Gardening is a learning process. I have been working at the Arboretum for nearly 25 years and I am still learning new things.
Wildflowers and grasses, as it turns out, live in communities. They grow best surrounded by plants that coexist well and rely on each other. My designs have focused on individual plants grouped together for dramatic effect, but they would be much happier bunched with native grasses like little bluestem. It is a subtle change in design approach, but can make a tremendous difference in the overall success of the planting and give plantings a much richer sense of place.
Another epiphany has come with the realization of the trade-off that plants make in the landscape. We tend to automatically believe that just because we put a plant in the landscape it will be happy. I have killed my share of plants by making this assumption. We manipulate the soil and install irrigation with the hopes of keeping the plants chosen for the site alive and thriving. Instead, we should be searching for the right plants for the landscape that do not have to be coaxed to grow. Although there are thousands of plants available, only a select few will grow freely under these specific conditions.
This is the trade-off. Plants cannot move and are bound to where they are planted. They have to survive in the soil, light, nutrients, water, pH and temperature of that particular site. They have to tolerate these conditions to grow and reproduce. If any of these resources is lacking in any way, the plant will give up something to continue to grow. The leaves will curl, plant growth will be stunted, flowers will be smaller or if it needs more light, the stems will be elongated. The plant is not growing as it should because it lacks one or all of these important resources or conditions.
Our natural response as gardeners has been to supply these resources by changing the conditions, which keeps these plants on life support. I have come to realize there is an alternative. The importance of matching plants up with the site is vital to the success of the landscape design. There are plants that thrive in our gumbo clay soils here in Kansas without organic matter amendments. For centuries, plants with deep roots that can punch through the dense soil for extra moisture have prospered without supplemental help.
Think of the landscapes and gardens we love. They seem to thrive effortlessly. They have constraints and can be harsh, but they are lush and beautiful too. They create a sense of place and thrive regardless of the conditions. Stress on plants helps define what will grow in a particular landscape. It makes us choose wisely the plants that we incorporate into our designs.
As you plan for spring and begin to choose plants, be conscious of the land. Ask yourself what plants will thrive in this garden? What plants were not happy last year? Make a concerted effort to understand the plants you specify for your landscape. As I have said time and again, match the plants up to your site. I just have to take my own advice. If you are looking for a few plants for your area, find them at the 2018 FloraKansas Plant Sale.
Our FloraKansas Plant Sale is the largest native plant sale in the state of Kansas. We do our best to provide a wide selection of native and adaptable perennials that will grow reliably, but will, over time, use less water and fertilizer. Using native plants in your landscape helps to build back some of the native habitat that our cities and neighborhoods have paved over and shoved aside.
While planning out our inventory for this year, I was struck by how many amazing North American natives we offer that get overlooked. Why are these dazzlers not flying off the shelves? I’d like to introduce our readers to some of these lesser-known native showstoppers.
Linum, also known as blue flax, prairie flax, or Lewisii flax (named for Meriwether Lewis) is one of the few “true blue” flowers out there. It has dainty blooms on stout stems and thin, grey green foliage. According to the USDA link, it is native from Kansas to California and Texas all the way to the far reaches of Northern Canada. Linum does not tolerate prolonged wetness; good drainage and a somewhat rocky environment suit it well. At the Arboretum, we have a very old blue flax specimen growing out from between a couple of limestone slabs in a rockwall. It blooms every spring like clockwork!
Flax is a great native addition to any dry, full sun garden.
Beloved by hummingbirds, scarlet gilia is a dry-loving plant, native to the western half of North America. Just missing the western Kansas border, this plant makes its home in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and California – you can tell from that list that it likes a high-and-dry soil climate with excellent drainage. Gilia will likely do well in a sunny rock garden.
Scarlet Gilia has dainty red blooms but a tough, drought tolerant root system. Photo by Jerry Friedman (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
Native from Kansas all the way to the Atlantic ocean, this woodland species is a colorful ground cover that spreads via seed or rhizome. It appreciates a shaded location, but is very low maintenance once established. Usually blooming mid-spring, it is a welcome sight for hungry pollinators!
Bright yellow flowers of Packera obovata, great for cutting!
Rock pink, also known as fameflower, is a sweet and petite succulent that loves hot sun. Native from Nebraska to Texas and Colorado to Missouri, this species loves rocky, gravelly soil and dry conditions. Brilliant purple flowers contrast with bright yellow stamens in the center. These look great next to low growing non-native companions such as hens and chicks, annual rose moss or ground-hugging sedums.
Talinum is a native succulent with wiry purple stems and bright blooms. Photo by Corey Raimond (Largeflower Fameflower) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Found mostly east of Kansas in Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan, celandine poppy is a cheery yellow spring bloomer that often goes dormant during the hot summer months. It has lobed leaves and hairy stems which support large, yellow, poppy-like flowers.
Okay, so this isn’t a blooming show stopper, but it is a must-have nonetheless! The weedy, invasive sedges give a bad name to the genus, but Carex brevior, and many other well-behaved sedges are superb for filling in gaps in the garden, creating a lush, verdant look. Deep green arching blades and a compact form make this sedge a hit in a part shade setting.
Chocolate flower is one of my personal favorite natives. It truly smells (and tastes?) like chocolate, a unique and tantalizing scent for your garden. Plant in large groups to maximize the visual impact and aroma. Also known as greeneyes or chocolate daisy, they are beneficial to pollinators and can grow in dry, shallow soil. They are native to Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico.
Chocolate flower is irresistibly cheery and smells uncannily like warm chocolate. Photo by Kaldari (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
Spring is just around the corner – soon our greenhouse will be bursting with all these species and many more! Not sure how to incorporate these plants into your garden? Come to our Native Plant Landscaping Symposium to hear about the experiences and techniques of native plant gardening from beginners and veterans alike. I hope to see these beauties in more landscapes soon, for their own uniqueness and for their contribution to the ecosystem.
Something that amazes me every year is how birds survive the winter. Somehow they are able to find the food, water and shelter they need each day. Just the other day, I watched a pair of cardinals foraging in the buffalograss and eating seeds from the Maximilian Sunflower outside my window. They find a way to survive, but it can’t be easy. I believe we can do a few things in our yards to make their lives a little easier. Here is a list that will help them survive the cold weather and give you more up-close encounters with birds.
Winter is a desperate time for birds. They spend a tremendous amount of energy each day searching for food. Their winter food comes from a variety of sources, but one of the first places they search is in and around meadows and perennial borders. By leaving these areas undisturbed through the winter, birds can find bugs, seeds that are highly nutritious in the seed heads, and tufts of grass near the ground.
The more diverse your plantings, the more diverse the types of birds your landscape will attract. Think about different layers of plants, including trees and shrubs, that produce fruit and nuts that birds need. Incorporate a few evergreens along with deciduous trees and shrubs, because the winter foliage provides extra protection from the elements and predators. These layers mimic the natural areas birds flock to during the winter.
Create a compost pile
All those leaves that are blowing all around your yard make wonderful compost. They also make a nice place for bugs to hide. I have seen birds completely destroy a compost pile searching for insects and seeds. Those leaves will also become next year’s soil amendment for your garden.
Make a brush pile
Our brush pile at the Arboretum is huge, but it is always filled with birds. It provides shelter from winter storms and protection from predators. Even a small pile with logs, sticks and branches will provide the safety and security many birds need.
Provide Food for Birds in the Winter
The key to feeding birds in winter is to give them options. A diverse selection of seed, suet, and peanuts will entice many different types of birds. Locate feeders in areas out of the wind but within viewing distance. Hang some from tree branches and others on the ground.
Provide Water for Birds
Birds need ready access to water in the winter. Bird baths, a puddle, or a stream are great options as long as they are not frozen. Heating these water sources will allow birds to find the water they need for survival especially during freezing weather.
Make plans to help
If you don’t have these key features in your garden already, create a design that favors birds and other wildlife. Include grasses and perennials that produce seeds birds prefer. Establish shrubs with persistent seeds and fruit that birds can utilize in the winter.
Here are a couple of interesting websites that may help you create your plan:
How birds survive the winter in simply amazing. Helping to welcome the boreal birds to your backyard can be quite enjoyable for you and for them. By providing the habitat and food they need, your landscape can become a bird sanctuary and a haven that gives them food, water, and shelter to endure the winter.
A recent September Dyck Arboretum trip to Kansas City and the home of Lenora Larson spurred for me a dilemma regarding landscaping with non-native annual plants. I have typically spurned the use of annuals for reasons I’ll elaborate on more later. But Lenora makes a very compelling case for using more annuals in the home landscape.
Front walkway to Lenora Larson’s home
“Best Butterfly Godmother Possible”
Lenora Larson is indeed a master gardener with a mastery of providing host and nectar plants for a great variety of insects. Her father was a botanist and her mother was a landscape designer, so she certainly has a lineage for creating interesting and beautiful gardens. She was a microbiologist before retiring; with a scientist’s curiosity, she keeps alive a keen interest in learning more about the natural world (especially plants and insects) around her. This passion was evident during her “Gardening for Butterflies” winter lecture talk at the Arboretum in March this year, and it was especially apparent as we toured the gardens around her home.
Lenora Larson giving a tour of her garden
Lenora hates planting and, therefore, smartly touts the use of long-lived perennials as well as self-sowing annuals. She is a hard-working gardener, and loves spending 6-8 hours per day weeding and mulching during the growing season. She breaks down by hand all the vegetation on site to keep around the seeds and insect eggs that will keep the cycles going next year. Lenora is an artist who has a genius eye for aesthetics, composition, texture and color. Not only are her gardens graced with “plant art”, but many permanent art installations of sculptures, trellises, paths, and walls are carefully and purposefully included as well. Her gardens are visually stunning.
Lenora Larson’s Garden
To an ecologist’s eye, Lenora’s gardens are fascinating. The numbers of butterflies, moths, bees, flies, beetles, and insects in general were incredible and so interesting. She could recognize and identify practically every insect we saw and her stories extended to amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and more. Lenora’s planting formula is generally to plant about 50% native perennial host plants for hungry insect larvae, and then as many flowering nectar plants as possible (annuals included) for the adult insects. Thanks to the annuals, Lenora’s gardens feature flowers from April through November. Lenora is willing to use glyphosate (e.g., Roundup) herbicide carefully to keep her paths looking clean when needed, but as you might imagine, she is staunchly against the use of insecticides.
Lenora Larson’s Garden
My Historical Context for the “Dilemma”
Allow me to give a bit of background on why landscaping with annuals even poses a dilemma for me.
I have been a bit of a snob in the past about planting only native perennial plants. With a fresh background in plant ecology and ecological restoration when I came to the Dyck Arboretum nearly 14 years ago, my focus was all about trying to mimic native plant communities while conducting prairie restorations, improving the ecology of my own back yard, and providing others with landscaping recommendations. This included not only the exclusive use of species with historic presence in south central Kansas, but trying to stick to local ecotype plants of those species as well whenever possible. Native annuals such as annual sunflower, and a couple of different ragweed species are important ecologically in their functions of holding soil and providing lots of seed food for wildlife. However, they generally aren’t appreciated in landscaping applications, because they are aggressive and/or aggravate allergies.
These “native only” ideas were fairly compatible with the mission and focus at Dyck Arboretum, which are firmly rooted in landscaping with native plants. In Central Kansas, that means using plants of the prairie. This approach is what sets us apart from other plant nurseries. It feeds our mission of education and stewardship, and it connects us to a sense of place by embracing historical plant communities important to our Kansas cultural and natural history.
But while this restrictive approach of “natives only” had its merits in designing, collecting seed, and planting our Prairie Window Project prairie restoration at the Arboretum, I quickly learned that this ivory tower mentality was not held by most other people. It also wasn’t a very sustainable approach for an organization engaging the general public on environmentally-responsible landscaping.
So, in addition to promoting use of native plants, our mission also embraces the use of adaptable perennials that may have originally grown elsewhere, but are still adapted to grow well in our soils and climate. Today, in a cosmopolitan world where information and biological organisms are shared easily around the globe, it seems impossible to take a natives only approach.
Using Annuals
One of the main reasons I’ve been biased against annuals for landscaping is their regular need for water. Annuals have shallow root systems compared to perennials. Dry, hot Kansas summers are not always conducive for growing annuals from places in the world with cooler and wetter climates.
Lenora Larson’s house sits next to a well-fed pond that she uses for her irrigation needs. Cosmos and zinnias have done well as part of our community garden vegetable plot, because we water them regularly. And we do enjoy the abundance of butterflies they attract throughout the summer. I’m just not sure if I want to commit the time and environmental/monetary costs to keeping annuals alive around my home too.
But in 2018, I have decided that I’m going to give this annuals approach a try to supplement my native perennial gardens. I plan to follow Lenora’s succinct 3-page guide, in which she summarizes her gardening approach and offers her favorite self-sowing annual plant species choices with descriptions of each. For many of these species she recommends, I’ve searched online and provided photos of the flowers below. Maybe you are already implementing many of Lenora’s annual species suggestions and seeing the rewards. If not, consider joining me!
As you design your landscape, one of the first questions to consider is the need for screens and hedges. Do you need to block an undesirable vista or define an area? Do you need to line a path or camouflage a utility? Hedges help outline boundaries. Instead of a rigid wall or fence built with wood or brick, why not create a living wall or screen using a variety of plants? A living fence will provide much needed wildlife habitat while slowing the wind, improving air and water quality and beautifying the landscape.
Here is a mixed planting with taller shrubs/trees in the background.
When I think of hedges, my mind automatically pictures shrubs neatly trimmed and closely spaced, but it can be so much more diverse. A non-traditional hedge can be created with many different types of plants. This approach creates layers of varying heights that naturally block the view or envelope the space. The key is matching the plants to your site and grouping plants in informal clusters rather than in predictable rows. Hedges can be an essential element in a sustainable landscape design.
Blackhaw viburnum and Dallas Blues Switchgrass
Diversity is the key to the longevity and success of any hedge. If you drive through the country, you see screens and windbreaks that were planted with only three to four species in rows, and have, over time, been devastated by decay and disease. Who knew that pine wilt or tip blight would kill so many pine trees 50 years ago? A diverse selection of evergreens, deciduous trees, understory trees, and shrubs, grouped together in irregular patterns, would allow the removal of a dead or dying plant without compromising the whole planting. This large scale example can be incorporated into a smaller back yard planting. By using a wide variety of plants, you will avoid this lack of diversity pitfall.
Buffer planting along a driveway.
Typically, hedges are made up of evergreens or shrubs, but even wildflowers and grasses can be mixed together to produce an attractive screen. Tall grasses such as switchgrass and big bluestem, along with wildflowers like New England aster and culvers root, become intertwined and dense, creating an informal hedge that provides valuable habitat and season-long interest. Intermingling shrubs with blooms and interesting foliage contributes additional food, nectar and shelter. The varying heights and undulating forms boosts the wildlife attraction and overall beauty of the planting. In instances where space is an issue, again, avoid planting in rows. Instead, plant in groups of three or five and add as many different plants as possible.
Prairie Dropseed, Giant Black-eyed Susan and yellow coneflower
Here are some examples of plants we recommend for hedges:
Evergreen choices
Eastern red cedar (Juniperis virginiana), ‘Caneartii’ or “Taylor’, Arizona Cypress, Southwestern White Pine, and Leatherleaf Viburnum
New England aster, culvers root, penstemon, bluestar, bee balm, black-eyed susan, blazing star, beardtongue, coneflowers, goldenrod, and blue sage
In my own yard, I have a cedar fence to keep my dogs from escaping. However, I have softened the fence with an assortment of flowering shrubs and mixed prairie plantings in the front of it. These buffer areas are much more appealing than the stark vertical fence. The benefits of a living screen or hedge in the landscape are many. These natural plantings provide privacy, protection against wind, reduce noise, enhance energy conservation, create wildlife habitat, increase species diversity in your neighborhood, beautify the landscape and screen unsightly elements.
Hedges can do so much to improve your landscape. Why not take a second look at some of these areas in your own yard? A few additions could make a tremendous difference.
Native plants reward people and wildlife in many different ways. They improve the environment, create a sense of place, restore a balance between plants and pollinators and you get to enjoy their natural beauty. Below is a quick list of six good things native plants do and provide.
They are a good value for your money.
Having just finished the fall plant sale, we hear over and over the value of native plants. If matched to the site, they are resilient, quick-growing and long-lived. They persist and thrive, which saves money since you seldom need to purchase replacements. These plants are adapted to our climate extremes. Their deep roots, habits and forms quickly fill up your garden space, adding interest throughout the seasons.
Pollinators will love your plants and you.
With all the talk about pollinator declines including monarchs, don’t you want to help in any way possible? The most obvious way that you can help is by planting the native wildflowers they need for survival. Whether milkweeds for monarchs or plants that provide food and shelter for these imperiled native pollinators, your yard can become an oasis. Why not create a habitat where up close encounters with many different butterflies, bees, insects, and even birds, can be admired?
They are a versatile and diverse group of plants.
One of the amazing attributes of the prairie is its diversity. There are literally thousands of plants thriving in every possible landscape situation. Wet, dry, sun, shade, clay, sand and so on – there are a host of plants that will grow in your yard just as they do in the prairie. That diversity allows you to match native plants to your own part of the world and successfully develop a landscape plan.
Native plants reduce maintenance.
Notice I didn’t say native plants require no maintenance? Even though native plants are drought tolerant and tough, they still require some maintenance each year in a landscape scenario. Again, think about a prairie. Native plants’ only requirements are to be cleaned off each spring before the next season’s growth. They survive pests and disease, require little or no fertilizing and demand extra water only during the severest drought. By spending less time maintaining your garden, it releases you from the obligation of burdensome yard work. Less time working and more time enjoying your landscape is always a good thing.
Native plants help with soil and water conservation.
The root systems of native plants are vital to soil and water conservation. Grasses such as big bluestem and switchgrass have fibrous deep reaching roots that hold soil tightly, keeping it from eroding into waterways. A dense, thick prairie of grasses and wildflowers will slow the movement of water, allowing more to infiltrate the soil too. Those deep roots also tap into moisture during dry periods. Drought resistant plants require little if any supplemental water which saves you money in the long run.
Enjoy the garden you created.
A prairie planting done right will offer you years of enjoyment. A habitat with attractive forms, textures and flowers that bloom at different times during the growing season will attract a host of pollinators and birds for you to watch. Those up close encounters will deepen your appreciation of these endangered species. Surrounding your home with native plants guarantees you’ll be rewarded time after time and year after year. It is a reward to you, but a gift to the natural world too.
Last week, I was visiting with someone about pollinators or the lack thereof. It seems that we had an initial flush of monarchs and other beneficial insects earlier this spring, but since then many of the pollinators have become scarce. There are beautiful wildflowers in bloom but very little insect activity. We have all seen the dramatic statistics tracking the plight of pollinators and their losses, so what is happening?
That is a difficult question, because there are often a combination of factors that are associated with the demise of many of the pollinators we take for granted. Pollinators have been impacted by habitat loss, pesticides, pathogens, mites, invasive species of plants, parasites and an erratic climate. Different species are affected by different forces, but overall the result is the same, fewer pollinators.
So what can we do to help pollinators? Here is a list of ways that any gardener can have an impact.
Plant Pollinator-Friendly Plants
Certainly, milkweeds are the best wildflowers for attracting monarchs to your yard. We have seen this throughout the Arboretum as caterpillars munch on the milkweed leaves. Other blooming wildflowers offer their nectar to a host of insects. The wildflowers are the buffet. I like to have members of the aster family such as coneflowers, asters, goldenrods, blackeyed susans and blazing stars. (Peruse our native plant list and sample landscape designs for some inspiration.)
Tiger Swallowtail butterfly on a Gayfeather. Photo by Janelle Flory Schrock.
Plant for All Life Stages
We recommend planting wildflowers that bloom at different times of the year. A mixture of wildflowers coming into bloom and going out of bloom throughout the year provides a ready food source for adults and their larvae. This approach mimics the natural prairie and the changing seasons. Maybe plant some dill or Zizia sp. for the swallowtail butterfly caterpillars.
Monarch caterpillar on milkweed. Photo by Brad Guhr.
Provide Habitat
When you design your landscape, remember to layer trees and shrubs along with wildflowers and grasses. These plants provide shelter from the wind along with nesting sites and food for birds, butterflies and bees. This created habitat is a safe environment for pollinators to find all they need including food, shelter and water. Even a small garden can have a tremendous impact.
Bee Hotel. Photo by John Regier.
Provide Water
We all need water for survival. Pollinators need it too. A clean source of water such as a birdbath, basin, or hollow stone is enough water for pollinators. These features also provide landing spots so that pollinators have a perch. Here are some great plants to complement your water feature.
Pearl Crescent Butterfly. Photo by Dave Osborne.
Reduce Chemicals
There is growing research on the detrimental effects chemicals have on pollinators. Any time we can reduce or eliminate the use of chemicals in the landscape, we are impacting wildlife in a positive way. Allow insects to control unwanted pests. Be willing to accept a few damaged plants, knowing that by not spraying you are saving much more in the long run.
Bumblebee on Echinacea purpurea. Photo by Janelle Flory Schrock.
Learn About the Plight of Endangered Pollinators
There is so much to learn about each type of pollinator. When are they out in the garden? What do they need to complete their lifecycle? Where do they migrate or how do they overwinter? We have so much to learn about these important insects. (One good resource for this is this book, by Heather Holm, which we often carry in our gift shop. Check out MonarchWatch.org or the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation for great resources.)
Gray hairstreak on Eryngium leavenworthii. Photo by Brad Guhr.
Pollinators live perilous lives. Their very existence hangs by a thread. We need them for the food we eat. Plants need pollinators for their survival. So much depends on these tiny little insects. As gardeners, we can support the life cycles of pollinators by including a wide variety of plants in our landscapes. Native wildflowers are the best option to help them prosper. They need our help and you can be part of the solution. You will be amazed at how many pollinators you will see when you introduce just a handful of wildflowers to your landscape.
Daleas – now called Petalostemons and commonly known as prairie clovers – is a genus in honor of Samuel Dale, an English botanist (1659-1739). Sixteen taxa of these hardy legumes are listed in the Flora of the Great Plains. Few prairie clovers are cultivated, yet they offer splendid summer blooms and interesting, often fragrant foliage.
Purple Prairie Clover
Here are some prairie clovers we have used in the Arboretum:
Petalostemon aurea – Golden prairie clover
This herbaceous perennial grows 12-30 inches tall. Its many flowers are on a dense ½ -3 inch long spike. The specific epithet aurea, derived from the Latin aurum meaning gold, refers to the yellow flower that blooms in June through September. Golden prairie clover is native to the western two-thirds of Kansas, especially on gravelly ridges and rocky slopes.
Golden prairie clover
Petalostemon candida – White prairie clover
The specific epithet candida refers to the shining of pure white flowers, which appear in mid-June through July. This species ranges from 12-36 inches tall and can be found growing in the eastern half of Kansas. Because it is palatable to livestock, overgrazing can cause the elimination of the species from a range.
This plant puts on a prolific flower display of white flowers from mid-July to early-September. The foliage is also quite fragrant, producing a tangy-sweet aroma when crushed. This species ranges from 12-24 inches tall. It is infrequent to locally common on dry rocky prairies and roadside banks in the eastern portion of the state and is selectively grazed by livestock.
Round-headed prairie clover
Petalostemon purpurea – Purple prairie clover
This species produces fragrant purple flowers in June and July. The finger-like foliage and upright habit make this prairie clover one of the best for the prairie garden. The plants can be 6-36 inches tall depending on the variety and can be found in most prairie types in the eastern two-thirds of Kansas. Like P. candida and P. multiflora, this species is palatable to livestock. It is an important component of the prairie hay, is rich in protein, and nutritious to cattle. It can become rare in heavily grazed pastures.
Petalostemon villosa – Silky prairie clover
This species ranges from 6-18 inches tall with lavender to pink flowers in June through August. The leaves are covered with soft silky hairs, giving the plant a silvery sheen. You can find this prairie clover on sandy soils south and west of the Arkansas River in Kansas.
Uses
Petalostemons have other uses besides being ornamental and planted in your prairie gardens. No matter your soil type, there is a prairie clover for your garden. Pollinators flock to the compact flower cones of these hardy wildflowers. Melvin Gilmore, in his book Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region, says that these prairie clover leaves were sometimes used to make a tea-like drink. The root was commonly chewed for its pleasant taste. The tough elastic stems were used to make brooms. Sometimes the pulverized root was put into hot water and drunk to ward off disease.
These are past uses. I would highly discourage you from using these plants medicinally. Just enjoy these tough wildflowers in your prairie garden. Once established, they will prosper with little or no care.
An interesting thing happened in the Fall of 2012, after one of the hottest and driest summers on record – the prairie bloomed. The historic drought was harsh and many plants that were borderline hardy in Kansas were lost, but very few of the wildflowers and grasses of the prairie were lost. Asters, blue sage and goldenrods bloomed in spite of the brutal summer conditions. The native grasses, though much shorter, survived.
This was a great lesson about one of the ultimate surviving landscapes—the prairie.
Blue Sage (Salvia azurea)
Kansas has some of the largest expanses of the tallgrass prairie in the United States. Less than four percent of the original North American prairie land is left. This sea of grasses and wildflowers survives floods and drought, high and low temperatures, grazing, fire and many invasive species. The deep roots and adaptability make it one of the most resilient landscapes in the world.
Liatris and Indian grass in the Prairie Window Project
This prairie ecosystem manages heat and drought through adaptation. The deep roots absorb water that other shallow-rooted plants can’t touch. Plants go dormant during drought to conserve water and maintain growing points just at or below the soil surface. Once conditions improve, these plants begin to grow again. Leaves are shiny or have tiny hairs to reduce water loss. Grasses stay shorter and produce fewer seeds.
Each of these adaptations help the prairie plants survive and use less water. This diverse ecosystem is resilient – more resilient than many other landscapes and certainly more resilient than a typical lawn. It provides habitat for wildlife and food and nectar for pollinators. It is a self-sustaining environment that persists through harsh conditions.
Reconstructed Prairie at Dyck Arboretum of the Plains
Those drought years gave us a chance to evaluate what we are doing with our own landscapes and to take a look at the types of plants that will actually grow here with minimal time, water and maintenance. It provided an opportunity to select new plants that can tolerate adverse weather conditions. More and more Kansans are choosing plants like little bluestem, switchgrass or prairie dropseed. Gardeners are filling up their landscapes with wildflowers such as coneflowers, penstemon, blazing stars, goldenrods, asters and milkweeds in smaller “pocket” prairies. These micro-prairies have all the ornamental qualities of a larger prairie, but on a much smaller scale.
Nature is a good teacher. These plants, which survived and even bloomed after one of the driest summers in recent memory, are amazing. I knew that prairie plants were tough, but that season made me take notice. It made me rethink my own perceptions of what is environmentally-sound landscaping. We can create sustainable plant communities in our own small landscapes simply by copying what nature has done so successfully in creating the prairie. These are beautiful plants that are diverse in form, texture and color. Plants that would work well in any sunny location. The combinations are endless.
The prairie has a legacy of resilient beauty. Embrace what is around you and create a sense of place in your own pocket of the historic prairie land.
Garden centers and nurseries carry more native plants each year, because gardeners have caught on to the many benefits that native perennials – such as milkweeds, coneflowers, blazing stars, black-eyed susans, and penstemon – provide aesthetically and environmentally. One of the best native plants for early spring bloom is spiderwort. They are fantastic in the gardens right now. Native spiderworts are excellent alternatives for naturalized or xeric plantings. Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) is the most common, prevalent in much of the Great Plains and eastern United State. It reaches three feet and has striking blue, rose or white flowers. Its cousin, shortstem spiderwort (Tradescantia tharpii) is not as common, but has more ornamental characteristics and growth habit. It exhibits excellent drought tolerance with minimal maintenance requirements.
Shortstem spiderwort’s low growth habit and diverse flower colors make it a welcome addition to the front of any rock garden or perennial border. It is a prolific bloomer, covering itself with large three-petaled flowers in April and May. At least three distinct flower colors exist in our plantings, purple, blue and rose. I use this plant along the front of our perennial beds with summer and fall blooming perennials, because it does go dormant during the summer as a natural defense against the heat. I remove the brown leaves in the early summer and it greens back in late August as a rosette of hairy, pointed leaves. With proper planning, shortstem spiderwort gives the landscape an exotic—yet native and hardy—spring component. Honeybees and bumblebees flock to the flowers. The diversity of pollinating insects that this plant attracts is a joy to watch.
Tradescantia tharpii reaches a mature height of 12 to 15 inches and 15 to 18 inches wide in full sun. This species is multi-stemmed, forming a dense mound of green foliage. Leaves are linear-lanceolate, pubescent, giving a whitish cast, and have red translucent margins. The seed heads all seem to dry at the same time so seed collection is made easy, unlike Ohio spiderwort where the seeds ripen over an extended period. Seeds are oblong, gray and compressed about one eighth of an inch long.
It prefers a well-drained soil, but it can adapt to moister locations as long as there is ample drainage. I have grown it for years in a gravel-amended sandy loam soil with no problems; plants in heavy clay or sites with poor drainage resulted in slow plant growth. This is one plant that thrives on neglect, as long as it is properly sited. Established plants are long lived. Plants in the Arboretum have been growing in established beds for up to ten years.
I have not observed any disease or insect problems. In the fall and winter, however, rabbits will eat the rosette of leaves, stunting the spring growth.
You can find this plant at our spring and fall sales or produce it through seed propagation. A warm, dry treatment before sowing the seed in a mixture of coarse perlite and potting soil gives the best germination. Germination should occur in about 7 to 15 days. Divisions of existing plants can be taken every two to four years depending on lateral growth.
Photo courtesy of Craig Freeman
For the native plant enthusiast who wants to view this plant in a natural setting, Tradescantia tharpii can be seen growing on clay, sand or rocky soils in prairies and open woods. Native from central Kansas to southwest Missouri and south into northern Texas, it is essentially restricted to the Great Plains.
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