January-February 2024 • Nebraskaland 71
Small Beginnings
When Kirkpatrick fi rst moved to
her place, much of it was annual
sunfl owers, young cedar trees and
brome grass, an aggressive, non-
native plant. It was mowed at fi rst, so
Kirkpatrick let things grow for a bit to
see what popped up.
One element that has stayed from
those early days is a patch of thickspike
gayfeather (Liatris pycnostachya),
a native species of the low, moist
tallgrass prairies in southeastern
Nebraska often planted in prairie
restorations. It creates beautiful spires
of purple fl owers and is becoming
rather uncommon in Nebraska, due to
prairie loss and disturbances such as
heavy grazing and herbicides.
The gayfeather patch was only
about 15 yards in size at the time,
and Kirkpatrick decided to let it grow.
Every year since, it has increased and
has now spread to about an acre of her
property. When it blooms in late July
and early August, the area directly
behind Kirkpatrick's house blazes into
a stunning fi eld of purple.
"I know it's more of a monoculture
in certain areas, but I'm OK with that,"
Kirkpatrick said. "It's really pretty."
Another early project was
professionally designed. Kirkpatrick
removed a juniper tree from the end
of her driveway and hired Benjamin
Sue Kirkpatrick poses with freshly cut wildfl owers from the prairie restoration she created on her acreage.
