;-) Not at all shady.
Oh, I'd love to come see your shady yard and the wildflower prairie. The flower you posted is similar to my unidentified on on my winter walk post. It does have droppy petals, and might be a cone flower of some time. I wonder if it is the same thing. So glad you joined us for Wildflowers in Winter.
ReplyDeleteHi Forest Zoo,
ReplyDeleteI visited your site, The Young Naturalist, but I didn't see your winter walk post. Or any other posts... Hmmmmm.
But your new kitten is adorable. Thank you for visiting my blog. I'd love to have you come visit me anytime. Did you know I'm in Iowa?
You captured a beautiful golden moment.
ReplyDeleteI can see I made a mistake and posted a comment with my son's identity. But it turned out for good, because he was thrilled to have three comments on his first blog entry this morning, one of them yours. He is a second grader and I'm his typist. ; ) He has lots of things to say about lots of things, but his writing skills are still catching up. Forest Zoo says to tell you, "Thank you very much for your comment, and that the tree frogs were his friends this past summer. We found them in the yard and mom photographed them for me."
ReplyDeleteShady... VERY nice job with the prairie restoration. how are you doing with controlling brome in your prairie?
ReplyDeletedon
Lovely photo! I really like these plants. It's hard to live in the Midwest & not be in love with prairie plants.
ReplyDeleteiboy, My husband tells me it's "tough" controlling brome, but he does Spring burns on different areas every 2 to 3 years. I took pictures of a great burn early last Summer, (look for my post of June 23, 2007.)
ReplyDeleteMMD, It is just beautiful out there, and it changes every couple of weeks.
Elizabeth Joy,
ReplyDeleteOops, I meant to visit with you first. I'm very excited that Forest Zoo is writing a blog. I was a 2nd grade teacher until 1 1/2 years ago! (Second graders are "the best!") ;-)
That's a beautiful prairie and a great shot of the coneflower which I am happy to learn about...
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping Ellen. It looks as though you're having some interesting experiences!
ReplyDeleteWe have about 80 acres that is about 1/2 woodland (predominantly oak and walnut) and 1/2 prairie. My husband enjoys working long hours there, either planting tree seedlings, establishing and maintaining wildlife food plots, and maintaining the prairie areas. The prairie has really become beautiful and its overall appearance changes every couple of weeks or so. :-)