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Here are some random photos taken in our yard.  Click on them for an enlarged view.

Skipper on Centaurea americana                                                                        Eastern Tailed Blues

 (American Basket Flower)                                                                                'puddling' on damp ground

Indian Blanket, Indian Paintbrush and Coreopsis in May                                        Amsonia tabernaemontana        d                                                                                                                       and Tiger Swallowtail

Eryngium leavenworthii Leavenworth's EryngiumSeptember                                   Asclepias tuberosa

Tradescantia ohioensis Ohio Spiderwort                                                              Asclepias curassavica   

                                                                                                                         and Monarch caterpillar
                                                                                             

Helianthus mollis Downy Sunflower

Liatris aspera and Downy Sunflower

Queen butterfly on blue stem

After a February Spot burn

We do mow next to the house, but note the pink Penstemon (I think this one is P. laxiflorus), Coreopsis, Tradescantia, etc. And of course, Boris the cat

Our state wildflower, Gaillardia pulchella, in front of Coreopsis sp.  Annuals can be impressive and they fill an important role in the prairie.  When they are done, the perennial flowers and grasses take over and the fall annuals are putting down roots.  The yard is in a constant state of change all summer and into late fall.

The bright orange is Castilleja indivisa, Indian Paintbrush, a hummingbird magnet and a larval host plant for the Buckeye Butterfly. The blue is Tradescantia ohioensis, Ohio Spiderwort, which seems happy in both full sun and under trees in the woods. The lighter pink you see are the nectar- rich Barbara Buttons, Marshallia caespitosa; they go dormant in the summer and emerge again in December with basal leaves that are almost leathery and dark green.

The societal norm would be for me to mow this down, plant more bermuda (which I'm trying to get rid of), pour on the fertilizer, lots of water and mow twice a week. So, so boring.