Plant geek: coneflowers for days!

 When we first bought our house, the landscaping was virtually a blank slate. We were lucky enough to have established trees, but the rest of the place was taken back to almost nothing because of the reported overgrowth of the yard when the renovation started. We tackled the chance to plan what we would plant in the existing beds and where we might install additional flower beds.

One idea I really valued was incorporating plants native to Kansas. This ideas was part sentimental and mostly practical. I grew up in the country and we rarely watered our flowers and plants, let alone our lawn. If you were plant, in order to survive, you needed to be hardy.

I carried that same philosophy forward. We have little time to water plants frequently and it seems like a waste of money to constantly water.

I had this dream of planting the native flowers and Jeremy really wanted something that would add some color to the south side of the driveway. The answer - a mix of native plants that have morphed over the years. Remember, only the strong survive. More accurately, only the plants that were planted in a place with the right amount of sunlight and moisture survived. Gardener's error or luck plays a large part in the failure (or success) of anything we have done.

 The coneflowers this year have been spectacular! I am not sure we have had blooms in this deep purple color.

 A perk of these native plants is their ability to attract insects and birds. We usually have bees and butterflies surrounding this bed. On day last fall, I saw a small bird picking the seeds of out the center of blooms.

This summer, we have been overrun with iridescent insects. They are strangely beautiful and also unnerving because they like to dive bomb you when walking through the yard.

Other than the occasional weeding and thinning out of the beds, these native plants are low maintenance and offer a lot of beauty.

Something beautiful and practical

A friend of ours painted this beautiful windmill on a drop leaf table.  The table height makes it perfect for a coffee table or it could also be an accent table under a row of windows or in an entry way.

We love it!  This is one of those items that I constantly weigh - should we sell it or keep it?!

Kansas Day

Tuesday was Kansas Day, our state's 152nd birthday.

I am not aware of another state that makes a big thing out of their state's birthday.  It seems like this is another unique characteristic of Kansans.  We are all sort of bound together by many things, and one of which is that each January, we tell everyone that our state was founded 150 plus years ago.  And, we do so with a lot of pride.

One of my friends posted the following quote on Facebook.  I love it.  It speaks to this indescribable love of a landscape - the prairie - and a place - Kansas.

You can never really escape. It goes with you, wherever you go. Somehow, the prairie dust gets in your blood, and it flows through your veins until it becomes a part of you. The vast stretches of empty fields, the flat horizons of treeless plains. The simplicity of the people—good, earnest people. The way they talk and the way they live. The lack of occurrence, lack of attention, lack of everything. All that—it’s etched into your soul and it colors the way you see everything and it becomes a part of you.

- P.S. Baber

Here are some views of our beautiful state.

 This photo was taken near Living Water Ranch, north of Manhattan.

 We love this little piece of land just west of our home.  We have tried to purchase it a couple of times, but it just hasn't worked out.  Someday.

 Directly across the road from our home is this lovely little creek.

 Another view of the land west of our home.

This road is several miles west of our home.  While my husband has run it several times, I first discovered it on a very long walk we took about two years ago.  This picture makes me long for spring.

Flint Hills Discovery Center

 Last week, I finally had the chance to spend some time at the Flint Hills Discovery Center.  The Center officially opened last spring and is part of a larger redevelopment project.

I was hosting a mini event for students one afternoon  this week and was really excited to finally check things out for myself.

The Center is really striking.  I loved the lobby and meeting spaces and the views were really spectacular.  We did get the chance to sit in on the 4-D movie which was nice.  The 4-D elements of the movie included smoke, wind, and bubbles that felt like snow.  I am in love with the prairie, so it was neat to see prairie presented as important and beautiful.

There were some amazing voices telling the story of the prairie throughout the movie.  A quote stayed with me, "...it is beautifully irrational to love a landscape." Love this.  It perfectly captures how I feel about the prairie.

The outdoor meeting space is well designed with an outdoor fireplace and some water features.  I could imagine having groups of all ages use this space and having a great time.