Blooming dates will vary due to geographic location, rainfall, light, temperatures, soil types, competition, age of the plants and genetic variations. Even within a species, individual plants may bloom weeks before or after other individuals of the same species under the same conditions. This poster may be used as a guide to the average blooming dates and durations of the blooms. You will have to adjust the dates according to your geographic location; plants in southern Iowa typically bloom earlier then those in northern Iowa. You may want to note the blooming dates and durations for your area right on the poster and compare them over time.

Mesic prairies were the most common prairie type to cover Iowa. They are not wet and not dry, but lie somewhere in between. Mesic prairies have lighter soils than wet prairies and are found on both loamy and sandy soils.  Rainwater soaks in more on mesic prairies than it does on dry prairies but does not collect water from surrounding areas like a wet prairie.  Mesic prairies are generally found on level to gently sloping land and with well-drained, rich, dark soils nearly all have been converted to cropland. They are now the rarest type of prairie.  Mesic plant and animal communities are very diverse and often contain species found in other types of prairie.

Blooming heights may vary according to your geographical area, soil types, temperature, rainfall, sunlight, competition and genetics. Even though plant heights may vary from one year to the next or vary with geographical location, this poster is useful as a guide to relative blooming heights. Generally, the shortest plants bloom in the early spring and are replaced by taller plants as the shorter plants begin to fade, with the height of the plants becoming progressively taller throughout the growing season.

Dry prairies or upland prairies are home to a variety of plants and animals that have adapted to harsh, hot, arid conditions. Plants found on dry prairies are shorter in general then they are on wetter types of prairies, often 3 feet or less.  The majority of dry prairies in Iowa are found on steep slopes along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.  The largest prairie remnants in Iowa are located in the Loess Hills along Iowa's western border.  Some of the species pictured on this poster may be common in more western states but in Iowa can only be found on the steep, west-facing slopes of the Loess Hills. Dry prairies never made up a large proportion of the types of prairies in Iowa but now, ironically, they are the most abundant and least disturbed. Because they are usually located on very steep, erodible slopes, with thin or sandy soils, many have managed to escape the plow and development.  The biggest threat to them these days is the encroachment of trees and shrubs since wildfires are far less common than in pre-settlement days.  State and private agencies are beginning to conduct controlled burns to alleviate this problem.