Autumn in Iowa

I see the autumanl equinox on the calendar next week. It is, indeed, changing over into fall in Iowa. There has been a shift in weather patterns ( thank goodness!) from hot and sticky to warm and dry. Daytime temps creep up into the 80s, but it's cooling to the 50s or even lower at night. Ah-h-h! Indian summer in all its glory. I love it! You don't have to watch the thermometer to recognize when fall arrives, though. You only need to observe the grasses and flowers along roadsides or in areas not under cultivation. The premier fall grass is big bluestem (adropogon gerardii) shown in the picture. The common name for the grass is "turkey foot" as its trefoil seed spikes resemble the track of the wild turkey. It has reached its full height and has begun to set its seeds. This is a native prairie grass, part of the tall grass prairie that covered the central United States before the plow. As you travel further west, this grass gives way to little bluestem, a shorter, more dense grass that made up the short grass prairies of the high plains. The buffalo followed these grasses; other animals...elk, deer, grizzly bears...made their home here as well before the settlers drove them west.

Several years ago, Bob and I restored many acres of our southern Iowa farm to native grass. He would burn off the dried grass every spring replacing valuable nutrients to the soil and mimicking the vast prairie grass fires of prehistory. It would emerge a few days later brilliant green against the charred soil. During the long, hot, humid days of summer, it grew and grew and grew reaching heights of over 8 feet. Towards the end of summer, we would turn our buffalo out into it. What a sight to watch 200 buffalo with their calves stampede into the fields....only to disappear in the grass! The only clue that they were there was the gently waving tips of the seed heads against the sky!