Scurfy pea. Sounds like a character right out of Sponge Bob Square Pants. Actually, it’s a native prairie plant. Uncommon in Illinois, its growth and development are slow. Which is why we’re planting it in new raised seed beds today.
Midewin currently cultivates about 120 different native prairie plant species in three seed bed areas. A few days ago, I joined a Cub Scout troop and a handful of other volunteers planting purple prairie clover and marsh goldenrod in the River Road Seed Beds.
Some species, however, don’t fare well in these locations. The soil is too rich, or the competition from weeds and even other prairie plants is too fierce.
And so it is with scurfy pea, which we interplant with little bluestem in a lighter, sandier soil mix. Little bluestem will help keep weeds at bay and also provide fuel for a future controlled burn; scurfy pea being a species that responds particularly well to fire.
In the middle of the bed we plant prairie violet. Hang around Midewin long enough and you get to touch different species at different points in their life cycles. Earlier this year, out in the field, I helped gather a little seed from this even more rare native species. Others cleaned and planted the seeds in trays. Today, we’re planting the seedling plugs. Maybe next year, I’ll be able to gather prairie violet seed out of the raised beds and start the process all over. Ditto the next year and the year after that.
Because we need lots of prairie violets in our prairie restorations at Midewin. LOTS. Once we have LOTS, we may have the chance to reintroduce the regal fritillary butterfly, whose caterpillars feed exclusively on violets.
And because prairie violets are such a diminutive plant – topping out at three to six inches – they can be dwarfed and overrun by other species. And so, to give them a leg up, we’ve raised them up into these new seed beds.
Staring down at the seedlings we’d just spent a few hours planting under an unforgiving sun, it can be hard to imagine a prairie. Especially when you glance up at the hundreds upon hundreds of acres awaiting restoration.
But this is how it begins. A few volunteers. A few dedicated staff. A handful of fragile seedlings. Add sunshine and rain. Repeat as needed. And eventually…