Black Walnut Tolerant
Showing 97–104 of 110 results
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Sporobolus heterolepsis Prairie dropseed Zone 3 – 9
Mound of graceful thinnest of grass blades
The description in the Chiltern Seeds catalog cannot be improved: “This is the most elegant and refined of the North American prairie grasses …the finest texture composed of the thinnest of thin, thread-like, glossy green blades,.. in autumn turning deep orange before fading to a light copper for the winter. In late summer the plants bear, on very slender stalks high above the foliage, unbelievably delicate, graceful flower panicles, excellent for cutting. ”One of internationally known garden designer Piet Oudolf’s 100 “MUST HAVE” plants, Gardens Illustrated 94 (2013)
Size: 2’ x 2’
Care: Full sun in well-drained soil
Native: from Canada in the north to Texas in the south, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: seeds are food for birds
Awards: Missouri Botanic Garden Plant of Merit & Great Plants for Great Plains Grass of the Year.Sporobolos is Greek from sporo meaning seed and ballein meaning to cast forth because the seed readily falls from the flower (or dropseed, the common name). Ojibwa “Medicine Society” used roots to cure sores & “remove bile.”
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Stachys byzantina Lamb’s ears, Woolly betony, Wooly woundwort Z 4-8
Pale pink-lavender flowers on silver-gray spikes in summer with foliage as soft as a lamb’s ear.
Pale pink-lavender flowers on silver-gray spikes in summer with foliage as soft as a lamb’s ear.
Size: 12 x 12 spreading
Care: Full sun in moist well-drained to well-drained soil, low fertility
Native: Iran
Wildlife Value: Drought tolerant & deer resistant.Stachys is an old greek word meaning, “spike.” Stachys was believed to cure almost everything. Italians urged people to: “sell your coat and buy betony.” The common name “woundwort” describes the leaves’ function as bandages. Cultivated by George Washington at Mount Vernon.
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Stachys minima syn. Stachys spathulata Dwarf betony Z 5-9
Atop a mound of spatula-shaped, crinkled leaves with scalloped edges rises a bounty of 4 to 5 inch tall spikes, each crowned with a hoard of tiny fuchsia-colored trumpets blowing their horns “look at me” in early to mid-summer.
OUT OF STOCK
Atop a mound of spatula-shaped, crinkled leaves with scalloped edges rises a bounty of 4 to 5 inch tall spikes, each crowned with a hoard of tiny fuchsia-colored trumpets blowing their horns “look at me” in early to mid-summer.
Size: 4-8" x 8-12" spreading slowly by rhizomes
Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil
Native: South Africa
Wildlife Value: Deer resistant. Attracts small bees and butterfliesEnglish adventurer and naturalist William John Burchell (1781-1863) scoured South Africa from 1803 to 1815 collecting more than 50,000 specimens packed in 48 crates. In places unexplored he found insects, animals, fish and unknown plants, this being one. Although he published two volumes of his exploration, he did not finish the last, third volume, leaving another to write the botany. Premier English botanist George Bentham (1800-1884) took up the task authoring Labiatarum Genera et Species, published in 1834. He wrote the first published description and named this tiny plant with outsized charm.
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Stachys officinalis syn. Betonica officinalis syn. Stachys betonica Bishop’s wort, Betony Z 4-8
Showy reddish-purple spikes of two-lipped tubes in May and June
Showy reddish-purple spikes of two-lipped tubes in May and June
Size: 18-24” x 12-18” slowly spreading
Care: sun in moist well-drained soil
Native: Europe and Asia
Wildlife Value: deer & walnut tolerant, attracts hummingbirdsOnce one of the most honored herbal medicines. Medicines were good if they had “as many virtues as Betony.” John Sauer, Colonial herbalist claimed “there is no illness brought on by cold in which Betony cannot be administered effectively.”
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Tradescantia virginiana Spiderwort Z 4-9
Purple umbels with prominent yellow stamens June – October
Purple umbels with prominent yellow stamens June – October
Size: 18-24" x 24"
Care: Full sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: From New York to South Dakota, Virginia and Arkansas
Wildlife Value: Bumblebees and honeybees eat the nectar and collect the pollen.Named after John Tradescant, an English botanist and gardener to King Charles I. Parkinson explains the origin of this plant: “This Spider-wort is of late knowledge, and for it the Christian world is indebted unto that painfull industrious searcher, and lover of all natures varieties, John Tradescant who first received it of a friend, that brought it out of Virginia,” (1639). It was probably sent to mainland Europe in 1500’s. Grown at America’s 1st botanic garden, Elgin Botanic Garden 1811. Tradescantia was cherished by the Dakota Indians for its beauty. Cherokee ate the young greens and prescribed it to cure stomachaches after overeating, female illnesses, cancer and insect bites. Menominee revived those “defiled by touch of bereaved.” Natives applied a poultice of the leaves topically for insect bites and stings. By 1659 ones with white, light blue and reddish flowers grown in England. According to Monticello.org the root exuded a gummy liquid which, when inserted into a cut on top of a person’s head remedied the person’s “craziness.” Cultivated in the U.S. since 1700’s
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Trillium grandiflorum Large flowered Trillium, Wake robin Z 4-8
Pure white trio of petals atop whorl of leaves in May. Ephemeral.
OUT OF STOCK – Available for purchase in Spring only
Pure white trio of petals atop whorl of leaves in May. Ephemeral.
Size: 12-18” x slowly spreading
Care: shade to part shade in moist soil
Native: Quebec to Georgia, west to Minnesota WI native
Awards: Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden Great Plant PicksChippewa made decoctions of Trillium for aching joints & sore ears. Menominee cured many ailments with this Trillium: irregular menstrual periods, cramps, diuretic, swollen eyes and “sore nipples and teats pierced with a dog whisker.” Collected by Frenchman André Michaux (1746-1802) who spent 11 years in America collecting hundreds of new plants.
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Verbena hastata Blue vervain, Simpler’s joy Z 3-9
Bright purplish-blue candelabra-like spikes from July to September
Bright purplish-blue candelabra-like spikes from July to September
Size: 2-4’ x 2’
Care: sun to part shade in moist or moist well-drained soil
Native: eastern 2/3rds of No. America, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: Cardinals & Sparrows eat the seeds. Food for larvae of Buckeye butterfly.Native Americans used plant as remedy for coughs, colds and fever. Mahuna Indians of So. California used the root to cure complicated stomach fevers. Sioux fed the seeds to their horses to give them energy. The Sioux also used it as an insect repellant. Pressed specimen in Emily Dickinson’s herbarium.
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Vernonia noveboracensis Ironweed Z 4-8
Heads of numerous deep, royal purple, platter-forming flower several feet high above in late summer
Heads of numerous deep, royal purple, platter-forming flower several feet high above in late summer
Size: 6-7' x 3'
Care: Sun in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: Massachusetts to Florida
Wildlife Value: attracts butterfliesNamed for English botanist William Vernon. Infusions of the plant used by Cherokee to relieve pain after childbirth, for loose teeth and for stomach ulcers.
