Iowa Praires presented in Watercolor really tells it all. Check out the book: The Elemental Prairie Sixty Tallgrass Plants Watercolors by George Olson Essay by John Madson This is truly the best portrait of Iowa gone by. I recently had the honor of going to a presentation by George Olson. I've been working on a small praire on my back acreage. I plan on expanding to my road ditches. This was a very good time to bring this to light Ironbelly. Very Well spoken. Whoops writen I mean.

By the way, I could also vindicate myself by saying that I once came to the defense of Rhode Island. You see, Reader's Digest had (don't know if they still do) some travel cartoons on their website and there was Rhody on the US map with the entire country surrounded by water. (a humorous poke at the fact that by definition, Rhode Island is not actually an island, and if the state is within the US, then the implication is...you get it, right?) In a different setting, I implored Rhode Island to tell Reader's Digest to be nice. Ah, now I can breathe again! I'm vindicated! (Don't mention Block Island)

congratulations !! John!!

Rouge, they are a favorite plant of mine, but I see it when visiting family in Colorado. I looked them up at one point to see about the possibility of growing them, but they are hemiparasitic, and I don't know if they can be grown in gardens, even from seed. Wildflower.org (the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center) says this: "The roots of this plant will grow until they touch the roots of other plants, frequently grasses, penetrating these host roots to obtain a portion of their nutrients. Transplanting paintbrush may kill it. " I'll be interested to see if any of the prairie gardeners have successfully grown it.