Tallgrass Spiritual Retreat Center:
Where Women Find their Way
1780 Thurman Creek Road
Matfield Green, Kansas 66862
620.753.3465
Rev. Billie Blair, Director
Tallgrass Spiritual Retreat Center
Where Women Find Their Way
Flowers are words even a baby can understand.
- Quentin Crisp
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What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.
- Joseph Addison (1672 - 1719)
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The earth laughs in flowers.
- e. e. cummings
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Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.
- Luther Burbank
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Wildflower Walk - June 2008
This was an incredible event on a beautiful day in the Flint Hills, despite the fact that we didn't have blue Kansas skies and sunshine!! The women who participated were really excited about the number of flowers they were able to see.
Cheryl Miller writes, “It was a highlight of this year...to participate in your wonderful prairie walk.”
Jeff Hansen
With over 40 years of living in and exploring
the Great Plains, Jeff Hansen of Topeka, KS
has gained much knowledge of its flora. As a
gardener, botanist, and a naturalist, he has
immersed himself in the plants of the Great
Plains. Jeff has learned the many uses of our
native flora - from more aesthetic uses such as
gardening and landscaping to more utilitarian
uses such as foods, medicinals, cordage, and
papermaking.
Jeff has gardened all of his life and has been a wildflower and native plant enthusiast for the past ten years. He landscapes with native plants, makes paper from them, and leads wildflower walks around the state. He has his own grass and wildflower nursery – Kansas Native Plants. He is a contract botanist for the Chicago Botanical Gardens collecting seeds for the Millenium Seed Project. He served as president of the Kansas Native Plant Society from 2005 to 2007 and is still an active board member. He is an enthusiastic teacher that loves sharing his knowledge with others
See Jeff's website at PrairiePaperMaker
Wildflower Walk
July 10-11, 2010 Sat 10am - Sun 10am Fee:$80, plus tax Overnight lodging is limited to 14 women.We have a new Wildflower facilitator this year, so if you have attended the Wildflower Walk at Tallgrass in the past, this will be a totally new experience for you with Jeff.
Have you ever seen a wildflower you were unable to identify?
There are nearly 2100 species of wild flowering plants growing in Kansas (1700 native, 400 introduced) so the task of identifying them can be daunting. Come join with others to learn some simple steps that can make you a "pro" at identifying wildflowers and other plants.
We will use the knowledge we learned in the presentation and "take it to the field," as we take an evening walk along the roadside and into a pasture. There we will examine plants and make note of their various features. Each person will choose one plant to study in detail. In the field we will make observations about the plants such as
flower color, number of petals, leaf shape, insect use, and other features of the plants and record this information onto a datasheet.
Wear light, comfortable clothing (shorts are not recommended) and sturdy walking shoes. Remember to bring a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, insect repellant and a container for drinking water that can be easily carried on a hike. You may also want to bring a camera.
A slideshow presentation on Saturday will provide the foundation for learning the identifying characteristics of plants. You will learn how plants are named and divided into family, genus, and species. Furthermore, you will learn about historical connections, interdependence of flowers and insects, medicinal and horticultural uses, and plant use by wildlife and livestock.
On Sunday, participants will mount the dried plants
with glue onto card stock paper. Plant labels will
be made with information such as date collected,
species name, and habitat information. The result-
ing datasheet and dried plant is yours to keep.
Studying one plant in detail is a great way to learn
plant identification.
Along with flowers come the butterflies . . .
Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne | ||||
