Prairie Meadow report card (long post)

18 years ago

Mid-June is the peak flowering time in my 1.5-acre tallgrass prairie meadow, so FWIW, here are some reflections on successes and failures in 5 years of growing plants native to the southern plains:

1. Tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata) - perennial that forms colorful yellow masses in May; spreads well.

2.Indian Blanket - great color, well-suited to site; re-seeds best if the area is cleared of weeds down to the ground in late summer.

3. Clasping Coneflower (Rudbeckia [Dracopis] amplexicaulis)- this annual grows faster than Black-eyed Susan, less prone to caterpillar damage in May; spreads well.

4. Lemon Mint (Monarda citriodora) annual that does well except during drought years like this one; the same goes for its perennial cousin, Monarda fistulosa, which the bumblebees just adore.

5. Maximilian Sunflower - far too aggressive, forms dense jungles if left alone; soon wears out its welcome.

6. Butterfly-weed (A. tuberosa) & Liatris (L. pychnostachya) - these 2 perennials get better each year; I've had no luck growing them from seed, & order plants for putting out in autumn.

7. Scarlet Sage (Salvia coccinea) - an annual that looks nice but cannot re-seed, apparently because it's not cold-tolerant.

8. Compass-plant (Silphium laciniatum) - takes literally years to get established and flower, but now has flowers just opening on 7-8 foot stalks; does not spread. Its cousin cup-plant (S. perfoliatum) sends up 6-7-ft flowering stalks in July from a dense clump 3-4 ft in diamter.

9. Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) perennial coneflower now with showy yellow flowers on waist-high stalks; grows quickly, very drought tolerant.

Wild blue indigo (Baptisia australis) - rather slow-growing, avidly browsed by deer in spring.
The true natives: perennials like goldenrod (2 species) and aster (~3 species) continue to spread each year; annual meadow pinks (Sabatia campestre) does best in disturbed areas, as does the extremely aggressive plains coreopsis (C. tinctoria) tolerated because it forms colorful masses in mid-summer when not much else is in flower.
And the tallgrasses: Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), all planted as seed in early spring, take a few years but form solid masses and look great in autumn, especially Indiangrass. I start little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) in pots in my greenhouse in February, and transfer it to the field in April. Its marvelous copper color in autumn lasts until Thanksgiving.