The palette
of autumn colors in western Kansas dazzles me every year. I know some folks think the foliage tours in
eastern states reveal the best colors of the season, but I wish they would take
a drive across the prairie with me. The
colors may not be quite so obvious as the hardwood forests in the East, but
anyone with a good eye can detect our subtle hues.
Late rains
recently have led to a bumper crop of sunflowers to brighten the roadside
ditches. I don’t know that I have ever
seen so many blooms or such vibrant plants this time of year. A local photographer must agree because I
have seen him out numerous evenings as he snaps senior pictures against the
lush backdrop of these flowers along the railroad tracks. Between the majestic sunsets and the flowers,
I do not know which is easier on the eye.
Not only
did the sunflowers get a boost from those showers. So did the grasses. Many of us have heard the old timers’ stories
of the grasses growing as tall as a horse’s belly. This year the big blue stem and the Indian
grass would definitely tickle the bellies of buffalo or horses. If this is how the ditches look now, imagine
this prairie before section lines and barbwire divided it into parcels. Imagine
if we could get a red tail hawk’s view.
It would seem that our section line roads stitch together multi-color
patches of quilt.
In addition
to the grasses growing so tall, they are also colorful and bound to intensify
in color before winter snows blanket them.
Hints of bluestem’s trademark rust color have already crept up the stem
into the native tall grass and mid grass grasses while the tawny hue of the
Indian grass heads suggests the color of a lion’s mane. What we at our house call ditch blue stem
waves its pale ecru plume like little apostrophes punctuating the ditches and
pastures.
Mixed in
with the taller grasses one also finds switch grass and other varieties of
native and transplanted grasses. Switch
grass functions in this natural arrangement like baby’s breath in a store
bought bouquet, as a filler. Along with the switch grass, one finds foxtail,
side oats grass and brome adding a bit of color and texture to Mother Nature’s
arrangements.
While the
grasses and forbs feed our eyes at ground level, tree leaves have just begun to
succumb to autumn’s magic. As I drive
down the road, I note more than a hint of gold and rust among the leaves. Sumac and plum bush leaves have also begun to
take on the scarlet coat they wear this time of year. The locust trees show off in brilliant golds
and yellows. Mardi Gras costumes could
not be more brilliant.
From season
to season, as nature’s palette mutates and alters, western Kansans can always
count on a backdrop of beautiful skies ranging from robin’s egg blue to gun
barrel gray. I have wondered from time
to time if it is not the backdrop of sky color that sets off our grasses and
trees so effectively. Perhaps it is the
clearness of aridity that sharpens the eye’s perception. Regardless of the
reason, our eyes are treated to rich and varied vistas.
The
screaming orange and burning scarlet of New England may elude our view, but we
will not miss them if we take a trip down a country road to enjoy our own show
of color. Between sky and earth, western
Kansans have plentiful opportunities to enjoy autumn’s riches. I haven’t even mentioned the glory of milo
fields and other fall crops. That is
another article.
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