When we think of prairie flora, vast fields of grass sprinkled with clumps of brilliant colors of different prairie species come to mind. But each of these spots of blue and yellow and red offer their own individual spectacle, smaller but as intense as the whole. These individuals can be brought indoors, to tables and windowsills and, in a subtler way, offer the same thrills as they do in the outdoors. Completely sustainable they can provide a never-ending supply of in house pleasure.

Here are some examples. The species, all common to tallgrass prairies: Baptisia alba (white wild indigo); Lithospermum canescens (hoary puccoon); Anemone canadensis (meadow anemone); Allium stellatum, (prairie onion); Tradescantia ohiensis (common spiderwort); Zizia aurea (golden alexanders); and Liatris aspera (rough blazing star, dried, in late winter).