Prairie Plants

Showing 17–24 of 86 results

  • Boltonia asteroides False starwort, Bolton’s aster Z 4-9

    “Bloom profusely” majestic, white daisies cover imposing, cheerful plant, August – September

    $12.75/bareroot

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    “Bloom profusely” majestic, white daisies cover imposing, cheerful plant, August – September

    Size: 5-6' x 3'
    Care: full sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil.
    Native: Maine to Florida, west to Texas and north to North Dakota and all areas in between
    Wildlife Value: Supports over 40 bee species, moths, butterflies, and wasps.

    Named in honor of 18th century English botanist, James Bolton.  Asteroides means resembling as aster. Species introduced in 1758. Recommended for fall blooms in Wisconsin State Horticultural Society Annual Report, 1911.

  • Bouteloua curtipendula Sideoats grama Z 4-8

    Narrow, blue-green leaves tinged purple or red in fall when golden oat-like seeds hang down one side of each leaf, eye-catching.

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    $12.75/bareroot

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    Narrow, blue-green leaves tinged purple or red in fall when golden oat-like seeds hang down one side of each leaf, eye-catching.

    Size: 2-3' x 1'
    Care: Sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil, drought tolerant
    Native: most of US, incl. Wisconsin
    Wildlife Value: nesting material for butterflies and bees; larval host for some Skipper butterflies,
    Awards: state grass of Texas

    Kiowa natives who had killed an enemy in battle with a lance wore this.  Collected and described by French planthunter André Michaux (1786-1802) who scoured Eastern North America west to the Mississippi over 11 years.

  • Bouteloua gracilis Blue grama Z 4-9

    One sided, horizontal, purple tinged spikelets looking like a row of eyelashes above the petite clump of thin grass blades, July-October

    $12.75/bareroot

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    One sided, horizontal, purple tinged spikelets looking like a row of eyelashes above the petite clump of thin grass blades, July-October

    Size: 2' x 12"
    Care: sun in dry to moist well-drained soil
    Native: all US except SE & NW, Wisconsin native
    Wildlife Value: Host for caterpillars of several skipper butterflies. Deer resistant
    Awards: Great Plants for Great Plains Grass of the Year 2008

    For the Navajo this was a “life medicine” and an antidote to an overdose of “life medicine.”  Also used to cure sore throats and cuts – chew on the root and blow on the cut.  Navajo girls carried it in the Squaw Dance.  Hopi made baskets from this grass.  Zuni made brooms & hairbrushes from it.  Several tribes ate this & made bedding for their animals from this. Lakota children played a game using this grass: Most of the stems have two flowers on them. Children competed to see who could find the stems with three flowers, like finding a four-leaf clover. First collected for horticulture by Humboldt & Bonpland who scoured Latin America from 1799-1804.

  • Callirhoe involucrata Wine cups, Prairie poppy mallow Z 3-9

    Magenta-purple up-facing cups with white centers, June - October

    $12.75/bareroot

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    Magenta-purple up-facing cups with white centers, June – October

    Size: 6" x 12-24"
    Care: Full sun in well-drained soil.
    Native: Missouri to Texas
    Wildlife Value: host for larva of Gray Hairstreak butterfly and nectar source for many different butterflies.
    Awards: Missouri Botanic Garden Plant of Merit; 1999 Plant Select®; Great Plants for Great Plains Plant of the Year 2020

    Callirhoe is named for the goddess Callirhoe, daughter of Hermocrates, the Greek river god.  Teton Dakota fired the dried root for smoke to cure the common cold and its aches and pains.  The liquid used to boil the root relieved internal pain.  First collected and named by English plant hunter Thomas Nuttall (1785-1859) but then renamed by other botanists.  Ferry’s 1876 catalog described it as having “a trailing habit, of great beauty.”  William Robinson (1838-1935), father of today’s mixed perennial border, recognized it to be “excellent for the rock garden, bearing a continuous crop of showy blossoms from early summer till late in autumn.”

  • Calylophus serrulatus Yellow sundrops, Shrubby evening primrose Z 4-9

    Lemon yellow silky petals bloom late spring to early fall on this tough-as-nails native

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    Lemon yellow silky petals bloom late spring to early fall on this tough-as-nails native

    Size: 9-18” x 12-15”
    Care: sun in well-drained soil, drought tolerant
    Native: Great Plains: Central Canada to TX, Michigan to Montana, WI native

    1st described in 1818 by Thomas Nuttall, English planthunter who collected hundreds of “new” plants in North America. Caly is Greek for calyx; lophos for “the back of the neck; crest of a hill or helmet”  serrulatus means “minutely serrate” or “saw-toothed” describing the leaf margins.

  • Campanula rotundifolia Harebell, Bluebell of Scotland Z 3-8

    Its delicate appearance conceals its hardy constitution. Dainty bluish-lilac bells to 12” stems on bushy round ground-hugging foliage.  Blooms from June to October and occasionally November.  Perfect for rock gardens and borders.

    $9.95/pot

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    Its delicate appearance conceals its hardy constitution. Dainty bluish-lilac bells to 12” stems on bushy round ground-hugging foliage.  Blooms from June to October and occasionally November.  Perfect for rock gardens and borders.

    Size: 9-12" x 12"
    Care: Sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil
    Native: Europe, Siberia and North America, including Wisconsin
    Wildlife Value: Walnut and deer tolerant

    Lakota ate the leaves raw and cooked and made an infusion of the roots to remedy earaches.  Sir Walter Scott immortalized the Bluebell of Scotland in Lady of the Lake.  Also a subject of Emily Dickinson’s poetry.

  • Carex grayi Gray’s Sedge Z 3-8

    Cool club-like maces at the ends of stems- June to October

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    Cool club-like maces at the ends of stems- June to October

    Size: 30" x 24"
    Care: Full sun to part shade in moist or moist well-drained soil
    Native: Vermont west to Wisconsin, south to Georgia and Missouri
    Awards: Great Plants for Great Plains

    1st described in Vol VII of Transactions of Linnaean Society c. 1798. Botanists named and renamed it finally settling on Carex grayi to honor botanist Asa Gray (1810-1888).

  • Carex rosea Rosy sedge, Stellate sedge PERENNIAL GRASS Z 3-9

    Mounds of thinnest of medium green leaves mingled with stems with star shaped seed clusters in May-June

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    Mounds of thinnest of medium green leaves mingled with stems with star shaped seed clusters in May-June.

    Size: 12” x 10”
    Care: part shade and shade in moist well-drained soil
    Wildlife Value: No. Dakota south to TX & east incl. WI, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
    Awards: Great Plants for the Great Plains Grass of the Year 2020

    Collected before 1811.