GREEN!

An Iowa June

Fresh spring leaves dance on walnut branches in Clayton County.

GREEN!

Is there any other word that so describes Iowa in June?

Cornfields, of course, but also woodlands, lawns, roadsides, gardens.

This early June photo is already out-of-date, given the speed with which Iowa corn grows!

Don’t forget the green weeds: lamb’s quarter, purslane, oxalis, dandelion, and other out-of-place-plants ad infinitum

OK, it’s not ALL green. And maybe that’s why we notice the green so much.

A doe eyes an intruding photographer, while her fawn stops nursing long enough to peek down the corn rows from between their mother’s legs.

A pale orangish form in the neighbor’s cornfield materializes into a doe white-tailed deer. Almost hidden by the fast-growing corn, her single fawn pauses nursing just long enough to peek between the mother’s legs at the camera-toting intruder.

A young bluebird, just starting to get their characteristic feathers, peers from the deck railing in search of an insect meal in the green grass below.

The view from our deck shows mostly green woods and green prairie – except for a tinge of bluing feathers on the juvenile bluebird perched while hunting insects in the green grass below.

Clumps of butterfly milkweed will beautify our prairie for another month or more.

Looking again, I see the clump of orange butterfly milkweed accenting the prairie. We’re still waiting to see the first monarch butterfly of the season – but have hopes that the milkweed will lure them to our yard

Spikes of prairie false indigo are among the earlier bloomers in the tallgrass prairie.

When the sunlight catches them, the tall blossoms of Baptisia – prairie false indigo – wave bright white over the still-short prairie grasses. Nestled down in those grasses you may find more white of Canada anemones.

A green-backed pollinator explores the blossom of a pale purple coneflower.

Pale purple coneflowers, popping up on stems 2 to 3 feet tall to tower over the young, warm season grasses, speckle the otherwise green expanse. After the petals fall, the spiny, brown head – almost golf ball size – may linger into next year.

Cattle graze contentedly in a lush, green Cass County pasture.

Wandering through southwestern Iowa, we remarked at the lush green pastures, which are scarce in other parts of the state where corn and soybeans stretch to the horizon. Sleek red cattle grazing belly-deep in the grass also savored the nutritious green forage.

A meadowlark sang merrily from a nearby utility line – perhaps to distract us from their cup-like nest probably hidden in the green pasture.

OK, meadowlarks aren’t green - but they nest on the ground in green grass.

Trekking to the hilltop of the Sylvan Runkel State Preserve, during the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar near Onawa, I contrasted the deep green of the bur oaks encroaching on the east side of the ridge with the pale green of the hill prairie rolling off toward the Missouri River

A lone yucca marks the trail to the top of the Sylvan Runkel State Preserve near Onawa.

I noticed how even the cream-colored yucca flowers picked up a hint of green reflecting from their neighbors.

I grumbled to myself as I struggled to walk through the tangle of green Reed canary grass encroaching on a floodplain in Tama County. The hike was worth the effort, however, when I finally spotted a few blue flag blossoms that stood out among the darker green leaves of the wetland iris.

Blue flag iris flowers lie almost hidden by their own dark leaves in a Tama County wetland.

We often eat our supper on our east deck, where we’re entertained by the songs and the comings and goings of a host of songbirds visiting the nearby green hackberry tree. A resident orchard oriole competes with red-headed and red-bellied woodpeckers for the prime singing perch.

This orchard oriole found the highest possible perch to sing from a hackberry tree.

And just so we never get tired of green, the summer breezes ripple the prairie grasses, flip over the oak leaves, and dance through the walnut branches to shake to their lacy garments in ever-changing patterns and hues.

The green leaves of a cup plant hold water from an overnight shower.

---

I’m privileged to be a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative - a diverse group of journalists who share their perspectives on Iowa and issues affecting Iowans.

https://iowawriters.substack.com/i/145661110/iowa-writers-collaborative-roster

Most post are free, but we appreciate. and need paid subscribers to continue our work.

• Friday June 27: Zoom call in our ‘Office Lounge’ featuring members of the collaborative. Here is the Zoom link for this month’s Office Lounge for paid subscribers. It’s always held on the last Friday of the month at noon, except for November and December.