In the book 'Native Texas Plants' I got from Mara when she updated hers (thank-you for your old copy) here is the info on the liatris flopping problem.

'If a liatris that likes good drainage is grown on clay, not only does it get too tall & flops over, it also writhes --the stems curve like snakes."

L. mucronata--Well drained limestone or sand on the Edwards Plateau, N. Texas, Corpus Christi, Nebraska to Mexico

L. punctata var puntata--Well drained limestone soils in W. Texas, Trans Pecos, Panhandle, Canada

L. punctata var mexican--Well drained limestone soils in Trans Pecos; Mexico

L. pycnostacha--Sandy, acid bogs in east Texas, prairies in Kansas north to S. Dakota.

Thats all she lists.

Writhing is a good description for some of mine. I dug one out of a clay field going under for construction and planted it here on the other side of the city in well draining sandy soil. It writhes so the reverse might also be true of one liking good drainage being planted in clay? Something's wrong with it somehow.

I seriously doubt wind is a factor. I think its about soil, drainage and moisture.

By the way, TR's yard is good and windy, sometimes it feels like the house will blow away. Especially right now. If there's one thing we have plenty of, its wind, the trees all lean to the north around here from southerly wind currents. We could use some rain.

We have had some good gusts today. You do have clay under your sand.Here is off the Native american seed description of L. muconata;
"An important plant in the fall during butterfly and hummingbird migrations, this perennial sometimes requires two years before making a bloom. Strong roots grow down as deep as 16 feet, and will easily cling to any poor, infertile, well-drained soil. Also makes a good cut flower. "

16'!!!!!!!!

We've got 35 mph coming up with temps in the upper 80's and low 90's forecast. Its real dry, fire danger extreme.

Only 16 feet? Hummingbirds are on their way to Texas by the time the liatris bloom here.

Liatris is usually planted as a corm around here. I usually plant the corms a few inches down. How does that work with the 16 foot roots? Does a corm I plant in my border really send roots down 16 feet?

Never seen the local hummingbirds show an interest in the liatris.

This is from the website Woodstea attached, shows 16 feet. Thats a good website. Thanks for posting it.

Odd. The one thing I know about liatris roots is liatris spicata has a small corm that resembles a clove of garlic. Is muconata that different?

I just copied and paste. I didn't say it be a personal observation.

I'm genuinely trying to understand this one. Did those little corms drop roots down that far? Has implications for trying to move them. If they did, could I move the corm and hope it could grow back from the severed roots below?

Anyway...looking at my pics, does this border look kind of cluttered? The liatris and echinacea kind of overshadow the nodding onion. Should I remove some of these plants, and if so, which ones?

I have moved young ones. The roots broke off but the plant lived,

edlincoln, at the risk of coming across as proselytizing like an over-enthusiastic prairie zealot, I think its not cluttered enough, in other words the plants are too neat & equally spaced out making it too flower-bed-like but then I am a pain-in-the-butt prairie enthusiast so thats just my own biased opinion, the differing plants seem too equal and spaced out in a single row rather than being tied in together into a blended bank of plants like you would see them growing in a natural prairie environment. Again, please keep in mind I am bonkers off the deep end when it comes to obsessing about prairie in both urban situations & the surrounding countryside and have been called a rabid tree hater.

Is there room for a mix of prairie plants naturally interspersed among short native grasses (instead of mulch) which would add unity, texture & filler growing right up to the driveway with the shrubs serving as a backdrop? It looks like there is a strip of lawn next to the drive? Anyhow, thats what I'd do.

At least they aren't writhing, obviously its the right liatris for your conditions.

I imagine the corms of liatris are starchy and they probably store energy for growth sending up stems above and roots below to grow down deep for water. The corms are edible and once served that purpose among native Americans, or so I read. When dividing an established plant or planting new plants, you just need the corms which easily root and transplant quite well with about 100% success, they also can be stored out of the ground for a while like bulbs. The plant we dug up in Kansas was a big mass of corms and we were able to get starts easily, leaving the main plant. Its just like when getting a start from a yucca, all you need is to dig down a little ways and remove a tuber or just a portion of one.

Heh, I agree completely with the bonkers prairie enthusiast-you need more stuff there Ed, not less! Any natural plant community-well, I'm sure there are exceptions-but most naturally-occurring plant communities have an exuberance about them. Pretty much the only place where you will see widely-spaced plants, just so, is in people's gardens. A meadow full of mixed items is fairly chaotic in some sense but that's the beauty of it. I'd have more stuff there.

BTW, are you at all familiar with Helenium? The native H. autumnale is a great late-season bloomer, best in moist spots, but there have been some very interesting cultivars introduced as well, bringing more rust and orange shades to the otherwise golden flowerheads. Might be one to look at.

Keep in mind...there is a place for praire style plantings, but this isn't one. This isn't a natural plant community. This is a border, and an effort to add interest to the boring yew hedge I don't much like. Hopefully a fast food stop for traveling bees, monarchs and hummingbirds. The strip really isn't that wide. Yes, there is a strip of grass between the mulch and the driveway, and I'm kind of hoping some of the plants spread into it, but that still won't give much width.

Don't look at the most recent picture I posted...that picture is older. The plants have grown and spread. Look at the first picture I posted.

I liked the idea of Native bulbs so I planted a repeating row of nodding onion and liatris. Then I planted various other plants there as I found them in the bargain bin. A Minerva echinacea that got huge, a dwarf orange echinacea that looks great but grows slowly, a fluted echinacea that is doing terrible, two bee balm that are doing terribly because of powdery mildew, A bleeding heart and Montauk daisy I planted when I fell off the native wagon recently.

For some reason things are mostly coming up at the center of the row...the things at either end tend to languish. (Except the nodding onion.) One end is more windy and gets run over, one is more shaded.

The spot is massively windy, very dry, and partially shaded. Gets Northeast sun.

As far as the corm question...if liatris have that much of a root system, could you dig them up, move them, an count on the liatris to grow back from the remaining roots? Doubling your plants...

Liatris spicata were not the best movers I've ever encountered Ed. Granted, this was long ago, and only one try, but it didn't fare well IIRC. As to this little planting strip, I
hope we're not getting buried by our own terms here. I could care less what you or me or anyone else wants to call that planting, if it were mine, I'd want more density, and ultimately, this has little to do with the way actual prairies do or do not behave. It's just an aesthetic judgement is all. A part of my work, for example, still does deal with the design, installation, and maintenance of ornamental plantings around town here, and if there's one overarching trend that could be said to typify my work in that domain, it's one of exuberance and fullness of effect. I always like to think of it as...if anybody's going to see this planting (mine, not yours), it's going to be at 35 mph, while they're thinking about something other than these plants! I go for big, bold effects for the most part, and in this regard, I could be using an actual native forb, a "nativar", a completely non-native plant from "somewhere", and any mixture between these extremes. None of that matters at all in my view. Now under the guise of the stormwater work I also do in my job, there we are mandated to install "native vegetation" and that whole thing had a large head of steam before I got there and was completely under the misperception that a handful of easily-grown "prairie species" were what constituted native vegetation in this area. Remember, these were engineers, not biologists I was (and still am) working with, so I can excuse the relative lack of sophisticated thinking when it comes to vegetation. And we're getting better all the time. But my point as it refers to this little spot is that the only criteria I'm using in making any suggestions I might make is what looks good, nothing more.

Generally I'd say you will do better to move away from this
one-at-a-time bargain bin shopping, and buy larger quantities of a
smaller number of species. Even though the planting is pretty sparse, it
looks cluttered because there are too many different things going on at
once. Look at this three-species combo of Sesleria/Stachys/Allium:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/211809988699139145

These aren't natives, but you get the idea -- masses of foliage and bloom rather than a bunch of lanky individuals looking like they might be at the first hour of a high school dance.

I would want to add something with good foliage structure throughout the bed. You could put in a compact grass that can handle part shade like that Sesleria autumnalis, for instance (which I think would be an awesome fit but unfortunately not native nor particularly cheap). It's only about a foot wide. You should have room for that if you remove the strip of lawn.

There are various native sedges that have a similar appearance to Sesleria, although they aren't quite as tidy. Carex albicans comes to mind, though it is maybe a bit on the large side, more like 1.5-2 feet. C. penslyvanica is smaller, has no problem with dryish soil. Where I live all of these are available as plugs in the sprint native plant sales. Looks like you have the same type of thing:

http://www.grownativemass.org/programs/plantsale

wisconsitom(Zone 4/5): I was just starting to get the impression people's eye's were glazing over as they imagined vast rolling fields of prairie.

My reason for using native plants is not that I have any illusions I can recreate a natural plant community. It's more the fact I like aggressive spreaders, and i don't have to feel as guilty if a native plant escapes my border and gets into the lawn or nearby vacant lot. (That may be what some of the engineers were thinking).

I know one mistake that amateurs sometimes make is they get carried away, buy everything, and don't take into account spacing. Looking at the first picture, I was starting to think I'd made that mistake. The liatris and echinacea look good, but I was worried they'd crowd out the nodding onion.

WoodsTea 6a MO(6a):
I *REALLY* want to stay away from the non-native grasses...grasses are thugs. And I don't really like them, with the exception of Northern Sea Oats. I'd be concerned grasses would overshadow the nodding onion. To me, the Bleeding Heart and some baptista australis nearby have nice foliage.

If you think I have too many species...we are back to the question. Which ones should I remove?

This is a walkway from the garage to the front door.

I'd say nodding onion is a plant that should be overshadowed -- at least later in the summer after it blooms. That's the nice thing about grasses like Sesleria that stay relatively low until later in the season. The spikes help hide other plants in the garden that are past their prime. But I understand the reluctance to introduce non-native grasses. Also I realize I'm probably more grass-centric than the average gardener.

And I'm not crazy about nodding onion -- so I might not be the best person to tell you what to pull. If it were me I would stick to about three or four species total for the bed -- choose the ones you like the best but also try for contrasting textures and bloom times. I'd probably go with just one type of echinacea.

This might be a better question for the (busier) Perennials forum. Some of the folks there are excellent at combinations. You could tell them up front that you want to keep the cost down, avoid non-native spreaders, and ideally provide some benefit to pollinators.

Oh, I have to throw in a line for Prairie Dropseed as a foliar accent...such nice neat tidiness...Prairie Dropseed at NorthCreek Nursery.

I have no affiliation with NorthCreek, nor do I advocate them, just really liked the photos on their listing for PD.

It almost must make you love grasses...surely. It's a clump former and not an aggressive seeder (at all...wish it would seed some more).

Woodstea I don't know about you but I am thinking HELL STRIP approach for this situation, those challenging narrow spaces that are so fun. I bought a dozen Autumn Sesleria from SRG on sale and I absolutely love it, I got them for an area in dappled shade since it will do good with some shade, I'm hoping it seeds like crazy because I want more plants. I bought 16 'Prairie Fire' carex on super sale last fall and like it just as much, its in the courtyard, its reddish and bright, its ever-green and looks good all 4 seasons. I agree, buy several small plants or plugs of one variety whenever possible and keep the number of varieties in any given area simple rather than a lot of individual species. I'm still working on massing plants for visual purposes.

Ed, the picture where the plants are more filled out looks like an excellent start to me & I don't see why you'd have to take out anything (!), Since you asked for opinions, I was speaking in terms of adding which brought me to the idea of increasing the narrow space. I'd get rid of what I'd personally resent as wasted soil (no matter how narrow) covered in that ribbon of lawn grass, I mean, you could have a lot more interest, not to mention more fun and easily create a more natural and softer effect by planting low interesting plants, some of which could gently spill over the straight edge.

Lawn grass is, well, boring lawn grass and is supposed to be for creating a nice soft lawn for the kids to play on etc, not for wasting valuable space in a border but then, I'm always needing more space on my lot. Some people are neat freaks and can't abide an edge thats not mechanically trimmed and straight, obviously I'm not one of those people and my lawn disappeared over the years as the garden encroached and finally ate every bit of it.

Bulbs would be fine for spring but they won't change the situation or add much in the way of reliable 4 season color (I include winter). Adding annuals is invaluable for reliable spring-summer-fall bloom and you can change the color scheme every year. Small prairie grasses could serve as a foundation & add stunning fall seeds and winter interest, they simply cannot be matched for catching sunlight, textural contrast and ease of care. By the way, Northern Sea Oat seeds about like a bandit, be warned.

Check out Hell Strips online, its a fun idea that's catching on even in the most snobby, discriminating and high-brow urban neighborhoods where neatness is absolutely a requirement, there are even annual tours in Buffalo New York of what entire blocks have done with Hell Strips, its quite the rage.

Like Tom, I'm looking at this from an artistic perspective of good visual design & color combinations, not an attempt at creating a natural plant community for ecological purposes. I would never suggest something that looks like a wild native 'field' for a yard, you'd probably end up with a citation if you did that.

Here is my skinny 3ft wide strip, a mix of perennials, grasses and annuals and a couple shrubs (Woodstea's is wider cuz he's luckier). I have another along the driveway that borders the neighbors conventional bermuda grass lawn. MIne is self maintaining for the most part and I'm proud to say, we are the only people in the neighborhood who doesn't own a weed-eater or lawnmower and we don't miss ours. We get envious comments about that all the time, especially in the heat of summer. Seems everyone has a yard but hates to mow, edge, water and do the yearly 'weed n feed'.

Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea) is a good long blooming, pollinator attracting early season purple, delicate see-through plants with interesting seed heads throughout summer for texture, a kind of fine grass-like effect for people who don't care for grasses, there seems to be a lot of people who don't. I think of it as the spring equivalent to fall blooming Liatris, on much more delicate scale.

Yep, TR's "lawn" is something to see. I've seen it. I really like it.

Dbarron, about prairie dropseed... I'd say it's tidy early in the season, but later on gets rather untidy in my yard, though that could be because the soil is so rich. The ends of the grass start trailing on the ground, and some of the spikes lean over into the sidewalk space. The smell is odd, too. I am planning on thinning some of it out of my hell strip after all the trimming I had to do on it last year.

Definitely agree with TR that the strip of lawn would be better removed. I really think it would be hard to beat Sesleria autumnalis along the front. I wouldn't be too worried about invasiveness. It doesn't show up at all on the BONAP site, or in a search on invasive.org. The bigger problem would be cost.

Bleeding Heart is probably the best foliage contrast you've got in your bed and it would be nice to have more of that -- if you don't mind it's non-nativeness.

One thing I would definitely yank is the bee balm. I think that without irrigation you're going to have that powdery mildew problem every year. There are supposedly mildew-resistant cultivars/hybrids, though I have not tried any of them:

https://www.chicagobotanic.org/downloads/planteval_notes/no12_monarda.pdf

Woods, I might say...send me your PD, if you're rogueing it:)

Bleeding heart is usually quite ephemeral, and leaves a BIG hole in the later season...but nice in early spring when most prairie species are just coming forth. I'm going to try some (native) dicentra eximia this year...I have a notion that the moisture levels would be good for it here.

And yes, monarda is a PM magnet...I haven't really tried the new hybrids with M. fistulosa either...though even fistulosa gets PM sometimes.

TR, about hell strips -- I think that the approach that you take (I
do it also, but to a lesser extent) of using a lot of different species
might not be the best strategy here.

Part of the reason your yard
looks so good is that you've spend lots of time building and editing it
over the years. It's challenging to make a diverse planting look good
without that sort of long-term effort, unless you've already built up
the experience and plant knowledge that allows you to make good choices
and placements off the bat. Edlincoln admits he's a lazy gardener.

Again
my suggestion would be to whittle it down to four species max -- plant
more of those (or divide the existing ones), combining them in drifts,
and pull the rest.

Just my opinion, though -- and I am a relatively novice gardener.

Woodstea, absolutely agree with simple. Repeats. Low plants by the driveway.

I'm working on the same thing, massing plants & have been moving plants to create groupings of same kinds together and added more repeats of certain others, especially grasses. I ordered 14 more 'Blue Heaven' plants that will arrive in mid March + 3 asters and 3 white guara's. Now that I mentioned it, Guara is another plant that has a grasslike feeling by the way for people who don't like grasses.

I had the same problem with Mulenbergia riverchonni that you have with the Dropseed, drooping, too dense, muddy tips from street etc. I had 3 planted together spaced according to HCG specs. which was too close together, it lost definition and looked overwhelmingly 'grassy'. Once I took 2 out and left one, the problem was fixed. I left the one that was planted furthest from the street so it doesn't drag in the slithery street muck (ulgh!) during rainy times. This particular area was downright nasty looking before once they reached full size & bloomed anytime it rained. I bet if you thin out some of yours, it'll make a big difference. Your's are full grown and that takes a while on DS, also, they aren't cheap. Gee, I'd take em off your hands if you was a-tossin them. Me and Barron might have to come up there on cleanup day with empty pots.......

So, WoodsTea 6a MO(6a) thinks it is getting cluttered by too many species, but texasranger2 likes the way it looks and thinks I don't have to remove anything?

I find nodding onion actually looks better before it blooms then when it blooms...the buds at the end of stalks bent like shepard's crooks look dainty and elfin. The flower is anticlimactic.

Evergreens aren't really an option. The spot gets buried in a snow drift most winters, and occasionally run over. Also, I'd be worried things that were there all year would be bad for the yew...shade it out. Things that die to the ground every winter anyway are safer. I hope to get a row of daffodils and muscari there in the Spring and some late summer flowers after that...two season interest is adequate.

I've been passive-aggressively hoping these plants reseed into the grass strip...

Funny you mention Purple Prairie Clover. A while back I tried to buy a bunch of their seeds and scatter them down an embankment for erosion control & pollinator interest. I was hoping for a mix of purple prairie clover, Northern Sea Oats, and Cape Beach Grass. Couldn't really get it to take. I've also never been able to get Northern Sea Oats to spread.

You and/or Barron are certainly welcome to them. He mentioned the possibility of getting together for foraging, so perhaps I could bring some south in one direction or the other. I am particularly interested in finding Nothoscordum bivalve and Viola pedata. Where I've seen them, near Sedalia, MO, they were in flower in mid to late April, but they were on a prairie preserve and non-collectible.

Agree about nodding onion -- better just before it blooms. Mine just don't have enough color and so with a little distance they don't look terribly different than dandelion seedheads. Also I wished they bloomed earlier and disappeared.

The unfortunate thing is my property in Oklahoma had thousands of Nothoscordum. I know where some viola pedata is...(or used to be lots)..but we would be technically tresspassing to go there (wasn't much of an issue for kids back when). Might be a bit of one now, I have no idea who owns it...likely the person who did when I was a lad has passed on.
However, if we wanted to make a trip of it...within Arkansas...I have friends that could give directions (from the Arkansas Natural Heritage commission, they wander the state doing surveys and discovering new things...and know where to find everything).

Usually both of those species appears in abundance if you find them.

Gee Ed, I thought me and woods were pretty much saying the same thing, I got where he was coming from and thought I was wholeheartedly in agreement.

OK. Here is a photo to attempt to illustrate. (forgive the grasses, it can be something else, like low mounded plants for example)

PHOTO:

See how these guys planted just as many varieties as you planted in front of the wall, only they have more than ONE of EACH KIND of each variety?

Notice there's several echinacea plants (looks like about 9 or 12 plants) planted among several of the exact SAME kind of grass plants in just this section of the border but they are ALL THE EXACT SAME VARIETY & HEIGHT which = adding more plants massed together (in other words I would add more plants repeating the varieties you already have) for continuity.

Also in the picture, there's repeats of that wide mounded white blooming (?) plant further down. Repeating plants (buying several instead of just the one) along a border ties the whole thing together and simplifies. In other words simplifying by expanding on what you have (which is a good start) it just needs to be harmoniously tied together instead of a hodgepodge of individual plants competing with each other, working as a unit rather than plunked in the ground in a line.

What plants to plant? What ones do YOU like?

When you have several repeated plants grouped and complimenting each other you keep it simple. It works much nicer than when you go to the store and pick up one of each and then try to make it work, which, it never does. We are all tempted to do that for varieties sake but instead, load up on 3, 5 or 7 of each kind and plan to arrange masses, or groups or repeats down the row to create a more thought-out & cohesive look as opposed to a collection of this and that planted here and there. I mean, you have one isolated iris stuck in there. What the heck? Poor guy looks lonely (and out of place). They look 100% better in mass of iris grouped together.

Yes, I'm VERY very guilty of one by one...but it looks so much better in masses.

Even nature (remember nature?) likes to repeat elements. While true that in the tropics, some very high total species richness is often the case, throughout most temperate parts of the world, repetition in native plant communities is very commonplace. It adds power and harmony to the landscape-like when you come up over a little hill and before you, all you see are the white trunks of paper birch, or you head into a low spot and northern white cedar has all but taken over the landscape. Of course, these two northern US examples are just that-examples-and the same tendency repeats itself over and over again across the land. And also true-there is more diversity in such scenes than may immediately hit the eye, but the macro elements are indeed replicated over and over again.

Everyone is repeating the general principle and suggesting new things to add. The question is, what do I remove? If I'm going to repeat elements, I have to remove some. That's the hard decision.

Well, that's your decision...look at time they're attractive (factoring in flower, bud, foliage, and maybe even fall and winter appeal)...and make a list (that's what I do)...score points, etc.

Then be ruthless (or relocate or offer to other people).We're enablers...not destroyers (we want you to plant more) (lol)

If you are simply set on removing something then either remove the strip of lawn grass or remove the plants and let the grass come up to the shrubs. Or just pick what you least like and remove it.

Frankly, this is a dead end discussion.

OR repeat what you like the most and let the few remaining others just be anomalies. But get rid of the grass. I like the liatris and the echinacea together. The pale leafy thing , I don't understand. The nodding onions might get overpowered once the echenacia and liatris expand. Maybe move them and consolidate them to one end where the dark background will accent them nicely. I know, decisions , decisions. I am not good at them either.

What pale leafy thing, in which photo? The Bleeding heart in the first?

Trouble is, all of us have different gardening styles and preferences. I'm constantly changing my mind about my own garden. And none of us lives in coastal Mass. nor knows the particulars of your site. We're not going to be able to come to a full consensus on exactly what changes need to be made as far as removing specific plants or adding others.

The first thing you can do, though -- and I think most everybody is agreed on this -- is not to add any more one-off individuals you happen to come across. If that's all you do this year, then I think you'll be ahead at this point next year. What you have will have expanded somewhat, and you won't be making it any more complicated.

If you want to keep it simple and easy, you could try to identify one or two things that you like the best, and plant a few more of those this spring. Let's say it's the Liatris and one of the Echinaceas-- then plan on adding a half dozen or so of each next to the ones you have already. Put them fairly close together -- say a foot apart, maybe slightly more for the Echinacea. If there isn't room, move whatever's in the way. Do the same next spring. Leave the strip of lawn where it is for now.

I'm suggesting this strategy because it involves a lot less effort and the decisions are easier. In a couple of years these larger drifts will give your border a more definite personality, and then it may be easier to decide what comes next.

Pale leafy plant on the left of the first photo in the 4th reply post.

wantonamara: Yup, I believe that's Bleeding Heart.

A plant I will never be able to grow down here. I know nothing about it. Doesn't it need more shade than the liatris and echinacea? Interesting to see them side by side. It would be toast where I have my echinacea.

It's definitely a woodlander, native to cool wet areas. The only reason he can get by with it (assumption) in a full sun area is that it goes dormant as things heat up.

It would likely to better in half shade...certainly the foliage would be more persistent.

Actually, I think the Echinacea and the liatris are the ones that are inappropriately placed and surviving largely because they are just tough plants. The yew provides shade to the South-west. Also, I'm north of you, so the sunlight is less intense. I was hoping the bleeding heart would spread to beneath the yew.

The spot is part shade and dry. Wasn't sure weather to plant shade-loving plants that like moisture or full sun plants that tolerate drought. The bleeding heart was a recent addition, so I don't know if it will survive long term.

The bleeding heart looks good with the nodding onion, but doesn't really go with the liatris.

Ah, then you're probably right and the prairie plants don't belong (my assumption was they were in the correct place). The bleeding heart isn't going to like dry...at all, though it can get by if the moisture levels are adequate during late winter through early summer.

As much as I like Dicentra (quite a bit, lol), it's simply not going to provide the type of presence you need here....or anywhere else for that matter. It's for all intents and purposes a spring ephemeral. Gone by warm June weather, it's not just lacking in adequate presence, it will be lacking in any presence. Sure, sure, there are those bleeding hearts, growing in ideal, half-shady locations, that eek along for half the summer or so. But really, spring ephemeral. since this is a half-shady spot here, go for it, but I don't think it's going to be all that.

Oddly, the liatris seems to have multiplied and crowded out the echinacea. Wouldn't have thought that would be the one to win out...echinacea is a thug. The Bleeding Heart does it's thing before the liatris fill out, so it's fine. Nodding onion looks to be losing out. On the plus side, oodles of bees and butterflies.

Hmm, nodding onion is pretty hard to crowd out...but it can be done. It does so much of it's photosynthesis earlier than most prairie plants get going (here at least).

Yeah, liatris (pycnostachys at least) is amazingly vigorous and will spread without bounds if allowed to reseed. It also has a root system that's very impressive.

Echinacea is relatively speaking, an early colonizer and easily crowded out (on the assumption it can just reseed in a more favorable place).

In my mind that's a good thing, gives that planting a more unified look. I like the height of it there in front of the yews.

I've got some crazy bendy L. pycnostachya out back that I'm sure aren't getting enough sunlight, just coming into flower now. So far I haven't seen much activity on them. The bees are still after the waning Culver's root and downy skullcap blooms.

Edited to add a picture of that snaky Liatris on the back side of the rain garden berm:

Here's the same Liatris plants a year later:

The sunlight here hasn't really changed. My theory is that in the first year the compost-amended soil and lack of competition made them too soft. It also could be that a young plant with just a stem or two has a weaker connection at the crown and leans more easily.

Very interesting. I love the wait and this too shall pass scenario. NICE liatris.

Mine are so snakey this year...it hasn't stopped raining since March...which is why.

They're happy, but oh my, they'd be 8-10 feet tall if they were straight.