Restoring Bottomland Prairie: A Tale of Two Julys (2015 vs. 2016, Part 4)

It's amazing to see succession at work, with the aid of fire.

Echinacea purpurea surrounded by Hedge Parsley
(Torilis arvensis).  Creek Field, July 2015.

I've already said that the Creek Field in June 2015 was a "sea of white."  That sea continued to billow in July 2015, as the non-native annual weed Hedge Parsley continued to bloom over the entire field.   The blooms of native plants appeared to bob on the waves.

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta)
surrounded by  Hedge Parsley
Creek Field, July 2015.

Dracopsis amplexicaulis, bobbing on waves of Hedge Parsley.
Creek Field, July 2015

Gaillardia pulchella, surrounded by
Hedge Parsly.
Creek Field, July 2015

However, the burn on March 17, 2016 and the on-going proliferation and maturation of native plants pushed back the Hedge Parsley.  

Therefore, July 2016 looks quite different from July 2015!

Consider these contrasting photos:

Creek Field, looking west, July 2015.
Hedge Parsley fills the field.  Yellow Ratibida pinnata &
lavender Monarda fistulosa are in the foreground.

Creek Field, looking west, July 2016
No Hedge Parsley visible!

Creek Field, looking west, July 2015
Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa) stands up above the sea of
white.

Creek Field, looking west, July 2016
No Hedge Parsley visible!
Flowers from front to rear:  Canada Milkvetch,
Daisy Fleabane, Purple Coneflower,
Gray-headed Coneflower,
Whole-leaf Rosinweed, Bee Balm

Creek Field, looking north.  July 2015

Creek Field, looking north.
July 2016

Creek Field, looking northwest.  July 2015

Creek Field, looking northwest.   July 2016

Individual species also show the change.

Here's Long-bearded Hawkweed (Hieracium longipilum):

Hawkweed, Creek Field, 2015

Hawkweed, Creek Field, 2016

Canada Wild Rye (Elymus canadensis):

Canada Wild Rye, Creek Field,
July 2016.  The Wild Rye is
more prolific, and the Hedge Parsley
has been completely replaced by Giant
Ragweed!

Canada Wild Rye, Creek Field, July 2015

Flannel Mullein (Verbascum thapsus):

Flannel Mullein (brown stalks, done for the year).
Creek Field, looking southeast.
July 2015

Flannel Mullein (blooming, foreground)
Creek Field, looking southeast.
July 2016

In July 2015, Hedge Parsley was like the canvas on which the other species were  painted.  

In July 2016, that's not the case.   There's still plenty of Hedge Parsley in the Creek Field.  But now it's just one species among many--just one figure in the tableau.   

Hedge Parsley in foreground--
one species among many.
Creek Field, looking west.
July 2016

So what's the canvas this year?

Maybe what it was last year, too, under the merely visual resemblance to a sea of white--the vast, incredible earth-sun power of SUCCESSION.