“Although we think of restoration as a science, it’s also about creativity. Prairie restoration begins with a vision. The dream of how the land might be healed, imagined in the mind of a steward or site manager.” So writes author Cindy Crosby in Tallgrass Conversations: In Search of the Prairie Spirit.
On Tuesday, June 14, prairie restoration—and the use of creativity and imagination in the process—will be the focus of a field trip hosted by CFAES’ Environmental Professionals Network. Titled “If You Listen Carefully, It Sounds Like Love,” the event, its website says, will be “a celebration of beauty in the sounds of nine Ohio prairie seeds”—including wild bergamot, big bluestem, little bluestem, dogbane, and milkweed—“and the steps we can take as a bioregional community to help them thrive again.”
Art and science of prairie plants
The field trip starts at The Point at Otterbein in the Columbus suburb of Westerville, and includes stops at Otterbein’s Frank Museum of Art, the Alum Creek Trail, and Sharon Woods Metro Park.
Learn more about the program and the guest speakers and find a link to register on the event’s website. Learn more, too, in the video above. Registration is $5 for students and $25 for nonstudents.