Unfortunately, I have yet to find a really good site for Oklahoma native plants. You can try the Noble Foundation, which gives you an alphabetical list that you have to look through for ideas which can be cumbersome, unless you know what you're looking for.

I have participated a lot in various forums here at GW and get a lot of info there. There are some well known seed and plant nurseries that give you a lot of info, including pictures, plant habits, etc., and I use these a lot, especially Prairie Moon Nursery. Have purchased a lot of seed from them. They offer some plants, too. That can get expensive.

There is a couple out of Seminole who sell native plants at Farmer's Markets. I'm sure they're done for the year now, but you can check this winter to see where they'll be at and on what dates. They sell plants that are native to Oklahoma, with a focus on wildlife plants. It's called Wild Things Nursery. They are on the web, too, and they have a list of plants in PDF format that you can check, but no photos. USDA has a website with maps of plant ranges, but you need to know what you're looking for there, too. Oklahoma Biosurvey has a few, but not a comprehensive list.

I plant a lot of natives because I butterfly/bird/hummingbird garden, and for that purpose, natives are tops. Natives I've included in my yard are:

Hibiscus coccineus (6' shrub red or white blooms)

Helianthum maximilliana (Maximilian sunflower) (8' tall perennial sunflower; yellow blooms on tall stalks) (can host caterpillars of Silvery Checkerspots and Bordered Patch butterflies)

Liatris spicata (bulbs;purple flowers; nectar plant)

Amorpha fruiticosa (shrub with beautiful pea-like purple blooms; host plant for Southern Dogface and other butterflies)

Passiflora incarnata (vigorous vine; purple flowers; host plant for Gulf Fritillary butterflies)

Malvaviscus drummondii (Turk's Cap) (red blooms; hummer plant)

Verbesina alternifolia (Bordered Patch butterflies; yellow flowers; can form frost ribbons when it first freezes)

Lonicera flava (Snowberry Clearwing moth larval host; vine, yellow flowers)

Lindera benzoin (Spicebush; Spicebush Swallowtail larval host) (shrub)

Prunus serotina (Wild Cherry) (Tiger Swallowtail host)

Senna hebecarpa (Wild Senna) (Sleepy Orange/Cloudless Sulphur host; large perennial)

Aristolochia serpentaria (Snakeroot) (Pipevine Swallowtail host; low groundcover)

Aristolochia tomentosa (pipevine; vine; same as above)

Asclepias incarnata (Swamp milkweed; 3-4' tall; pink flowers) - all milkweeds host Monarchs/Queen butterflies)

Asclepias variegata (Redring Milkweed; white flowers)

Asclepias purpurescens (Purple Milkweed; purplish pink flowers)

Asclepias speciosa (Showy Milkweed; pink flowers)

Asclepias viridis (Green Milkweed; greenish flowers)

Monarda fistulosa (pink flowers)

Desmanthus illinoiense (Illinois Bundleflower; white flowers; can get very tall)

Boehmeria cylindrica (False Nettle) (Red Admiral butterfly)

Cephalanthus occidentalis (Buttonbush; white flowers) (Cecropia silk moth host)

Datura wrightii (Angel's Trumpets; white flowers)

Ageratum houstonianum (Flossflower; purple flowers)

Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip Tree) (Tiger Swallowtail host) (Tree)

Ptelea trifoliata (Hops tree; small tree) (Giant Swallowtail host)

Aster oblongifolius (Pearl Crescent butterfly host) (purple flowers)

Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf Hydrangea; white flowers that fade to pink)

Rhus aromatica (Fragrant Sumac)

Arisaema triphyilum (Jack in the Pulpit) (greenish flowers)

Spigelia marilandica (red flowers with yellow throats)

Baptisia australis var. minor (Wild Indigo Duskywing butterfly host; purple blue flowers)

and probably a few others among them.

I like the natives because they adapt very well, need very little, if any, fertilizing, and many are drought tolerant.

BTW, I use the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center frequently, too.

A great majority of the plants that are native to the Southeastern U.S. are found in Oklahoma. I also use MOBOT, which is the Missouri Botanical Gardens website.

Susan

Wow Susan, thanks for all of the info. I stumbled upon the Prairie Moon Nursery website after I posted this yesterday afternoon. Definitely a treasure trove of info and seeds. I'll probably be buying most of my seeds from them, it looks like. I also found Bustani Plant Farm, which I've heard advertisements for on NPR and Oklahoma Gardening all of the time, but I never put two and two together I guess. Unfortunately, it looks like they only sell plants and not seeds, which is not really financially feasible for me.

It's been an interesting shift in perspective while exploring all of these natives. At first I wasn't all that impressed with them, but the more I've learned about them, the more I appreciate them. They have a kind of simple beauty that you don't get with a lot of traditional and cottage garden plants.

I'm working on a plant list. I'll post it when I get it together.

-Matt

I've linked a source for seeds/roots of native plants. This company was located in Oklahoma when we first moved here, but then they moved to Texas.

They have a lot of wildflower seeds, and sometimes offer seeds of trees, vines and bushes as well. Sometimes they dig and sell roots of native grasses.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Native American Seed

It is a nice website, Dawn, and I know that's where you get your Laura Bush Petunias, right? They're just kind of expensive compared to some of the other native seed nurseries, IMHO. I wish they would lower their prices so more folks like me could afford them. I found their Tahoka Daisy seeds elsewhere for $1.00 for 165 seeds, but their price is $5.00. I have spent a lot of time researching places to purchase wildflowers and native plant seeds, and have pretty much culled the list to a select few, based on price and quality. Prairie Moon, for instance, sells most all of their seeds for $2.00 a packet, and I get excellent germination on them. They give you a good number of seeds compared to cost, too.

I also like Everwilde Farm, Matt, and they also have great seeds at reasonable prices. I ordered my Tropical Milkweed from them, and got 1,250 seeds for $2.50 which is just about unheard of in the butterfly community. You usually can get between 20 and 40 seeds for that same price elsewhere. I also got my Amorpha fruiticosa from them. Are you here in OKC? If so, I have a couple extra plants if you would like to have them. Also have an extra Buttonbush, an extra Flame Acanthus (very nice plant with red blooms that hummers adore). Let me know.

Here's a few others to add to my list, and if you see anything that you might like, I can try to save some seed for you.

Vernonia augustifolia (Ironweed-purple blooms)
Zizia aptera (Heartleaf Alexander)
Rudbeckia hirta (Black Eyed Susan)
Pycnanthemum muticum (Mountain Mint)
Phlox divaricata (Woodland Phlox)
Lobelia syphylitica (Cardinal Flower)
Echinacea purpurea
Echinacea pallida (Pale Coneflower)
Crotolaria sagittalis (Rattlepod)
Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Milkweed-great nectar plant)

I am nurturing some seedlings of Silphium laciniatum (Compass Plant), Desmodium canadense (Showy Tick Trefoil), and Silene regia (Royal Catchfly; red blooms that hummers are supposed to love) that I hope to plant in the fall.

Another couple good places are Missouri Wildflowers and Easy Wildflowers, both of which give lots of info on the culture of native plants as well.

Susan

Susan,

Native American Seeds is probably (and I'm just guessing here) more expensive because they're small and do everything by hand, as opposed to a massively huge operation like Wildseed Farms, which is highly mechanized in terms of harvesting seed, etc., and is the source from which I purchased my Laura Bush petunia seeds. I only had to buy seeds ones because they have reseeded ever since. I just dig up the tiny seedlings in the spring and move them where I want them.

I don't even remember what I purchased from Native American Seeds years ago, but it might have been the seeds of the native water lotus. That's all I ever bought from them. By contrast, I've bought a lot from Wildseed Farms over the years.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Wildseed Farms

Susan,

Yes! I'm in OKC...i'd love some plants. I'm not quite ready for them now though. I'm solarizing the soil now, so maybe in the fall?

I read about the Compass Plant. It always orients it's leaves in a north/south direction right?

It seems like germination for most of these plants is a bit more complicated than most that i've started from seed with various scarification/stratification needs, but i'm going to dive in and give it a try. I'll probably do most of my seed starting over the winter to plant in spring. I'm still in the early planning stages though, so maybe once I get my plan together I can hit you up for some seeds. Thanks a bunch!
-Matt

Matt, I highly recommend winter sowing the natives that require stratification. Using that method, there is no need to scarify those seeds that need it, plus you are giving them the cold period they need to break dormancy, but in a more controlled environment, rather than direct sowing. Those that do not need stratifying, and that would be most annuals, but not all, and some perennials that do not require stratification to germinate, I winter sow, but later, around March, rather than January to February for the rest.

Seeds can also be stratified by refrigerating the seeds in say, 1/4 c. sand to 1 tsp. water for each species, in baggies in the fridge, but I don't have that much room to spare in my fridge, LOL! I would imagine the sand would help in the scarification process as well. Some seeds only need about 30 days stratification, and others need longer, so you'd have to know your seeds for the fridge method. I just prefer to save my soda and water bottles, and milk jugs, add about 4" potting soil after punching some drainage holes in the bottom, sow my seeds, set them outside for the winter. I do check on them occasionally to make sure the containers are not drying out. You may already be familiar with this method and if so, I apologize for being presumptuous.

Yes, sometime in the fall would be fine, and I just hope they make it thru this heat until then. I pretty much baby them right now, to make sure they don't succomb.

Silphium laciniatum, or Compass Plant, aligns its foliage in an East/West direction, so as to limit the foliage's exposure to direct noon, or high sun. It is a taprooted plant, with get this, a tap root that can extend up to 14' down in the soil. I don't know if it will be able to do that in my clay soil (about 12" down) or not, but we shall see. Consequently, it is a very drought tolerant plant once established.

Thanks for the info on Wildseed Farm, Dawn. I will check them out since I'm always looking around for different native seed sources.

Susan

I am in Oklahoma where it is VERY hot and dry. I planted basket of gold about a month ago and it keeps on dying. I am afraid to NOT water it because it has been 93-100 degrees the whole time with no rain. Am I over watering them? I don't give them LOTS of water, just a squirt at the base of the plant from a garden hose early in the morning. Help...I'm trying to replant perenniel gardens for my Mom that are no/low maintenance since the gardener in the family, my Dad, passed away at Christmas. Thanks!

Jerlis1016,

I'm not familiar with basket of gold, but for most plants, frequent shallow watering is not beneficial. It's better to water less frequently and more deeply. Is the area mulched? If not, that might help with water retention. Before watering, always stick your finger in or near the rootball. If it feels dry, then water. If it's wet, then don't worry about it. It's always best to water based on the needs of the plant, rather than an arbitrary schedule or number of days. Once you get a feel for how often the plant needs water, then you can establish a schedule. Soaker hoses work well for me. They save time because you don't have to stand there with a hose and they allow the soil to absorb water more slowly with less runoff and waste. If you need more info, you might want to start another post so more people can help you.

-Matt

A link to Wild Things website: It looks like there's one last chance coming up to buy plants at the OKC zoo.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wild Things in Seminole, OK

Jerlis,

I agree with Matt's explanation that small amounts of shallow watering are not as good for a plant as less-frequent deep watering. When you give plants 'just a squirt' of water, you're training the roots to stay very close to the surface of the soil which makes them vulnerable to drought stress/death.

Basket of Gold needs well-draining soil and although it is a full-sun plant in many areas, it does better in our climate if it gets some shade. (That's true of many 'full sun' plants....full sun in a very hot climate is much harder on plants than full sun in milder climates.)

Any perennial you plant will need consistent watering until it has established a good root system.

Also, any plant that is put into the ground in summer may struggle. It is better to plant in fall or spring so the plants have time to adjust to being transplanted and to form a larger root system before they have to start dealing with the excessively hot temperatures here.

Dawn

Thanks Matt and Dawn....I'll do what I can before I have to leave. I am visiting from out of town and have to get back to my home in Pittsburgh, PA next week. Some Baskets of Gold I put in earlier in the summer when we got SOO much rain died due to overwatering, I am guessing, so I've been cautious about too much water. I'll take your advice and water well and less often. There is mulch and landscape matting so hopefully less evaporation will occur. Again, thanks. I'll be back next year to see what lived and what needs to be replaced.

You're welcome.

I hope you have an enjoyable visit and a safe trip home.

My DH is a transplanted Pennsylvanian from the Pittsburgh, PA area. He grew up in Butler, but moved to Texas in 1981 and has lived in Tx or Ok ever since.

Dawn

Butler is very pretty. We live nearer the city. I miss OK (moved from here in 1983) and most of my family still lives here, but I have to say summer weather is certainly nicer in Pittsburgh! Makes gardening much easier in some ways. Thanks again!

Matt:

I do not know where you live, but an EXCELLENT source for native plants is Wichita valley Natural Nursery on Southwest Parkway. Over the years I have bought several plants (perenials) from them for my two rock gardens. Despite ice storms, drought and my neglect, each and every plant has survived and has done very well. They specialize in native and organic plants. They are a little goofy, but very good.

Bella

Matt:

Whoops! I never said that was in Wichita Falls, TX.

Bella

Thanks Bella! I frequently make the trip back home to San Antonio from OKC and i've been looking for a reason to take the scenic route down Tx highway 281, which i think goes right through Wichita Falls. Now i've got one! Thanks for the info.

-Matt

Matt,

Here's their website.

If this is the one I'm thinking of, I've seen their ads in one of my favorite Texas gardening magazines for many years.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Wichita Valley Natural Nursery