Hope it went well.

Thank you very much! This seems like a fantastic opportunity to learn about how to deal with my new 3 acres!!

There are a few Wild Ones chapters in the Chicago area, check out their website at www.for-wild.org. I contacted the president of the Greater Dupage Chapter, knowing that they sometimes have sales. She said they are not this spring, but may in the fall, and they have an email list to join if you want notification of their sales and others in the area (contact Rich Whitney to be on this list: gowild@sbcglobal.net). She also suggested checking out the following groups online for possible plant sales in Chicago suburbs: Schaumburg Garden Club, Midewin, Kane-Dupage Soil and Water Conservation Disctrict, Wheaton Garden Club, Dupage County Forest Preserve. Also, for closer to Chicago itself, contact the North Park Village Chapter of WO. Happy hunting! Maifleur has a good point, too--it can still be cheaper than buying from a nursery (well, at least if you have I-pass!). What you need to do is get together with some fellow native-plant-loving friends to split the cost of gas when you're shopping! And if you don't have any such friends, you need to join a native plant group of some sort! Here is a link that might be useful: Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes

Fall planting, or seeding? Either way, I would suggest for tall grasses to go very sparingly on the switchgrass, a bit stingy on the big bluestem, and go stronger on the indian grass and the little bluestem. Switch and big blue have been very aggressive for me, and will catch up no matter how little you start with ion proportion to the others.Pale, purple, and yellow coneflower will not take as long as some other plants to establish themselves, and cover blooms from late spring through fall. New England aster and brown eyed susans also establish and spread aggressively, and give a great fall show. Butterfly weed is al it is advertised to be in beauty, hardiness, and fodder for butterflies in all stages. Purple prairie clover doesn't bloom very long for me, but is very pretty, and the birds ffed on the seedheads all winter, and it is supposed to act as a natural fertilizer. Hope this helps; I am just a hobbyist, but these have been the results of several years of experimenting in my back yard.