In May, an Ohio prairie garden begins to wake in earnest. Fresh green grasses rise through the soil while early wildflowers—golden alexanders, wild hyacinth and Ohio spiderwort—start to bloom among the new growth. The garden still feels open and airy this time of year, with space between plants and soft movement in the wind, but the energy of summer is building underneath it all. Pollinators return in growing numbers, and the prairie shifts from the quiet emergence of spring toward the dense color and height that will come later in the season.