Wild chicory flowers along the right bank of the Marais Des Cygne River near the Main Street bridge.
Kansas is in a drought, and banks of the Marais Des Cygne River, a river that has swept through all of downtown Ottawa on more than one occasion, barely flows today at a depth of only 3.99 feet. The grass is brittle and dry, and small islands are poking through the slow currents of the river. Yet near the top of the levy, clusters of stunted chicory bloom, dotting the crunchy brown bank with patches of blue violet.
Diana Staresinic-Deane 
What interesting flowers!
It took me a while to identify them because it wetter years, the stems should be much, much longer. But they still found the energy to bloom. Go flowers, go!
Great shot. I’ve never seen a chicory flower before. My only experience with the plant is having drunk New Orleans French Market coffee with chicory. Great stuff. But I digress. 😀
Your photography is wonderful! Great shot. Our Arkansas River that runs through Wichita suffers similarly-with barely a trickle running through. The islands that cropped up have lots of green (weeds and who knows what else) growing up on them so that the river is filled with more green that water. 😦 Too bad we have none of these pretty flowers in it–that would makes it a little easier to take! lol
Here is my dirty secret: my best pictures are being shot with MY CELLPHONE. It’s almost embarrassing.
I feel bad for the catfish, who hardly have enough water left to swim in, and don’t have water deep enough to cool off in. I’ve seen pictures of the Marais Des Cygnes when it’s even lower, barely a trickle. It amazes me that this is the same river that has completely flooded Ottawa in previous years.
Sheesh, what a cell phone! It takes much better pics than my point-and-shoot. Maybe it’s time I move out of the 90s and get a phone with that kind of capability. It is pretty astounding that a river that has flooded so badly in the past could dry up so extremely. It is scary, and one reason we’re not watering our yard despite the sad pathetic yellow grass. The other reason is laziness and frugality so it all kind works hand-in-hand. lol
We just upgraded from a pair of ancient Nokias because they died. I felt a sort of obligation to stick to the relationship as long as that workhorse of a phone was willing to get a signal. If you click on the highlighted word flood, it will take you to pictures of the Marais Des Cynges in flood stage. The one I find most dramatic shows water flowing just under the heads of parking meters on main street.
You’re just as well not watering when it’s this hot. The grass protects itself by going dormant; watering it and forcing it to be green can actually do more harm than good. See? You’re environmentally friendly!