Claude Barr wanted to homestead in southwest South Dakota. “The deficiencies of the land,” he wrote “were wholly unsuspected.”
It was a hard living for Barr and his family. But the landscape here also held some unexpected surprises. It just so happened that Claude Barr loved wildflowers. He looked around and found, at his feet, far more than he expected, so, he wrote a book about it. Barr’s groundbreaking work is called Jewels of the Plains: Wildflowers of the Great Plains Grasslands and Hills. It’s now been reprinted by the University of Minnesota Press. It was edited by James H. Locklear. He’s the director of conservation at Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha and an author "Phlox: A Natural History and Gardener’s Guide."
