by Donna Clark Fuller
Ozark Chapter ExCom, Treasurer
I'm sitting here thinking that I’m glad the heat has finally broken and fall seems to be here, but I’m also looking at cracked ground and a lawn that looks like if a match were set to it, a prairie fire would spread pretty quickly. We’ve not only had a hot summer, but a very dry one. We also had an incredibly dry spring. (Whoever heard of no rain in April!) And as I recall, there wasn’t much precipitation, frozen or otherwise last winter. I notice I haven’t heard much from the folks that think that global warming is just a myth and not worthy of our even considering as a possibility. I don’t pretend to be an expert on that subject, nor do I think anyone can predict the future completely. But I don’t think it’s rational to believe that continuing to pour car exhaust and other pollutants into the air won’t have some unhealthy consequences.
However, even without global warming, Missouri weather is at best unpredictable. In looking at the various plants I have around our place, I think the native plants fared much better than the non–native ones. I think native prairie plants had to be able to put up with forty degree changes in temperature, floods, droughts, tornadoes, ice storms, heat waves, etc. in order to survive here in Missouri. During the dry spring, the non–natives were already looking stressed and had to be watered, while I have only recently watered the natives. Fall is the best time to plant these plants. If you are thinking of planting native perennials, here is a short list of some common ones:
Purple coneflowers Goldenrod
Gray–headed coneflowers Prairie coreopsis
Tall larkspur Blazing star
Indigo Phlox
Columbine Asters
Wild geraniums Missouri primrose
These bloom at various times and can provide wildlife habitat as well as provide a beautiful spectacle for humans.