Jeff Ewoldt grew up in northwest Iowa, currently practices law in Des Moines, and has always had a keen interest in nature and conservation.

On the first day of June, I headed out on my trusty mountain bike for a ride around Spencer, Iowa, intending to get some exercise and investigate wildflower activity in the northwest Iowa town where I grew up.

My primary destination was Oneota Park, located on the southeastern edge of town, not far from Spencer High School and my old neighborhood. Named for a prehistoric Native American culture that existed in the Upper Midwest from about 900 to 1700 A.D., Oneota consists of more than 220 acres of prairie and river bottom woods through which the Little Sioux River runs. It’s a place I’ve enjoyed exploring since it first became a county park in the late 1970s or early ‘80s, and the spring flowers on the expansive prairieland are particularly interesting to me.

Jeff Ewoldt grew up in northwest Iowa, currently practices law in Des Moines, and has always had a keen interest in nature and conservation. He thanks Lora Conrad for her dedication and assistance in providing identifications of most of the species shown here.

The Iowa Great Lakes region is known as one of Iowa’s preeminent tourist destinations, where recreational opportunities abound on the glacier-carved chain of lakes that most summertime visitors and year-round residents call “Okoboji.” During the growing season, the area is also a haven for wildflowers. While visiting last month, I observed many native plants in the region’s numerous nature preserves and along undeveloped shorelines.

On that particular weekend, the initial draw to northwest Iowa wasn’t the Lakes, but rather the Clay County Fair in Spencer, my hometown. I managed to find a few wildflower photo opportunities on the fairgrounds, particularly at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ display outside of the Sundholm Environmental Cabin.

This was just a prelude to the many additional wildflowers observed when, on Saturday, September 14, I ventured north into Dickinson County, my only plans being (1) to find some tacos for lunch; and (2) enjoy the outdoors.