Somers Prairie Photo Gallery

Drew Ballantyne, part of the work crew.
Early spring growth in the prairie.
Spring ephemerals, including prairie smoke (Geum triflorum) and Heart-leaf Golden Alexanders (Zizia Aptera).
Lilian superbum, also known as Turk's Cap Lily.
White slipper orchids, Cypripedium candidum.
The prairie is full of life, but you may have to look closely to observe it.
The large leaves of prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) mark the location of the tall, yellow late-summer flowers that will float above the prairie.
A monarch butterfly caterpillar feeding on milkweed.
Monarda in bloom.
Prairie Milkweed, Asclepias sullivantii.
Milkweed species host the colorful caterpillars of the monarch butterfly.
Honeybees!
Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea) in bloom.
Flowers
The tall flowers of silphiums hover over other plants in late summer.
Flowers
Collecting seeds.
Spot application of herbicides is a tool used to combat invasive nonnative species.
Randy Powers of Prairie Future Seed Company
Winter at the Somers Farm and Prairie.
Flowers
Aster in bloom marks the approach of cooler months.
Ratibida pinnata is known by several common names, including prairie coneflower, gray-headed coneflower and yellow coneflower, which can lead to confusion with Echinacea paradoxa, a yellow coneflower native to the Ozarks.
Bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) in bloom.
Grass
Grasses in the fall.
Plants
Colors of fall in the prairie.
Comparing the leaves of milkweed species.
The west entrance to the prairie, occasionally still used as an airstrip.
Prairie Burn
Charles Heide assists with a controlled burn in the prairie.
Randy Powers observes the controlled burn in the prairie.
Chris Powers and Charles Heide initiate a controlled burn.
Steve Smith, a member of the work crew pauses to survey the burn for spreading flames.
The sunshine illuminates leaves in the oak savanna.
The white barn as viewed from the oak savanna.
The work crew seeding a new restoration.
Members of the work crew hand broadcasts seed.
The work crew regroups to break for lunch.
Lori Artiomo, Hawthorn Hollow Naturalist assisting in pollinating forbs of special concern.
Mike Bognar, a member of the work crew.