Shooting stars are early bloomers and beloved by folks walking and watching those prairies and savannas in the spring. They also see queen bumblebees and other early, native pollinators for whom shooting stars are an important food source. They are highly desirable prairie dwellers and their seed is expensive-- $1500 a pound. So when Graham Steinhauer, Goose Pond’s land steward, called for shooting star seed collectors on Thursday of last week, several of us happily joined Graham, Goose Pond’s restoration technician Emma Raasch, and Hailey Wedewer and Andi Hokanson, two of our wonderful Goose Pond interns.
Photo by Peter Gorman