The best time to go is during the early summer when the prairie flowers are in bloom.

Brand my red, white, and blue prairie flowers!

"You wouldn't leave a delicate prairie flower like myself out here in the wasteland alone, would you?"

"I really shouldn't say in front of a delicate prairie flower like yourself."

"We'd go by horse and wagon, and there were such lovely prairie flowers."

Seed Savers Exchange grows rare heirlooms like red milkweed, a prairie flower crucial to monarch butterflies (www.seedsavers.org, 563-382-5990).

The first frosts of autumn had touched the trees with brushes of gold and red; hardy prairie flowers bloomed on every side.

"Ah, listen, we'll take a nice walk in the prairie flowers."

Also for sale are 2,000 acres in Gainesville, Ga., that had once been earmarked for plants; for now, it is growing prairie flowers on the land.

No delicate prairie flower was Mrs. McRose.