New Native Plants for Florakansas

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Katie Schmidt

“New native plants” is a misnomer we use a lot throughout our blogs and newsletters. In fact, they have been here for eons! But we get pretty excited around here when we can add a lesser-known native to our inventory for the first time. “New” just means newly available to our customers. Thanks to growing demand for natives in the landscape industry, more wholesale growers are expanding their offerings, which means we can expand our FloraKansas selection.

Solidago flexicaulis, zig zag goldenrod

A goldenrod that prefers shady, woodland conditions, Solidago flexicaulis can be found in far eastern Kansas and throughout the Ozarks, all the way to the east coast! This plant presents a great opportunity to get some color and pollinator attraction in shaded areas. Its name refers to the zig zag pattern of blooms up the stem. To identify it from other shady goldenrods like Solidago odora or Solidago caesia, look for the wide leaves with dramatically serrated edges. Companion plants include wild geraniums, columbine, and jack-in-the-pulpit.

*Fritzflohrreynolds, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons*

*Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons*

Clinopodium arkansanum, limestone calamint

*Rob Routledge, Sault College, Bugwood.org (Cropped by uploader), CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons*

At less than a foot tall, we don’t want you to accidentally pass this one by! Limestone calamint is found growing in the open glades and rocky prairies of Missouri and Arkansas, along with a few populations scattered in New Mexico, Texas, and the upper Midwest states. Tube-shaped flowers typical of the mint family will attract plenty of pollinators. Plant in soil that is well-drained, rocky, and slightly alkaline, in full to partial sun. Plant with similar sized friends that like rocky soil too, such as blue grama grass and perky sue.

Rosa carolina, pasture rose

*Photo by D. Gordon E. Robertson, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons*

Most roses you see in the flower shop or floral department of the grocery store are not native roses. Not even close! Shipped from all over South America, they have made us forget the simple beauty of our own native rose species. Wild roses may not have the massive, overstuffed blooms and countless layers of petals, but these natives are much easier to care for, provide tons of nectar to insects, and smell heavenly. Pasture rose is 1 to 3 feet tall and likes open, sunny exposures. As a native species, it is more resistant to rose-rosette disease than ornamental types. Very thorny, these roses can be used to form low hedges or a living fence.

Viola pedatifida, prairie violet

*Photo in public domain at Wikimedia Commons*

These diminutive and inconspicuous native plants live their life in the prairie understory, shaded out by taller species all around them. Blooming in spring, they are great next to sidewalks and in areas you pass by frequently so you don’t miss them! Prairie violets very closely resemble the other species of violet we carry, Viola pedata (bird’s foot violet), but that one has orange stamens and prairie violet does not. Both are host to many butterfly species but they do not spread as aggressively as common violets. These look great with crocus, and spread nicely underneath grasses like little bluestem.

Spring will be here before you know it! Which native plants will you add to your garden in 2023? Check our FloraKansas page for updates about the spring event.

New Year, New Plants

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Katie Schmidt

Winter is a great time for gardeners to curl up on the sofa and pore over seed and plant catalogs. Every year I try to order a few new plants to spice up our inventory and widen our species diversity. Just looking at all those beautiful blooms to choose from gets me excited for spring! Luckily, when I am ordering plugs and bulbs to grow in the greenhouse, I get to spend hours doing just that. Here are some new adaptable plants we will be offering at our spring FloraKansas:

Gazania linearis

This tough South African native is hardy to zone 5 and loves dry conditions. An extremely long bloomer, showing off its sunny yellow flowers for much of the summer, it only reaches six inches tall. Strappy grass-like foliage can be thick and form a ground cover. This plant is right at home in rock gardens and tough spots that don’t get much irrigation. Pair with native flax (Linum perenne) and fame flower (Talinum calycinum).

Peony Itoh x Pink Double Dandy

Itoh peonies, also known as intersectional peonies, are stronger and larger than regular garden peonies. A rare and hard-to-find hybrid between tree peonies and garden peonies, they are becoming more readily available these days. Known for fantastically huge blooms and an upright habit, never flopping over in the rain like other peonies do. This is a new introduction, with blooms boasting a bright pink center and paler pink edges. It makes a great centerpiece of any garden, or show-stopper when planted in groups along a driveway or border.

Heuchera ‘Peachberry Ice’

Coral bells is a favorite shade plant for many people. Colorful foliage, low maintenance, dainty blooms – it has a lot of appeal! Given a bit of moisture and some protection from sun during the hottest parts of the day, coral bells is long lived and easy to grow. This new selection from Proven Winners has a showy range of copper to blush leaves and a bushy habit. We are excited to try it out on our grounds if we can find the right spot.

Dianthus ‘Red Rouge’

*Dianthus is a stunning late spring early summer bloomer, and good for pollinators too! Photo courtesy of Walters Gardens*

Dianthus, also known as cheddar pinks, is a tough little plant that loves sun and hot weather. The single blooming variety (seen above) is also great for pollinators, and pairs well with Kansas native Hymenoxys scaposa and Sporobolus heterolepis, both short and sun loving as well. Dianthus tend to rot if the roots stay moist too long, so be sure the soil has good drainage. Plant along sidewalks and at the front of the garden border.

I never get tired of researching new plants and trying them out on our grounds and in the greenhouse. Look out for our next post all about the new Kansas natives we have added to our inventory for the upcoming spring sale. Hopefully dreaming of these beauties will help you get through the long winter still ahead. And when the ground thaws, we can all get our shovels dirty once again!

Songs of the Solstice

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Katie Schmidt

When the weather is cold and the days are short, I just want to curl up on the couch and rest. And according to prairie plants, that’s exactly what I should be doing! As much as it pains us to see our favorite plants dry up and freeze in the fall, cold weather is an essential pause in the growth cycle for some plant species. Dormancy, vernalization, and cycles of freezing and thawing are an important part of their development.

A winter sunset dips below the horizon behind a bur oak tree and a snowy landscape. — *Photo by Gerry Epp*

Baby It’s Cold Outside

Contrary to how we feel about it, cold weather is a very good thing for plants in our region. In fact, there are many species of plants that cannot bloom without a prolonged cold period. Apple trees cannot form proper buds without 500 to 1,000 “chilling hours”. Tulips will not bloom without 12 to 16 weeks of cold soil temperatures. And even the historically finicky peach tree will not set fruit without a proper cold spell during the winter months. This cold period for plants is called ‘vernalization’. It all has to do with needing some rest — after a strenuous growing season, many plants use the signal of dark days and cold temperatures to go into their dormant phase, an energy-saving adaptation that allows them to jump back into full blossom in the spring. Why fight the harsh winter conditions when you can just sleep through it?

On Dormancy, or Rest Ye Merry Gentle(Plants)

Dormancy is not death, it is more like a long, deep sleep. In preparation for winter, plants stop actively growing and begin to transport their sugar reserves into their roots. This means the foliage may look shriveled and dried, but the roots are more alive than ever, packed with energy to get through the winter. When they go dormant, all the internal chemical processes of the plant slow down. Isn’t that good advice for us too? Slow down, give up trying to keep up all those lush, green appearances and just focus on your roots and energy reserves! Remember to give your plants a bit of water of the winter if things get abnormally dry; they are resting, but still need moisture to stay alive until spring!

The dormant trees of the Arboretum take the spotlight during our Prairie Lights event. The lights accentuate their form and help us to appreciate them even in the off season. Photo by Amy Sharp Photography.

Let It Snow

Native prairie seeds are especially in need of cold, moist winters. These seeds have incredibly hard seed coats, called testas. The outer shell of the seed is hard for many reasons: to protect it from the elements, to prevent it from germinating too soon when conditions are unfavorable, or to survive the inside of a stomach once it is eaten and, – *ahem* – expelled. But this hard seed coat does finally break open after many freezes and thaws in a Kansas winter. Moisture works its way into the seed and helps the process along. Without deep cold, seeds would not germinate as well or at the correct time.

*Seeds take many shapes and forms. Line drawing by Lorna Harder, can be found on our “Prairie Restoration” informational sign on the Arb grounds.*

Winter can be a beautiful season if you know where to look. Prairie plants provide interesting textures and colors even through the darkest days of December and January. And more than being aesthetically pleasing, leaving gardens standing through winter provides the necessary habitat and shelter for wildlife to survive cold temperatures. As you enjoy your own kind of dormancy this winter solstice, I hope you find some comfort in the natural cycles of waking and rest happening all around you!

Leave The Leaves

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Katie Schmidt

Leaves are everywhere this time of year, and for good reason! Leaves have an important role in the ecosystem. Trees and the organisms living in and below them have evolved for millions of years together, working in sync to create vegetation and break it down in an efficient cycle. But most Americans don’t realize this, quickly raking the leaves away as soon as they fall on our precious lawns. Well, here are some facts that might change your mind and urge you to leave that rake in the garage!

*The leaves of ‘October Glory’ maple are beautiful but my do they fall everywhere!*

For the Love of Lawn

Most people rake leaves out of concern for their lawns. Rightly so, as a thick layer can damage turf grass. Leaves staying wet too long causes snow mold, and without enough airflow even grass smothering, leaving bald patches next spring. But a light layer of leaves shouldn’t be cause for alarm – remember, a few leaves here and there will feed the lawn the nutrients it needs. You may consider using a leaf blower to thin them out if they are piled too high in some areas, allowing the turf to breathe through the winter. And when you think about it, if your non-native turf grass is so fragile and takes so much special care to grow well outside it’s natural environment…*maybe the problem is the grass, not the leaves?

*Our obsession with a 1950’s American Dream Lawn (which actually harkens back to medieval castle-dwelling elitism) is a problem; its a multi-billion dollar industry that relies heavily on chemical inputs, replaces native habitat, and sucks up millions of gallons of drinkable freshwater, but produces no useful food crop. Ready to ditch that old fashioned thinking and consider downsizing your traditional lawn space? More info here, here and here on alternatives.

Oh Leaf Me a Home

Leaves are home to lots of overwintering insects. We may not notice them, but these tiny friends are there, clinging to the underside of leaves and crawling into the leaf piles that collect in garden beds. While the well known and well loved Monarch butterfly migrates, most of our native insects do not! They desperately need these natural places to hid in winter, often as an egg, chrysalis, or hibernating as an adult. Many gardeners work hard to support declining insect populations all summer, only to ruin all their hard work in the fall when they take all their leaves to the curb.

*Many butterflies and moths depend on leaf litter for shelter.*

Paper or Plastic

Too many folks spend their beautiful fall days bagging up leaves and sending them away. This creates a lot of plastic waste. Not only are we sending enormous amounts of plastic to the landfill, all the insects, eggs, and larvae already on those leaves will die inside the bag, never to take their place in the ecosystem! The nutrients in that foliage will not return to the soil, and instead stay trapped for hundreds of years in their plastic prison.

Free those leaves, folks! Let them decay and feed the soil microbiome. If you must haul them away, load them onto a tarp for transport, or opt for paper bags that can be composted with the leaves.

*Our student employee Rachel shows the size of a typical paper yard waste bag.*

I love a lush, green lawn as much as the next person, but we can all aim to achieve a useable lawn space while also being kind to the environment. If you have too many leaves in one area, spread them out, move them to your garden as free mulch, or start a neighborhood leaf compost pile. If you must haul them away, stick to compostable or reusable containers and consider taking them to a city compost area or even your local Arboretum! Doing your part to help the environment, in this case, means less work for once. So stay inside and watch that football game, the leaves in the yard can wait.

Prairie Pond Clean Up

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Katie Schmidt

Volunteers are truly the heart and soul of Dyck Arboretum. Without them, we just wouldn’t be able to do what we do! That fact was never more apparent than on our prairie pond clean up day October 19, when seven intrepid volunteers fired up their chainsaws to help staff tame the mass of trees that had sprouted up around the pond. It took years for them to grow, but only a day to clear them all out.

*Brad Guhr chopping freshly felled trees into logs for firewood*

History of The Prairie Pond

Most people are familiar with our main pond in the center of the Arboretum. It is our most frequently visited spot and draws many people to its island to feed turtles. But our lesser known prairie pond has its own special magic. Located west of the greenhouse and north of the Prairie Window Project, this is a rain collection point where the runoff from the prairie collects. Seasonally, this pond fills quickly with spring rains and then often dries up in late summer. In February and March it is absolutely humming with frogs. They are so loud it can give me a headache working out there! Click here to for a video of their spring songs.

Why Cut Down Such Nice Trees?

It can feel a little sad to cut down trees, especially young ones with so much potential. But prairies are increasingly vulnerable to being snuffed out by tree cover. The shade of tall trees decreases the species diversity of a prairie. This is especially true when trees like willows, cottonwoods, and invasive pears and elms all sprout up tightly together. Cedars are especially problematic, with their wide, low branches and acidic needles making it difficult for anything to grow beneath it. We could see bare spots in the grass cover where we cut down these trees, and I am eager to watch native prairie species return. If we can burn this area more frequently, we should be able to prevent further woody species from taking over.

Many Hands Make Light Work

What would have taken me at least a week, volunteers accomplished in a day. With three chainsaws running, helpers to stack wood and load trucks, and other folks painting the stumps with RTU so they don’t regrow, it was an efficient team. Twelve pick up loads (!!!) of brush was hauled away, and many nice logs where cut to be used in future years in our Prairie Lights fire pits.

*We are so grateful to volunteers who brought a pick up load full of tools to help us accomplish our mission!*

We appreciate all the community members who make our mission possible, from the folks who greet visitors at the front desk or those that like to stay behind the scenes pulling weeds in the gardens. A public garden is a community resource, and should be treated as such.

Volunteerism keeps your favorite local gardens accessible and maintained! If you want to volunteer, be it once a week, once a month, or once a year, call or email us to get the conversation started, or visit our volunteer page to apply.

Searching for Bigfruit Primrose

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Katie Schmidt

I was recently invited to Liberal, Kansas to give a talk to a garden group. While I enjoyed meeting and chatting with the knowledgeable and enthusiastic gardeners of the area, the best part of the trip was the detour we took to Clark State Fishing Lake. I knew a special subspecies of primrose grows there, and I was eager to collect a bit of seed. My partner and I spent an hour or so, on a balmy 100 degree day, seed collecting.

*Broomweed (**Gutierrezia dracunculoides**) in the foreground, Clark County Fishing Lake seen in the distance.*

A Unique Oppourtunity

Because I am rarely in the southwest corner of the state, and at this time of year the seed would be plenty dry and ready to collect, this was a serendipitous moment. I went in search of Oenothera macrocarpa subspecies incana. This regionally-specific primrose grows only in southwest Kansas and parts of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. While Oenothera macrocarpa is already a drought tolerant wonder plant, withstanding intense heat and dry weather like a champ, this subspecies may be even more adapted to drought based on its native range. Collecting and propagating seed from subspecies and species with historically small ranges allows us to offer more regionally specific plants to our western Kansas customers, and also brings greater genetic diversity to the Arboretum grounds.

*According to USDA Plants Database, **Oenothera macrocarpa ssp. incana** has a limited range, and grows on some very hot, unforgiving terrain.*

Late Summer Treasures

*I was checking these **Amorpha nana** (dwarf false indigo) seeds for viability, before shoving them in my pocket, likely never to be found again.*

While scouring the hillsides for primrose, we found lots of other familiar faces. There were seas of buffalo grass and blue grama to admire, growing happily even in a long standing drought. I even saw three different Amorpha species! Amorpha nana and Amorpha canescens were growing up in the dry hill sides, and Amorpha fruticosa was growing along the edge of the lake. I also encountered a completely new species for me, Stenosiphon linifolius. This member of the primrose family is called false gaura, and while it looks nothing like the primrose I was actually searching for, it gave me hope we were in the right place!

The dried pods of *Mentzelia nuda*, bractless blazingstar

Fruits of Our Labor

I collected seed from a few species, but I do so carefully; never taking the entire supply of that location and trying not to disturb the plants too much. Seed collection must always be done with the health of future generations of plants in mind! I took two seed pods of Mentzelia nuda, one small pod of Asclepias hirtella, and a few tufts of Heterotheca canescens. All of these species would be new to our FloraKansas Native Plant Days, if I can successfully grow them.

*The lake is surrounded by hills, which makes for scenic views. The water was very low, but there were still many birds about, and lots of turkey vultures circling above.*

*Bigfruit primrose (**Oenothera macrocarpa**) has large seed pods shaped like starfruit except with only 4 points. These are the type of pods we were searching for.*

We walked the hills for an hour or so, driving to several locations around the lake to try our luck. It has been a very dry summer, so perhaps the plants had dried up? We saw lots of grassy debris built up, maybe it was hiding just under the next tuft?

It was terrifically, fantastically, abominably hot that day. Eventually the sun won out against our will to find the primrose and we left without finding it. I hope to visit again in spring, when they might be blooming. Then I could pin their location on my phone’s GPS so I might find their seeds easier in the fall.

*Two people who should have worn more sunscreen and drank more water, but had a blast on the shortgrass prairie!*

Shortgrass Prairie, Big Blue Sky

If you have the time, make a day trip to western Kansas and take in all that the shortgrass prairie has to offer. It is often overlooked as less scenic or showy than the tallgrass prairie, but I disagree. Its diminutive species and rocky outcroppings have a rugged charm that reminds me of old western movies. And the endless sunny skies remind me of the resilience that these plants must have to survive. If any of you readers do visit Clark County Lake, keep an eye out for the seeds of this much-sought after primrose! I would happily seed swap for it.

Disturbance

Posted on September 3, 2022 by Katie Schmidt

While walking on the island recently, I saw a change in the vegetation this year. During the renovation we brought in new soil, drove around, made new ruts, and stirred up the seed bank below. This disturbance altered the landscape enormously, and it will take years to transform back to what it was, if ever.

Annuals

*Partridge pea, not usually found on the island, is colonizing happily there after our renovation.*

The first thing I noticed is how many more annual plant species there are on the island. Some are weeds – like velvet leaf, Abutilon therophrasti – and some are native species, though they may be unwelcome spreaders, like annual sunflower. These either arrived with the new soil, or were churned up to the surface while driving with heavy equipment. When annuals appear suddenly in a bare patch of an otherwise mature and established prairie, with a little help they will disappear just as quickly. We cut the seed heads off to stop them from returning next year, and soon they will be outcompeted by the perennials and grasses.

But I do hope some annuals stick around! Partridge pea, a favorite of mine and host to Sulphur butterflies, has appeared on the island once again, and I’d like to see more of it seed out. This plant loves tough, disturbed areas, so it is no surprise it showed up here.

New Animal Activity

*Pointed stump left by a beaver on our island*

We have noticed our aspen trees falling one by one, and see the sharp points of their chiseled trunks. We have a beaver on our island! While we have never caught sight of it, it is obviously enjoying our grounds immensely. With the aspens mostly gone from the center of the island, the views have changed. Visibility is better to the east and it is sunnier in the sitting area.

Beavers are shapers of entire ecosystems, and they are integral to rivers and streams. And while I love the idea of having a beaver around, our pond is in fact not a natural water way, and too many of our memorial trees are at risk from our industrious friend. But he sure has caused his share of disturbance around here! The shrubs growing beneath the aspens appreciate the increased sunlight, I am sure. We successfully lived-trapped one of the two beavers, and relocated it to a new pond with the permission of the property owner.

*It was no easy task, but we relocated this beaver to a stream that needs its services more than our own.*

Who Are You?

There have even been a few perennials popping up that are new to me. These might have been in the soil for years, but sprouting only when given open soil and right conditions. One of these is narrow leaf golden aster. A lovely little plant making its debut right along the edge of the gravel path. There is also a large, very conspicuous patch of Rudbeckia subtomentosa that I didn’t know we had on the grounds. Just when I think I have seen every inch of our grounds, it is nice to be surprised by these new flower faces!

Rudbeckia subtomentosa, also known as sweet henry or sweet coneflower. Several large clumps are just finished blooming on the edges of the island.

Heterotheca stenophylla, narrow leaf golden aster, growing happily on the rocky edges of the island path.

Please DO Disturb

Prairies, even tiny ones on the island or in our residential gardens, are meant to change. Nothing is static in nature, and when we humans want it all to stay orderly, predictable and exactly the same year after year, we are playing a losing game. It’s much better to embrace the changes in our gardens and landscapes, and even encourage them.

Some perennials will live fifty years, while others may only live five. Everything has its expected lifespan, so when those bare spots appear in your garden, consider throwing out some native annual seed like Coreopsis tinctoria or partridge pea. These will fill the gap, provide lovely blooms, then fade away once your other plants cover the soil. After all, prairie landscapes evolved to be disturbed, either by fire, flood, or the thundering of bison hooves. Each of these creates open soil for new plants to grow and compete with the existing grasses and forbs.

Are you looking to create a dynamic, ever-changing prairie habitat of your own? Visit FloraKansas Native Plant Days next week and ask staff what native plants will work best in your landscape.

Horticulture and Grounds Management Internship

Posted on July 19, 2022 by Katie Schmidt

Summer 2022 marks our first official Horticulture and Grounds Management Internship. While we often have student employees working and learning on our grounds, I saw a need for a more formal arrangement. Something to attract college students in the horticulture or biology field. Something that would provide them with specific learning metrics so their time here could lead right into a job in the green industry. I also hoped for students who wanted to be here, not just had to be here for a paycheck. To get through a day in this tough job, you have to really love the outdoors! Work doesn’t feel like work if you are fascinated by bird calls, insect identification, and scat.

We have had interns in the past, but never through an official program of our own. Most of our interns came from universities that had an experiential learning requirement they needed to fulfill, or they needed volunteer hours or simply wanted to know more about this potential career. These ambitious folks approached us, and largely designed their own goals while here. Here are just a few of them:

Coel Ediger was a grounds and marketing intern, helping with various tasks as part of her goal of career exploration.

A Unique Place, Unique Opportunity

In dreaming up this position, I thought about what I wish I had known before I was hired, and the skills I have learned along the way. These are the hands-on experiences I wanted to build into this internship. This includes proper tree trimming and felling, small engine basics and mower maintenance, planting and mulching, sustainable chemical use, sound greenhouse practices and so on. While there are lots of places to learn basic landscape care, our methods here at the Arboretum are different: we are ecosystem and sustainability focused. We use few chemicals, and always design gardens with a balance between aesthetics and function for wildlife.

Our Intern: Alex

Thanks to our creative staff, supportive board, and donors who made payment possible, the Dyck Arboretum HGM Internship was born! We had several applicants, but ultimately chose Alex Mendoza as the best fit this year.

Hello everyone! My name is Alex Mendoza, and I am the 2022 Summer Horticulture and Grounds Management Intern at the Dyke Arboretum! I am originally from a small town in Colorado called Parachute. I have always enjoyed learning about nature, and I am excited to learn more about prairies as I have spent my whole life in the mountains.
Besides being outdoors, I enjoy reading and trying new food. A good taco is always appreciated. I will be a sophomore at Bethel College this fall. I am studying Biology, with a minor in English. Feel free to stop and chat with me about any of these subjects if you see me working at the arboretum!

*Alex getting ready to do some string trimming!*

Alex has been an incredible asset to the Arboretum this summer. And on a personal note, after a very tumultuous and busy season for me, it has been a dream come true to work with Alex and hand off some day to day tasks. She is a diligent waterer, a wizard with a shovel, and an eager learner. I am already dreading the day she will leave us!

We are already looking forward to next summer and seeing what wonderful student will come to us next. If someone you know would be a good fit for our internship program, please share this post with them and direct them to our internship page. The application season for 2023 will open in January. If you are passionate about hands-on education and the future of sustainable horticulture, consider donating to our next internship season. Contact our office for details or email arboretum@hesston.edu

Flower Form and Function

Posted on June 8, 2022 by Katie Schmidt

Who doesn’t love a perfectly round peony or a deep red rose? While humans are mostly concerned with the aesthetic qualities of flowers, that’s only half the story. The shape, size and color of a flower are less about fashion and more about function, changing over millions of years to be recognized and pollinated by certain methods. Understanding a bit about flower form can help you shop smart when you are trying to create pollinator friendly landscaping.

File:Longitudinal section of raspberry flower.gif — *Flowers are complicated and variable structures. Knowing a bit about them ensures you are planting flowers that actually fit with our native pollinators. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.*

Coevolution

Coevolution is the concept that living things in close proximity to each other affect the characteristics they develop over time. For instance, the length of moth and bee tongues and the length of some tube-shaped flowers in their geographic area are closely related; as one grows or shrinks over thousands of years, so does the other since their positive interactions impact what traits are passed to the next generation. Our prairie plants in the midwest are no different. Liatris, compass plants, sunflowers and grasses all have complex, dependent relationships with native insects and animals. Flowering plants are still changing today, sometimes naturally and other times with a little push by humans.

Keeping Your Form

Flower form often determines its function in the environment. Each different flower shape is related to its pollinator mechanism. As mentioned above, tube flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds and long-tongued insects because their mouth physiology matches the shape. With hundreds of variations in shape and arrangement, you can spend years studying them all! As new horticultural varieties of native plants are introduced into the garden center, it is important to know what the original form and function of the flower was to be sure it is still serving that purpose even after hybridization.

Breeders hope to make more native plants commercially accessible to the public and to create reliable performers in the garden. But sometimes the changes they make (either through seedling selection or via hybridization) can be detrimental to flower form or leaf palatability, which decreases its usefulness in the ecosystem.

*There are many patented varieties of* Eupatorium dubium that focus on curtailing the height of the plant, which at a gangly six feet is unsuitable for most garden spaces. Anecdotally, we have found that pollinators flock just as much to the dwarf varieties like “Little Joe” as to the wild type, since the flower shape and color has not changed significantly between the types.

Hybridization

In plants, natural hybridization leads to new characteristics and creates genetic diversity. Humans can hybridize plants by transferring pollen from a plant of interest (say, an especially delicious tomato) with another plant of interest (perhaps a tomato with exceptional vigor). The seeds produced from that cross would be a new, genetically unique plant that hopefully has both of the aforementioned traits. This is not new, and has been happening since Gregor Mendel’s time!

Man-made crosses can lead to higher yields or increased drought tolerance, but they also have their downsides. Cultivars (cultivated varieties) can solve many tricky garden problems but sometimes have decreased ecosystem functionality. Try to shop for plants closely resembling their parent plant in the important categories: flower shape, color, and leaf color. Early research suggests that selections with increased drought tolerance, plant height, and other factors aren’t as influential to pollinators as the flower and leaf changes.

‘Julia’ is a hybrid coneflower sporting orange flowers on strong stems. While we all love these colorful Echinacea varieties, and pollinators seem to as well, they are not nearly as long lived as the less vibrant native species. We don’t know yet how the color change affects the foraging behavior of our native insects, so more research is needed. Photo courtesy of Walter’s Gardens.

How to keep it all straight?

You don’t have to be a botany expert to make good choices. When buying some of the commercially available cultivars/varieties/hybrids, simply try to choose ones closest to their wild parent in appearance. If the flowers are doubled, or a wildly different color than is naturally occurring, that should be a red flag. We can all keep educating ourselves about the pros and cons of cultivars while still enjoying manageable and well-planned native gardens. Planting native trees, shrubs and perennials in your landscape increases the genetic diversity and ecosystem function of your neighborhood. It is worth the extra work, and learning along the way will make the native garden experience even more rewarding!

Spring Ephemerals: Don’t wait!

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Katie Schmidt

Because of the tendency for some spring ephemerals to go dormant in hot weather, there are a handful of plants we only offer at the spring Florakansas event. Shooting star, liverleaf, and jack-in-the-pulpit are all beautiful woodland species and that show off in spring then disappear for the rest of the year. If you wait until fall to buy these beauties, you likely won’t find them on our greenhouse benches! Though Florakansas is over, we still have some of these plants in stock, and I will be happy to chat with you via email if you’d like to purchase them.

Hepatica americana

Hepatica blooms very early in spring, sometimes even through the snow.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Also known as liverleaf, this petite plant puts on small star shaped flowers and is very hardy. Great in moist to medium-dry shade, it will perform in the garden without any fuss. The flowers can be white, or even a light blue or pink at times. Blooms close up at night and open on rainy days, a charming movement in the early spring garden. The leaves hug the ground at only 2-3″ tall, so it fits well near edging or walkways.

Dodecatheon media

Photo from Wikimedia Commons public domain

Shooting star comes in pink and white. Whichever color you choose, they are sure to delight as they spring up in April on leafless stems. With a flower unlike any other, this native oddity is a conversation starter and always a welcome harbinger of warmer days to come. Plant in a part shady spot where the soil won’t become waterlogged, as they may rot. Once finished blooming in May, the plant disappears completely only to surprise you again next spring!

Arisaema triphyllum

Photo by Fanmartin via Wikimedia Commons

Native range of A. triyphyllum according to the USDA plants database

Jack-in-the-pulpit is a fascinating plant that looks more like it belongs in the tropics than in Kansas. Native to eastern Kansas and much of the mid to upper east coast, this plant spreads slowly underground to form lush colonies of lobed leaves and spathe blooms. The blooms are green externally, but often turn burgundy red inside, eventually giving way to interesting red fruits in fall. But take care, though they may look delicious, these fruits are not edible!

Other spring ephemerals that go dormant during summer and are only offered in spring are Mertensia virginica (bluebells) and Podophyllum peltatum (mayapple). Though Florakansas has ended and the shopping hours are over, if you still need a few plants please email arboretum@hesston.edu to reach a staff member and we will be happy to help.