Category Archives: Prairie Gardening

New Plants around the Grounds

Posted on by Katie Schmidt

I recently spoke at the Oklahoma Native Plant Network fall festival in Oklahoma City. They had a day full of speakers, including representatives from Tulsa Botanic Garden, the Xerces Society and Bat Conservation International. But the real treat of course was the plant market outside the presentation hall. So many great native treasures were available from local vendors, I couldn’t resist buying a few new plants. I was able to get a few hard-to-find species for installation on the Arboretum grounds. Keep an eye out for these beauties on your next visit.

Callicarpa americana var. lactea – White American Beautyberry

Photo provided by the grower, Wild Things Nursery of Seminole, Oklahoma.

I didn’t even realize a naturally occurring white variety of beautyberry existed until I saw it being sold by Wild Things Nursery at the ONPN event. All the same lovely characteristics as its purple cousin – shade tolerant, pollinator friendly, bird attracting – but with striking white berries on arching stems. Marilyn, the owner of Wild Things Nursery said she collected the seed over twenty years ago down a shady dirt road in north western Arkansas. According to her they come true from seed reliably. Beautyberry are marginally edible, though not very tasty. Find these new additions in the back of the Compassionate Friends Garden near the hedgerow at the arboretum.

Hibiscus laevis – Halberd-leaf Rosemallow

H. laevis, via Wikimedia Commons

Our pond has several lovely Hibiscus moscheutos thriving along its edge, and I am excited to add H. laevis to the mallow collection. This is a slightly taller species with narrow leaves, as the name implies, in the shape of a medieval sword. Native throughout the eastern half of the US, though much of its wetland habitat in the mid-Atlantic has been disturbed. Sadly, it is not as commonly found as it once was. I’ll be planting this on tip of the island, where there is some space on the banks thanks to our latest renovation. I found this at a great plant at a vendor called Duck Creek Farms from Mounds, Oklahoma.

Native Range of H. laevis, according to USDA plants database

Wisteria frutescens – American Wisteria

Illustration by Mary Vaux Walcott, via Wikimedia Commons

Anyone who has seen the opening scenes of Bridgerton house on Netflix’s hit show will recognize the pendulous purple blooms of Wiseria vine. But most of the Wisteria you see in media and in formal landscapes is the asian variety. Beautiful, but at a price: invasive in certain parts of the country and downright pushy in the garden, it needs diligent trimming to keep growth in check. But native W. frutescens is a great alternative to its exotic cousins, and with plenty of color to spare. I’ll plant this next spring near a leg of our new octagonal gazebo soon to be erected in the Birdwatch Garden.

Wisteria frutescens, Photo by Bearerofthecup, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Shop Til You Drop

Photo by Sue in az, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In between shopping for the Arboretum, giving the keynote presentation of the festival, and networking with all the like-minded conservationists and plant peddlers, of course I also snagged a few things for my own landscape! I found blackfoot daisy (Melampodium leucanthum) for a hot, dry spot near my front sidewalk. I also found an adorable spineless cactus (possibly Optunia ellisiana?) to plant nearby. Here’s hoping these cuties fill in the rather inhospitable space between my purple prairie clover and creeping sedum.

If you are in the area, put ONPN’s fall festival on your radar for next year. It was a great time to learn about native plants and related topics in conservation. And you will never see me turn down an opportunity to buy plants and support small growers!

Aromatic Aster

Posted on by Brad Guhr

One of my favorite prairie wildflower species has to be aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium). Aromatic asters are hardy, drought-tolerant forbs that bloom toward the end of the growing season. Their leaves have an herbal scent when crushed. Aster species are host plants for caterpillars of butterflies including painted ladies, pearl crescents, and silvery checkerspots as well as many species of moths. In the late summer and fall, aromatic aster flowers delight the human need for color and provide nectar for many insects, most notably, butterflies, bees, wasps, flies and beetles.

Aromatic aster var. ‘Raydon’s Favorite’

According to Mike Haddock at Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses, aromatic aster is found across almost the entire state of Kansas on dry, open prairies. In our Dyck Arboretum reconstructed prairie, aromatic aster (seed collected from the Smoky Hills ~30 miles north of Hesston) is just about finished flowering. Its purple hues popped a couple of weeks ago among the reddish-brown colors of senescing warm-season grasses.

A Star in the Prairie Garden

In our native plant gardens, aromatic aster is the star of a show that we have been looking forward to all growing season. Aromatic aster fills garden spaces between other plants nicely where its dense, low 1′-2′ foliage crowds out weeds and lends above-ground support to neighboring plants. But its late-season flowers are the main reason that this species is a dominant part of our featured Butterfly Garden.

Educational signage in our Dyck Arboretum Butterfly Garden bed (line drawings by Lorna Harder)

While I enjoy observing all prairie flowers throughout the growing season and the pollinators they attract, aromatic asters just seem to take the human entertainment value to a higher level. Given the high number of flowers on each plant and the lack of anything else blooming this time of the year, this species usually seems to put on the greatest show of the year as it plays host to a busy array of insect pollinators.

The two varieties of aromatic aster in our Butterfly Garden are ‘October Skies’ and ‘Raydon’s Favorite’. They bloom at different times and in nice succession for a long season of attracting pollinators. I seem to usually observe the former blooming from late September to mid October and the latter from mid October to early November.

Comparison of aromatic aster varieties ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ on left and ‘October Skies’ on right (Photo by Janelle Flory Schrock)

Whether I’m walking with elementary schoolers, college students or retired master gardeners, this Butterfly Garden spot on a sunny afternoon is always a regular stop. The flowering spectacle by aromatic aster in this time of the year is one of my favorite flower/pollinator interactions in the prairie garden.

When trying to capture the jaw-dropping wow factor of a landscape scene like the Flint Hills or a Kansas sunset, a photo or video never conveys the inspiring scene I want. Nevertheless, here is a video of the super busy pollinator scene I witnessed yesterday (10/22/24).

13 Butterfly Species Observed

The butterflies I observed nectaring on the flowers of aromatic aster var. ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ yesterday included the following species: checkered white, sachem, common checkered skipper, fiery skipper, dainty sulphur, clouded sulphur, orange sulphur, eastern tailed blue, common buckeye, monarch, pearl crescent, Melissa blue, and American lady (not all species were visible in the video). Various species of bees (audibly busy), flies, beetles and moths were also abundant.

Stop by and see our Butterfly Garden before the aromatic aster finishes its show in the next week or two. Better yet, add different varieties of aromatic aster to a sunny spot in your landscape where you can enjoy a similar show for years to come.

For a broader review of asters in general, see my colleague’s great past posts, Asters: Autumn’s Crescendo and All About Asters.

Think Pink

Posted on by Katie Schmidt

Muhly grass is in its prime this time of year, and all our regular visitors are asking about it. This native grass is unforgettable once you see it in bloom, and we are lucky to have multiple types growing on our grounds. Read on to find out which species is right for you!

Muhlenbergia capillaris – Muhly grass, Hair

Planted in the northwest corner of the Arboretum, our plot of muhly grass is in its third year. When first planted they are pretty thin and unimpressive, but once mature these grasses really put on a show, especially if planted in large groups. Vibrant pink seed heads appear in late summer and persist in a thick cloud of color all through fall. Extremely drought tolerant, they hardly need watering once established. They require excellent drainage, best planted in gritty soils, or on a slope.

M. capillaris is native to the southeastern US. Map by USDA plants database.

Muhlenbergia reverchonii – Seep Muhly

Usually smaller in stature, this grass is notably less stiff. While M. capillaris grows straight up, the graceful blades of seep muhly are arching and curled. It isn’t as deep in color, but still has a nice pink hue that is slightly more airy and light. Better for folks who prefer more neutral tones. This species has much more movement in the wind, and is softer to the touch. Something to think about when installing grasses around play areas or walkways!

M. reverchonii has a more limited range, found in the central regions of Oklahoma and Texas.

Muhly Grass cultivars

‘White Cloud’ muhly grass, photo courtesy of Hoffman Nursery

There have been some great options on the market for Muhly grass cultivars in recent years, including a variety of M. capillaris called ‘White Cloud’. It has all the allure of those wispy seed heads but in an ethereal white, a perfect pop for darker backdrops like brick or evergreens. At 4 ft tall it grows a bit taller than the pink types and can be used as a fluffy, neutral tone backdrop in the garden. Muhlenbergia ‘Undaunted’ is a well-loved cultivar of M. reverchonii. It’s weeping seed heads and open habit make it a great specimen plant for the perennial border.

‘Undaunted’ is noted over the straight species for increased hardiness in norther zones and having a deeper panicle color at first flush. Photo courtesy Walter’s Gardens

No matter which Muhly grass you choose, as long as you plant in full sun and well draining soil, you will surely be thrilled with its light texture and season-long interest. It is a water-wise plant with no major pest problems, but it does have few flaws: collapses easily in heavy snow, not very hardy in northern zones, and doesn’t always establish well when planted in fall. Keep those things in mind when considering adding this grass to your landscape. Look out for the spring update of the Native Plant Guide on our FloraKansas page to find out what species we will have available at our spring sale.

Right Rudbeckia, Right Place

Posted on by Katie Schmidt

Rudbeckia is a very recognizable flower. Its bright yellow blooms appear when summer reaches its peak, and flowers steadily through the hottest part of the summer when we all need it most. Also known as black eyed Susan (named after a romantic poem!) or sometimes as yellow coneflower, Rudbeckia is a variable genus with many garden worthy species. But they each want a little bit different environment, so be sure to put them in the right place!

Rudbeckia maxima – Giant Coneflower

Photo by Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

R. maxima is a lesser known species native to the southern US, including Oklahoma and Texas. It averages about 6 feet tall in our area, but can be taller in moist, fertile soils. The flowers attract pollinators all through July, and through the winter a bevy of birds perch on the cones and eat the nutritious seeds. The foliage is striking: waxy and grey, resembling cabbage leaf. A wonderful vertical element to add to your landscape, with very sturdy stems and large blooms. It is a show piece in the garden! But it can easily be floppy if it gets too much shade or the soils are too rich. Situate it in strong sun and semi-dry soil, with dense grasses around it for support.

These R. maxima are thriving on the dry side of our drainage ditch near the greenhouse. The cones were huge this year!

Rudbeckia subtomentosa – Sweet Coneflower

Sweet coneflower is often found in moist sites, as seen here growing on the banks of the Arboretum pond. This plant can handle a bit of dry soil once established, but in general it likes moist sites. So try to plant it in a low spot or drainage area. The common name references the subtle sweet smell of the blooms. Less spready than other species of Rudbeckia, it pairs well in the garden with grasses like Panicum and other tall forbs like Eryngium yuccifolium. The petals can vary in length, and sometimes they are even rolled or ‘quilled’ as seen in the cultivar ‘Little Henry’.

Rudbeckia triloba – Brown Eyed Susan

Clouds of small yellow blooms on stiff, wiry stems appear in mid to late June on this easy to grow perennial. It readily self seeds, to the point of becoming an absolute menace in the garden! But if you have the space to let it run wild it is a pollinator-attracting powerhouse. It is best planted in an area that can be contained, either by mowing, burning or hemmed in by sidewalk/pavement. This species is native throughout most of the eastern half of the continental United States, and grows well in full to part sun and average to moist soil. The cultivated variety called ‘Prairie Glow’ flowers red with yellow tips. It is a seed strain from breeder David Cavagnaro introduced to the garden trade in 2003. Both the straight species and the cultivar are often available at FloraKansas.

Rudbeckia missouriensis blooming in the Gjerstad garden on the northwest side of the Arboretum.

And beyond these three, there are tons more to choose from! In a previous post, Scott talked a bit about R. missouriensis, R. hirta, R. lacinata, and R. fulgida, all great options for the habitat garden. All of these and more are usually available at our biannual FloraKansas event, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for our updated plant list when it comes out.

Water Smart: Steps to Establishing Your Native Plants

Posted on by Scott Vogt

Originally published on April 29, 2015, here are some helpful hints from our Executive Director Scott Vogt on getting your native plants established using “waterwise” methods.

Over the past few weeks, we have been fielding quite a few questions about how to properly establish plants purchased at our fall FloraKansas Native Plant Days.  Hopefully, many of you have a great start and your plants are beginning to attach to the soil. But if you have questions, keep reading for some helpful reminders and step by step instructions for our method of establishing plants.

Now that you have purchased your plants at our FloraKansas plant sale and hopefully gotten them planted in your landscape, you’ll want to be intentional about watering methods. It’s true, native plants are more drought-tolerant than you may be used to. However, in order to get your plants successfully established, they will still need some careful attention these first few weeks and through the summer.

Follow these steps to be “water smart” as you establish your native plants:

4-23 photo 2

The First Year

When planting: Water plants as soon as you get them in the ground. Allow the water to soak in, then water again until the soil is thoroughly moistened.

First Two Weeks: Water plants daily depending on the weather.   If it rains, skip a watering.  Just-planted roots are only able to absorb soil moisture from the potting soil.  They have not attached to their surrounding soil.  When you see new growth, the plants have begun to get established.

First Month: Unless the weather is extremely hot and dry, you may be able to decrease watering frequency to two or three times per week.  Generally, you want the soil to be dry an inch or two below the surface before you water. Too much water leads to foliar and root problems.  It is optimal to allow the soil to dry between watering because this encourages roots to grow deep.

Following Months: Water only when top inch or two of soil dries or when plants display signs of being dry.  Water deeply and infrequently.  How much water will depend on your soil and environmental conditions.  Don’t forget to check your plants during the winter months.

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The Second Year

Water deeply as needed.  During prolonged periods of dry weather water once or twice per week.  Generally, it takes plants at least two years to fully develop a sustaining root system.

The Following Years

Properly planted and watered plants should be fairly well established, and can thrive with less watering than you may expect. Drought-tolerant plants may need no supplemental water, whereas shallow-rooted plants or plants with greater water needs may need water weekly. Many plants, when selected for the conditions in your yard, may need watering only once or twice a month in dry weather.

Best Management Practices for Native Plants (BMPs)

Drought-tolerant plants: Even drought-tolerant plants need regular water until they are established!

Young Trees and Shrubs: Young trees and shrubs need deep regular watering. During times of little or no rain, water deeply once a week until trees become established.

Fertilization: Don’t fertilize new plants.  Fertilizing during establishment encourages rapid top growth that is not sustainable by the root system.

Mulch: Mulch new plantings with 1-3 inches of mulch and keep mulch away from plant stems.

Water in the morning: Less water is lost to evaporation.

Choose the right watering method: A soaker hose applies water directly to the soil and reduces evaporation. If you are planting a few plants in an existing planting bed, hand watering can get the new plants the water they need while not overwatering the rest of the bed.

Get to know your soil: Is your soil sand or clay?  It greatly affects watering frequency and duration.  Our clay soils can only take in about an inch of rain per hour.

Check soil moisture before watering: Check soil moisture with finger or spade.  Soil should be dry an inch or two below the surface before you water.

Recheck soil after watering: At least an hour after you water (or two hours with clay soil), probe soil to see how deeply the water penetrated. If it didn’t reach the root zone, you may need to increase your watering.  If the area is soggy, try cutting back on watering next time.

Pick the right plant for the right place: Choose plants that are pest-resistant, require less water, and match the sun, shade, and soil in your yard.

Avoid planting in hot, dry weather: Plants will easily stress and not develop healthy roots under hot, dry conditions.  If you must plant in summer, plant in the cool of the morning when less water is lost to evaporation.

The Johnsongrass Problem

Posted on by Scott Vogt

This summer in my travels through Kansas and surrounding states, I have seen more Johnsongrass than ever before. It is everywhere. It has proliferated to the point that it is pushing out native vegetation, including remnant prairies and most roadside ditch prairie plants. The expansion of this exotic grass is so aggressive that I am afraid that nothing can be done to reverse the trend in most of the areas that I see. It is a travesty.

Johnsongrass has a narrow leaf blade similar to milo or sorghum and a panicle seedhead similar to switchgrass.

History

Johnson grass, or sometimes Johnsongrass, Sorghum halepense, is native to Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. It was introduced in the U.S. around the 1800s and is named after Alabama plantation owner Colonel William Johnson who is said to have actually planted a crop of the grass on river bottom land in 1840. However, Johnson grass had been established in several other states about a decade earlier.
It was originally considered a prospective forage crop but Johnsongrass turned out to be an agricultural weed. The unintended consequence of Johnsongrass introduction was that it caused tremendous economic loss due to its invasive spread by seed and rhizomes. Cash crops were pushed out and livestock were poisoned by the plant. Today, it is considered one of the ten worst weeds in the world, especially for range land.

This grass was promoted as good for cattle grazing and hay, but it has had the opposite effect. It is very hard to eradicate once it gets a foothold. If you try to plow it under, it simply spreads more plants similar to tilling a stand of bermudagrass. Plants stressed by drought or freezing weather will produce hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid), which will kill livestock when the grass is eaten in larger quantities. Horses and repeat grazers are most susceptible to harmful effects such as bloating or death.

Johnsongrass colony along a stream bank in Hesston.

Control

You may ask, then, what can be done? Small stands can be hand pulled, dug up and monitored for resprouting, but you must be diligent and vigilant to make sure you have removed the entire plant. Scouting the peripheral edges of you property and immediate eradication with Round-Up is the best.

Always use caution when using any chemical including Round-Up. I hate to spray, but in this case, an application of glyphosate/Round-Up is warranted. Round-Up is a non-selective herbicide that will kill any plant it is sprayed on, so care has to be taken when applying it. Again, monitor and respray the sprouts that pop up after the original burn down.

You must be vigilant. A few years of growth of Johnsongrass unchecked can have very dangerous consequences to your prairie or landscape. We can’t reverse all the damage already done, but we can keep it from damaging your corner of the world. It takes some effort to keep invasive species at bay, but it is always worth it.

Plant Spotlight: Spigelia marilandica

Posted on by Katie Schmidt

Bright red, versatile, compact habit and attracts hummingbirds…why has the landscaping industry so often overlooked this plant? Spigelia is a lesser known and underutilized species for native gardens. We rarely see it in landscape designs in this area, and it can be hard to find commercially available. What gives? Read on to find out about this wonderful plant and how to use it in your garden.

Photo by J. Carmichael (Tevonic), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Pinkroot

Spigelia marilandica, also known as woodland pinkroot or Indian pink, is a petite treat. Two feet tall and wide and blooming in June, it is a big show in a small package. The deep red trumpet shaped blooms are yellow on the inside, forming a two-toned flower when the petals bend outwards. Indigenous people in its native range have used it medicinally, though we don’t suggest trying this on your own as it does have some toxic properties at higher doses.

USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab from Beltsville, Maryland, USA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The tube shaped blooms attract butterflies and hummingbirds, and it is low maintenance once established, needing no special trimming or care. According to its entry on the Ladybird Johnson database, “This plant does very well in gardens. It blooms from the bottom upward and the flowering season can be prolonged by removing the flowers as they wither.”

So, What’s the Catch?

S. marilandica is not found much around here. Its native range is mostly in our neighboring states to the south and east. Not to say there aren’t going to be a few stray specimens living in some moist woods of eastern and south eastern Kansas, but it would be rare. It likes lots of moisture, like streambanks and seasonally wet ravines, and prefers shade. Moisture and shade are not what Kansas is known for.

This map shows the native range of Spigelia marilandica, from BiotaNA

But if you have a shade garden in Kansas, you are likely giving it a bit of supplemental watering just to keep things going during our droughty summers. Why not add this beauty to the mix? They are difficult to find and propagate from seed (though there is some helpful advice here on that topic), but lucky for our local readers we will have some live plants available at our fall FloraKansas fundraiser! We will have a variety called ‘Little Red Head’,

Spigelia ‘Little Red Head’, Photo courtesy of Walter’s Gardens

Companion Plants

With its bright red color, Spigelia is a showstopper. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be complemented by companion plants that also like semi-moist shade. Think hostas, phlox, geranium, and starry champion. Spring blooming woodland ephemerals like Columbine and Mertensia would play well with this species. Remember to plant in clusters of three or five for the biggest impact, and repeat those clusters to create a cohesive look even if you are aiming for a naturalistic woodland garden.

Spigelia will be available at our fall FloraKansas event, which is coming right up in September, the weekend following Labor Day!

Native Plants in Modern Horticulture: Terminology

Posted on by Katie Schmidt

We get a lot of questions about what exactly it means for a native plant to be a cultivar or a variety, and how that might affect pollinator attraction or ecological value. The short answer is: it’s complicated! To really understand the conversation happening around nativars, it is important to understand how they come to exist. How is that plant reproduced? Where it was discovered? What does the patent says about its parentage? It can be a tricky road full of complicated terminology, and we will be posting a series of blogs to dig into this topic, and how it applies to the native plants common in the Arboretum and at our FloraKansas fundraiser events.

Button bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) is a native shrub growing up to 12 feet tall. The variety ‘Sugar Shack’ is a much more manageable size at 6 feet tall and wide. Varieties created by the horticulture industry can be helpful in adapting these beautiful plants to fit urban spaces, but their benefit to the ecosystem is still being studied.

The first post in this series is a primer on terminology used in these discussions. Future posts will cover naturally occurring varieties versus cultivars, hybridization and breeding programs, and what it all means for native plant enthusiasts!

The Language of Plants

Cultivar, hybrid, variety — these terms are often tossed around willy nilly and their definitions get mixed up. This article does a fantastic job of explaining it in lay terms, but the even shorter version is:

  • Variety = naturally occurring genetic variation within a plant species. Seed is usually true to parent plant.
  • Cultivar = variation within a plant species developed through human intervention; seed usually is not true to parent plant.
  • Hybrid = product of a cross between two different species or varieties, which can occur naturally or by human intervention. Seed may be sterile, or may be viable, and may or may not grow to reflect the parent plants.

A naturally occurring variety may later be found to be the product of spontaneous hybridization. A hybrid plant may have been created with two cultivars as parent species. These descriptors are not always mutually exclusive, and can overlap in confusing ways!

If you search for ‘Hello Yellow Milkweed’ online, you get a lot of results that call this a cultivar or even a hybrid. But I can’t seem to find any plant patent or breeding information yet. So, this may be a situation where the terminology being used is incorrect and it might be just a naturally occurring color variation. I will keep searching for info!

These simple definitions from the American Begonia Society are also helpful:

A SPECIES is a natural grouping of similar plants that can interbreed and reproduce by seed.

A NATURAL HYBRID occurs between two different species.

A VARIETY appears naturally within a species, but it has some distinctive trait which sets it apart.

Just to Muddy the Waters…

‘Variety’ is different than ‘Plant Variety’. As frustratingly similar as those terms are, the first is a taxonimical distinction, while the second is a horticultural industry term. For example, Baptisia australis var. minor is a natural variation on Baptisia australis. It is shorter and more compact than the regular species. This is a botanical or taxononmical variety, and you can tell by the way it is written. But a Plant Variety is usually listed ‘like this’, and describes a patented cultivar. This distinction protects the plant breeders rights. Echinacea ‘Summersong FireFinch’ (listed as Echinacea purpurea G0052Y under its patent) is an example. Too often even the plant producers and sellers do not use the terms uniformly. I have seen Baptisia australis var. minor tagged as Baptisia ‘Minor’, which may cause people to think it is a patented or man-made variety, when it is not.

All that to say, it is very difficult to know what you are getting sometimes! Check out our other posts diving into detail on hybrids and cultivars to get a better understanding of what to look for when purchasing.

‘Julia’ is a hybrid coneflower sporting vibrant orange flowers on strong stems. Native Echinacea has been bred extensively into many colors and habits, some of which are so different from the parent plant they become unusable to insects. Research continues as to whether changing the color of the flower so drastically is detrimental to pollinators. Photo courtesy of Walter’s Gardens.

Other important terms you may want to be aware of for future posts:

Diploid and Tetraploid – the number of chromosomes in the plants cells. Diploid plants have two sets of chromosomes, tetraploid have four sets. Both occur in the natural world, and one is not necessarily better than the other, though tetraploid plants do show some benefit in yield, palatability, and vigor.

F1 hybrid plant or seed – product of the pollination of two different parent plants, short hand for Filial 1, or “first children”. This can happen naturally, as in the case of peppermint. But it is often it is performed by humans to create disease resistant and more desirable plants. It is responsible for huge advances in the food stability and supply of important crops. This kind of plant breeding was studied and recorded carefully by monk Gregor Mendel over 150 years ago!

Controlled Pollination – purposefully transferring pollen from one plant to the receptive female stigma of another plant, while removing the possibility for other pollen to fertilize that plant. At its simplest, controlled pollination is doable by the home gardener with the desired pollen dusted on a paintbrush, tweezers to remove the male anthers on the flower (if the flower is bisexual), a plastic bag to keep out any other wind-born pollen.

Subspecies – a taxonomic distinction just below species, meant to indicate a group within a species that is distinctly different but still close enough to be interbred with the species. Usually a subspecies is somewhat geographically isolated. Often confused with a variety, and sometimes a plant initially identified as a variety eventually becomes designated as subspecies.

Know Better, Do Better

A paraphrase from Maya Angelou, this saying is applicable in all parts of life, including gardening! Knowing the terminlogy of the trade ultimately helps us make better decisions in our gardens. Scientific lingo is cold and uninviting, but we shouldn’t just dismiss certain plants as “unnatural” just because the terms are poorly understood. In trying to do our best for pollinators and the prairie ecosystem, information is power. Stay tuned for future posts that about how we decide which cultivars are useful on our grounds and which to avoid, how to spot a patented plant, when is the best time to use straight natives only, and how to make some native clones of your own!

Plant Resiliency

Posted on by Scott Vogt

As we edge closer to summer, I have been thinking about how we go about choosing plants for our yards. Certainly, we choose plants that we like aesthetically, but many of us also want to choose plants that help wildlife survive. Yet another reason for choosing a particular plant is its resiliency or persistency in the landscape. How does it fair during times of stress? (Because the Kansas climate can be very stressful!)   

If you can’t stand the heat…

Last summer was really hard on a number of long established plants here at the Arboretum.  We lost trees that were 40 years old.  We lost perennials that we thought should be alright with a little supplemental watering. These plants were watered, but they just could not endure the stress of the summer heat and drought. 

This Black Hills Spruce was permanently damaged by last summer’s heat and drought. Notice the soaker hose at the base of it, but even that was not enough to save it.

Now, we could lament the fact that we lost these trees, but I believe their demise was inevitable. They were not the best choice because of where they come from. 

Take Colorado blue spruce as an example. It grows naturally in higher elevations, with regular afternoon showers, and cooler night time temperatures. Yes, the sun is intense in Colorado, but it can recover during the cooler nights. You bring that evergreen tree to Kansas and subject it to full sun, dry winds and night time temperature in the 80’s, it cannot recover what is lost during the day. Each day, it keeps getting beaten down more and more until it just gives up. We lost several tops of evergreen trees last year because the top half was just scorched off.  We were watering them, but the water loss during the day was too great to overcome. 

Norway spruce with the top scorched off last summer.

If at first you don’t succeed…

In Kansas, we mourn the loss of any tree. Trees in south central Kansas are a luxury. We love the shade or screening they provide. However, we have to keep in mind that our area was once all prairie. The only trees to be found were along creeks and swales that offered regular water. We are trying to grow trees in the much harsher prairie environment.  

So think about your own landscape.  Which plants are thriving and which are struggling?  What plants have been difficult to keep going in their current location? Is there a certain plant in your yard that you worry about when it gets hot? You can keep trying to pamper that plant into the future but don’t be surprised when it all of a sudden doesn’t come back the next year. 

With loss comes an opportunity to make a better plant choice. Do your homework and learn about plants that are adapted to our areas. There are recommended trees and shrubs for our area. Obviously, we promote native plants because of all the good things they do in our landscapes if properly situated. 

One more thing…

I would also encourage you to diversify your landscapes with as many different plants as you can. Many different plants will attract many different types of wildlife.  Don’t make it so hard on yourself.  Choose plants that are resilient in the landscape.

Perennials in front of Taylor Junipers.

Peonies, please!

Posted on by Katie Schmidt

Peonies are in full bloom right now, and what a show! They are an old fashioned favorite, and a plant can only achieve such a title by being easy enough to grow that it lives on to be beloved by multiple generations. Don’t we all remember peonies in grandma’s garden? As well recognized as they are, there is more to this flower than meets the eye! Read on to learn about the many different types of peonies and their growing habits.

A ‘Bartzella’ Intersectional Peony in Our Mother’s Garden just west of the main parking lot.
‘Bartzella’ flowers are by far the largest in our peony collection, and with a lovely fragrance!

Three Main Types

To most folks, a peony is just a peony. Besides different colored flowers, aren’t they all the same? Actually there are three types of Peonies – tree, herbaceous, and shrub (which are a hybrid of the first two). Tree peonies can be 7 ft tall with massive flowers and woody stems. These are not commonly grown in our region, but herbaceous and shrub types are. Herbaceous peonies often called ‘garden peonies’. They are 2 to 4 feet tall and wide, easy to grow and long lived, but have a tendency to flop over in a stiff wind or rainstorm. Shrub/Intersectional peonies are a hybrid of tree and herbaceous types; they exhibit the larger flowers and stiffer stems of the tree peony, but the heat tolerance and shorter height of the herbaceous species. They were developed in the 1940s by Toicho Itoh, a Japanese plantsmen. This is why they are also called ‘Itoh Peonies’.

'Kansas' variety garden peony -- pom-pom shaped flower head with multple petal layers, hot pink/magenta
Fittingly, this is a ‘Kansas’ Peony. A regular garden/herbaceaous type, it is a reliable addition to the garden, but it does flop over under the weight of its own blooms.
'Scarlett Heaven' Intersectional Peony -- deep red single layered bloom
We recently added the Itoh peony ‘Scarlett Heaven’ to our gardens. At only two years since planting, it’s flowers stay relatively small and few. But it will get more robust as time goes on!

Native Peonies

The genus Paeonia contains 33 known species, and is native to several places across the globe. From Europe to China and even some in North America. The garden and intersectional peonies commonly sold in garden centers are usually cultivated varieties of some of these native species, brought about via grafting, selective breeding, and tissue culture. Before all the primping and plumping, they were just wildflowers! Here are a few species of note:

  • Paeonia lactiflora – common parent plant to modern garden peonies, also known as the Chinese peony, native to eastern Tibet throughout northern China and Siberia
  • Paeonia officinalis – very similar to a modern garden peony, native southern and western Europe
  • Paeonia suffruticosa – tree peony, native to northern Asia
  • Paeonia brownii – very short species native to high elevations of northwest North America
  • Paeonia californica – medium sized drought loving species endemic to southwestern California and the northern Baja region
'Julia Rose' Itoh Peony -- coral pink bloom with frilly yellow center
‘Julia Rose’ Intersectional Peony
‘Cora Louise’ Itoh Peony
‘Cora Louise’ is a hard to find variety, with huge flowers on short, stout plants.

Make Room for the Bloom

If you want these beautiful flowers in your garden, make sure you have the space! You may need to stake garden peonies as they don’t all support their blooms well, so you will need some wiggle room around your plants to retain walking access. If you opt for the intersectional type, note that these showstoppers can easily be 4 feet tall and wide! Peonies appreciate medium moist soil and aren’t fussy about pH. In fact they prefer a slightly alkaline soil over anything acidic, so our limey Kansas clay is often just right! They can even handle mild drought once established. Avoid planting in soils that stay soggy for long periods of time.

Spring and fall are the best time to plant peonies. You can order them online, through catalogs, or even purchase a few at one of our biannual FloraKansas events! However you acquire them, with the proper care they will bloom and thrive for years to come.