Map depicting what could have been the original prairie of the Midwest.
Prairieland- the lost landscape. A prairie describes a diverse plant community of mostly grasses but also forbs ( flowers) This post is dedicated to induce interest in the landscape that once covered most of the Midwest. According to Campsilos.org, At one time prairie used to cover 40% of the U.S with the largest areas of prairie in the Midwestern states. 85% of Iowa was once prairie with the exception of the Northeast Driffless area and river valleys. Now 99.9% of the original prairie is gone in Iowa with the majority of it over time being plowed for farming or urban development. The most abundant plant type in Iowas Prairie was Big Bluestem Grass, which is now rarely seen in the wild. Original remnant prairie is completely different then most common roadside/ditch grass that can been seen along roads and corridors. A remnant prairie is an original prairie that has never been plowed over or disturbed. I visited Hayden Prairie an original while living in Northeast Iowa and original prairie consists of much diversity and there is a mixture of beautiful grasses and flowers alike that bloom in all seasons. Unfortunately there isn't a way to bring those back once destroyed.
I have always been interested in prairies growing up back on my hometown farm we had prairie behind our house as seen above in an earlier post from me when I lived there. I recently had began doing research on it again and have renewed interested in prairies. Its also quite interesting to note that most of our common prized garden perennial flowers and grasses come from native prairie. Some of these perennials include Beebalm, Little Blue Stem, Switch Grass, Big Blue Stem, Rudbeckia, Coneflower, Butterflyweed, Goldenrod, Joe Pye Weed, Aster, Liatris, Spiderwort and Ladyslipper.
Over the past 10 years or so there are multiple groups, organizations and programs dedicated to the preserving or re establishment of land back to prairies. There is now prairie seed for sale and even governmental breaks for landowners who are interested in turning their land back to prairie. One of the main ideas for people interesting in prairies is to understand that degraded soil conditions and lack of knowledge it is very difficult to get the full plant diversities of original prairie land. Do research on plant selection and your site and visit local original prairie to get ideas of what types of plants to choose. Be prepared for the maintenance that they require which is most significant in the first 1-3 years of establishment before care drops substantially also, if your going native watch out for non native grasses and flowers that are sold for other great purposes.
Prairie Garden filled with Switch Grass and little Blue Stem Downtown Cedar Rapids September 17th
You also do not necessarily need a large area to have a prairie! I believe Prairies and Cities can co exists easily and you can even have a spot in your front or backyard become a "Micro Prairie" like the one seen above I like the idea of having just a garden or landscape planted with prairie grasses and flowers. In fact grasses have been getting extremely popular over the years and are now on the top of many gardens list being put along side many other garden perennials and they accent them quite well, and what even better many of the ornamental grasses available are prairie grasses!
Prairie Dropseed, Switch Grass, Big Bluestem and Little Bluestem Grass Planting City of 5 seasons sculpture Downtown Cedar Rapids September 17th
Some of the most common native grasses found in prairies are: Big Blue Stem, Little Blue Stem, Indaingrass, Switchgrass and prairie dropseed. With just a fraction of the forbs found in above photos. Please consider planting a prairie or
There are many articles on Prairies, here are several I found on the subject while doing the research to do this article. Some of the information is post on my own input and experiences.
Camp silos.org-Quick Facts About Prairies
Iowa Extension-Iowa reserch information on Prairies
University of Texas-Prairie Restoration
Iowa Prairie Network
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