I see Ratibida columnifera, can't really make out the purple flowered one, maybe Echinacea?...Also hard to really say what grass, but probably Little Bluestem.
Whatever, it's a VERY beautiful meadow!

Vera

The field was planted in a native prairie mix. The yellow are coneflowers, the majority of the purple looks like bergamot, but hard to tell in the picture. I do see some echinacea in there and some other clumps of stuff that has yet to bloom. The grass is primarily little blue stem.

When you back to that field was it a different time of year?

Wouldn't it be great if people who had very large acreage yards, planted something like this instead of a vast sea of short mowed grass?

Thanks so much. It probably was a prairie mix. I can make out the coneflowers now (didn't know they came in yellow) and the other plants mentioned I didn't know. I went back about the same time last year, but being off by a few weeks can make a big difference, especially with bergamot (if it is the same as the red variety a neighbor planted, one week it was glorious, the next it had turned brown and he cleared it all off, didn't replant the following year). Also, last year we had terrible drought conditions, and that might have been a factor.

I took that photo on August 5, 2003 (wonderful how that camera dated photos). My much more expensive new one doesn't, but I keep them in folders by year/month/day. I will check back in August, as that really was a beautiful scene. Yes, it would be wonderful if more people planted like that, but it seems most farmers around here need their pastures for grazing livestock, or growing corn, grass for hay or soybeans, so I suppose it is a luxury to plant a meadow with beautiful flowers.

I wasn't referred to farmers, I was referring to people with large lawns... Its pretty common to slice up farm land in 1, 5 or 10 acre parcels and then have people mowing acres of lawn - when they could be growing flowers instead...

Sorry I misunderstood. That's what I believe this is, a house on an acreage.

Aliska...
Coneflowers is a catchall common name for plants belonging to the genera Ratibida, Echinacea and Rudbeckia :)

Vera

Thank you for that bit of info. Most people around here have the pink ones with the drooping petals. They are probably easy to grow. I'd put some in myself but am more concerned/confused about how to get my rose cuttings (not taken yet) going. Think I'll ask for help on the propagation forum.

I guess if you like finicky, gaudy, over scented, pompous, over-cultivated, genetic mutants that some people call roses, you can waste time those cuttings. :- )