Wisconsin Native
Showing 9–16 of 108 results
-
Aquilegia canadensis Canada Columbine Z 3-9
May - June scarlet and yellow columbines
May – June, scarlet and yellow columbines
Size: 24-36”x 12”
Care: part shade in moist well-drained soil
Native: Eastern Canada to Florida, west to New Mexico, Wisconsin native.
Wildlife Value: Rich, sugary nectar important food for ruby-throated hummingbirds. Buntings and finches eat the seeds. Sole food source for columbine duskywing caterpillar.Seeds are fragrant when crushed, used by Omaha, Ponca and Pawnee as perfume. Pawnee used the plant as a love charm by rubbing pulverized seeds in palm of hand and endeavoring to shake hand of desired person. Crushed seeds also used to cure fever and headaches. Cherokee made a tea for heart trouble. The Iroquois used the plant to cure poisoning and to detect people who were bewitched. Grown by Englishman Tradescant the Elder in 1632. He may have received it from France. Cultivated by Washington & Jefferson.
-
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Bearberry, Bear’s grape, Kinnikinnick Z 2-7
In spring fragrant, pinkish-white bell-shaped flowers, evergreen, glossy foliage and Marlboro red berries in fall.
OUT OF STOCK
“Dwarf ornamental shrub, ornamental in foliage, flowers and berry.” Rand 1866. In spring fragrant, pinkish-white bell-shaped flowers, evergreen, glossy foliage and Marlboro red berries in fall. Great for cascading over edge of wall or groundcover.
Size: 4” x 20” forms dense groundcover over time. Stems root to spread.
Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained to dry, acidic soil. Needs watering until established. Best grown with protection from wind.
Native: No. America, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: Host for several butterfly species including Hoary Elfin, Brown Elfin and Freija Fritillary.
Awards: Cary Award Distinctive Plants for New EnglandKinnikinnick is Algonquin meaning “mixture.” Used as an ingredient in Native American smoke mixtures. For centuries leaves used to make medicinal tea as a tonic and diuretic in many parts of the world. Cheyenne drank the tea to cure back sprains. Some Native Americans used it to cure venereal disease, others to cure pimples and itching, peeling skin. Both Indians and colonists mixed leaves with tobacco for smoking. Collected by Meriwether Lewis on the Expedition.
-
Arisaema dracontium syn. Arum dracontium Green dragon, Dragon root Z 4-9 POISON
A greenish, long-tipped spadix (the "dragon’s tongue") grows several inches beyond a narrow green spathe, a narrow, greenish, hooded, cylinder. Numerous tiny flowers crowd onto the 6-inch-long flower stem. Tiny white flowers in spring turn into a spike of red berries in fall.
OUT OF STOCK
A greenish, long-tipped spadix (the “dragon’s tongue”) grows several inches beyond a narrow green spathe, a narrow, greenish, hooded, cylinder. Numerous tiny flowers crowd onto the 6-inch-long flower stem. Tiny white flowers in spring turn into a spike of red berries in fall.
Size: 1-3’ x 6-8”
Care: part-shade to shade in moist, slightly acidic soil
Native: NH to Florida, west to TX, north to MN. Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: Deer resistant. Although poison to humans, birds, wild turkeys and wood thrush as well as some mammals eat the berries.Named by 1753. Arisaema, is Greek for “blood arum” or “red arum”. Dracontium, means “of the dragon” in Latin. Named for the resemblance of the spadix to the tongue of a dragon. For the Menominee sacred bundles of the roots and gave the owner the power of supernatural dreams.
-
Arisaema triphyllum Jack-in-the-pulpit, Indian turnip Z 4-9
May-June striped, hooded spathe (leaf-like bract shielding one side of the upright spike), red berries in fall
OUT OF STOCK
May-June striped, hooded spathe (leaf-like bract shielding one side of the upright spike), red berries in fall – a favorite shade plant
Size: 6-24”x 12”
Care: Part shade - shade in moist soil
Native: Eastern No. America, Wisconsin native.Pawnee medicine men pulverized the corm to treat headaches and rheumatism. The Cherokee used it to cure headaches, the common cold, ringworm, boils and “for scald head (and) scrofulous sores.” Iroquois remedied adolescent diarrhea and listless infants with Jack-in-the-pulpit. Also “for nonconception caused by cold blood” and for “temporary sterility.” Chopped root mixed with whiskey cured colds. It induced pregnancy for female horses. Menominee pulverized the root, placed in incised lip to counteract witchery on the face. The seed predicted death or recovery for the Meskwaki who also used it as poison to kill enemies. The Potawatomi discovered that cooking the root for 3 days eliminated the poison. HoChunk spread a compound of the root on neuralgia or rheumatism. Native Americans boiled the berries and roasted the root, for food. Garden cultivation since 1664.
**LISTED AS OUT OF STOCK BECAUSE WE DO NOT SHIP THIS ITEM. IT IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT OUR RETAIL LOCATION.
-
Artemisia frigida Prairie sagewort, Silky wormwood Z 3-10
Erect stems bear silvery-white, finely-divided foliage. Leaves smell like camphor. Inconspicuous yellow flowers bloom in summer.
OUT OF STOCK – EMAIL FOR AVAILABILITY
Erect stems bear silvery-white, finely-divided foliage. Leaves smell like camphor. Inconspicuous yellow flowers bloom in summer.
Size: 6-18” x 12-18”
Care: sun in well-drained soil
Native: all North America except the SE, CA and OR, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: deer resistant, source of nesting material for native bees, food for caterpillars of several butterflies & moths
Awards: Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit
Size: Native Americans used this Artemisia to preserve meat, feed horses, repel insects, to remedy toothache, headache, coughing, lung ailments, heartburn, and colds. Indians in Great Basin used it in ceremonies. Chippewa made a decoction of root for convulsions. For the Lakota this was "women's medicine" with an infusion helping regulate menstrual periods and inducing contractions in pregnancy.Meriwether Lewis collected this along the Missouri River in South Dakota on October 3, 1804.
-
Asarum canadense syn. Hexastylis canadense Wild ginger Z 3-7
Concealed brown bell-shaped flowers with flared tips hide under this groundcover's crinkled, lacquered leaves.
Concealed brown bell-shaped flowers with flared tips hide under this groundcover’s crinkled, lacquered leaves.
Size: 6" x 6" spreading
Care: part shade to shade, moist well-drained to well-drained soil
Native: Canada to So. Carolina, Wisconsin nativeNative Americans used Wild ginger for such diverse purposes as flavoring food, curing heart palpitations, induce menstrual cycles, cure “the bite of the serpent,” mend broken bones, as a general tonic, a tea and lure catfish. Winnebago tenderized raccoon meat with this. Colonists used the plant to break fever and stimulate the appetite.
-
Asclepias incarnata Swamp milkweed Z 3-9
pink umbels, like an upside down ballerina’s skirt
Fragrant medium pink umbels, like an upside down ballerina’s skirt, July – September.
Size: 3’-4’ x 2-3’
Care: Sun in moist to moist well-drained soil, deer resistant
Native: North America – all states (except along the Pacific coast) & eastern half of Canada, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: host for Monarch caterpillars, flowers are source of nectar for several butterfliesNamed after Asclepias, a Greek god of medicine. Native American groups used Swamp milkweed – Chippewa to increase their strength & the stems made into twine; Iroquois to heal navels in babies, to increase or decrease urine and to make a person strong enough to punish witches; Meskwaki to drive out tapeworms; and Menominee used it as an ingredient in food – added to deer soup & cornmeal mush. Listed as growing in England in Miller’s Gardeners’ Dictionary, 1768. Pressed specimen in Emily Dickinson’s herbarium.
-
Asclepias tuberosa Butterfly weed, Pleurisy-root Z 4-9
Gorgeous - July - September bright orange cymes
OUT OF STOCK
Gorgeous – July – September bright orange cymes
Size: 2-3' x 12"
Care: Sun in moist well-drained to dry soil
Native: East and south North America, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: Host for Monarch caterpillars and its nectar is a favorite for 13 different butterflies: 4 Swallowtails, 2 Fritillaries, Checkered white, Spring azure, Small copper, Sachem, Monarch, and Coral and Gray hairstreaks. Attracts Ladybugs that eat many insect pests.
Awards: Great Plants for Great Plains; Perennial Plant Assn. Plant of the Year 2017.Named after Asclepias, a Greek god of medicine. Omaha Indians ate the raw root to cure bronchial and pulmonary ailments, their Shell Society was the authorized guardian of the plant, taking 4 days to dig, prepare and distribute the root. Most important medicine for Menominee Indians. The Iroquois smashed roots on legs to impart strength to runners. Navajo cured coyote bites and flu with Butterfly weed. Millspaugh said used as “subtonic, diaphoretic, alternative, expectorant, diuretic, laxative, escharotic, carminative, anti-spasmodic, anti-pleuritic, stomachic, astringent, anti-rheumatic, anti-syphilitic and what not?” 1st collected by Rev. John Banister in colonial Virginia c. 1680. A gunman mistakenly shot and killed him while he collected plants. Used by natives for Bloody Flux; the Root must be powdered and given in a Spoonful of Rum, or rather as the Indians give it, bruise the Root, and boil it in Water, and drink the Decoction: Pehr Kalm saith it is excellent for the hysteric Passion.” HoChunk placed masticated root into wounds. Cultivated by Jefferson. Pressed specimen in Emily Dickinson’s herbarium.
