Darrel Morrison, FASLA. Courtesy Florentine Films/Hott Productions

Designing in the Prairie Spirit: A Conversation with Darrel Morrison is a lovely thought-provoking 11 minute landscape film to be found on http:/lalh.org/films/designing-in-the-prairie-spirit/ produced by Robin Karson of the Library of American Landscape History.  Darrel Morrison grew up on an Iowa farm.  He was influenced by the movement of the grasses and the clouds over the soy bean fields. After graduating from Iowa State with a Bachelor’s in Landscape Architecture he furthered his studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in ecology.  There he found the Curtis Prairie restoration, a unique restoration of the prairie ecosystem which had been established in 1933 with 200 Civilian Conservation Corps men who planted native seedlings in America’s heartland.

He was also influenced by O. C Simpson and his use of plant species in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago and by the native plantings used by Frederick Law Olmsted in the World Columbia Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

Library of American Landscape History www.lalh.org

Kids play at the Native Plant Garden designed by Morrison at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum. Courtesy Florentine Films/Hott Productions

Library of American Landscape History, www.lalh.org