To paraphrase what they used to sing on a kid's show, some of these things are not like the others... your designer's plants don't go together well. Some of the suggested selections want a lot of moisture and some want much dryer conditions. Unless it's a large area that goes from a high dry spot to a low moist one, some part of that list is gonna suffer. Looking at that list, the evening primrose and whorled milkweed like near-xeric (dry) conditions, while the coneflowers, verbena (not sure this is hardy in your area, actually) and rudbeckia like mesic ("normal"), and the ninebark and willow need steady moisture to prosper. Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milkweed), which was suggested above, likes mesic to moist conditions, and err on the moist side for best results. Assuming IG stands for Ilex glabra, it prefers a mesic to moist situation, and in your area would also appreciate shelter from cold northwest winter winds. Cedar is adaptable to everything except wet feet, and there are some cool cultivars available of both J. virginiana (eastern red cedar) and J. scopulorum (rocky mountain cedar). No telling about the oak, as you need to know the species to know what conditions are appropriate. Black gum's a good choice unless the site is quite dry. That's a dioecious species, so if you get a female and there's a boy gum around to pollinate, you'll have a messy berry drop in the summer, if that's a consideration. Amsonia is an awesome genus and very adaptable -- A. hubrichtii is quite beautiful in and out of bloom. Joe Pye Weed wants moisture, as does Panicum. Sporobolis wants dryer. Liatris spicata prefers moisture, but there are plenty of liatris species to choose from that will like whatever you've got. Many mesic plants are fairly drought hardy when established, so a dry-ish site might not kill them once they've been in the ground a year or two with good culture and no stress. But that just means they survive a drought, not that they look good and sail through untouched. Coneflowers are a good example. They usually survive dry spells, but they often look pretty wretched. It's sort of a judgment call on whether they're appropriate for you, depending on how pretty you want the garden to look like in the bad times. No offense, but I don't think the designer is very up on his/her natives. I'd say you'd probably lose 30-40% of those original suggested plants over time, depending on whether your situation is dryer or moister. I've found that good way to figure this out, if the site is relatively undeveloped, is to take a look at whatever's growing there now (even weeds), ID it, then look up its preferred habitat relative to moisture availability. That'll help you figure out what will thrive there without irrigation or other artificial life support. Then you can develop a plant list that suits the site. BTW, I assume "swan" coneflower is 'White Swan', an older white selection of E. purpurea. There are better newer white cultivars now, such as 'Primadonna White', which for me has performed better and is a prettier garden subject to my eye.

Tom, that's really interesting about the relationship between the horned toads and red ants. We had giant red ants, nearly as big as carpenter ants, down around San Bernardino when I was a kid, and we also had horned toads. I don't think I've ever seen any since then. Janet, I think I'm going to have to be very careful with the grasses, now that you've said that some can be quite invasive. Naturally I knew that, but I had hoped the ones that we see in use as ornamentals would tend to be more well-behaved. I've got 6 acres of cleared pasture, but I don't think I'd call it prairie, since we're pretty well surrounded by oak trees everyplace else. I've also got a border of cedars that runs all the way around the property. The original owner put them there. I hate the things because of the way they tend to harbor ticks and they are such a fire hazard. My big flower border where I'd like to use some ornamental grasses for interest, runs across the front of the house section of the property, but it's on the far side of a humongous cement parking area that's about 40' x 130'. It's nearly the size of a city lot! If the bed on the far side was just a little strip, it wouldn't be so bad. It's not. When I ordered weed cloth, I had to measure it to get an idea of the size. It's 24' x 80' and was full of stuff like crabgrass, burr clover, stick-tights and poison oak; a big weed patch that had to be mowed all the time. After the first year, I couldn't stand to look at it any longer. The soil in the bed seems to be pretty good, as I've said before, but it isn't what you could call a 'yard' with all that concrete between it and the house. I began a weed control program and started putting in some of the larger foundation plants; a couple of maple trees, 3 crape myrtles, a Rose of Sharon and so on. The maples may eventually hang out over the parking lot, but it's so big that I can't see that it will be a problem. The soil in the bed seems to be pretty good, and looks to be a pretty neutral ph, but as I've said before, but it isn't what you could call a 'yard' with all that concrete between it and the house. Weeds are still my biggest problem, and most of them are a grass of one sort or another. The crabgrass/devilgrass is a nightmare. I'm going to try using the industrial-grade weed cloth that DeWitt sent to replace the stuff that failed, but the last thing I need is something that tends to be invasive, or that will let native weeds grow up through it. Somehow I managed to bring in a start of vinca major, and it's a disaster. Now it's another big bunch of tall grass with vinca leaves poking through it. I need to rip it all out. Are there any of the native grasses that are both non-invasive and also dense enough to pretty well choke out anything that tries to grow through them? I see them a lot in Shawnee and Tecumseh, but they are in planters with little else around them, so it's hard to tell what they would do in a garden like this, that tends to have a rampant grass population in spite of everything I can do to stop it. Oh, and I think you're the one who directed me to that silt test at Fine Gardening? Or was it Tom? I've forgotten. Anyway, thank you. I quit taking the mag a long time ago, so I hadn't seen it. It's a really good article, and I'm going to try it. The question seems to have already been answered. I won't be digging up any trailer-loads of the silty stuff in the chicken pens and putting it in the garden. I'll just stick to adding manure to the compost heap. I do have a neighbor who raises chicks and who sometimes brings the cedar bedding from the pens, so I add that also and let it compost down. It should not be any problem, should it? The bedding I add in from our sheep pens is generally oat straw or native grass hay and manure. I haven't worried about it too much and it does not seem to be seeding. I hope I'm not creating a monster by using it and will get a big surprise later on. Sorry I wandered around so far away from the original topic of garden grasses. It's hard to draw the line between controlling weed grasses and putting in the good ornamental ones and keep the thread separate. Pat ps: Janet, I absolutely love your photo of the wildflower up against the blue wall. It is so good, and has such a southwest feel about it. Have you ever thought of entering it in photo competition? Seriously. It's good.

The key thing in a prairie backyard is to provide adequate pedestrian circulation. I.e., the turf grass lawn serves as ad hoc passage from each part of the yard to every other part. So when you plant to prairie, carve out garden rooms that will be furnished in corners, etc. and leave mowed or mulch or stone (flagstone steppers work well, then when you are wealthy, you can add more to make a flagstone path) paths from each garden room to another with a linkage to the back door. The veg garden becomes one of these garden rooms. If you are a tidy gardener, it can become a thing to look at on the way from the back door to the relaxing seating area at the back corner. If you are not tidy, you can ring it with tall prairie forbs to hide it or you can tuck it on a narrower subtpath off the main path so it is acessible, but not inviting. You are going to attract wildlife and birds with your prairie ecosystem, so you will probably want the garden fenced and gated. If it fits the house and neighborhood, a 3' to 4' white or natural picket fence looks nice, or if you want a more subtle look, a slpit rail fence with a wire mesh fence stapled (nailed) to the inside is a good look for within the prairie. If you are burning to maintain the prairie, don't forget to mow a band around the fence to keep fire away or wet the fence down thoroughly before the burn, and post a guard to smudge out any fire that gets too close to the wooden fence. You can do one big garden, or you can segregate kinds of plants. One small plot for vining things like gourds, punpkins, another in full sun for beans, tomatoes, etc, and another in part shade for lettuces, spinach, where you can replant for continual salads. One big garden has less perimeter to fence than several small, but it can be fun to walk the path circuit and see the little gardens. Don't forget to dedicate a part of the veg garden to utility - compost, potting, and add a bench for resting or a bistro table and chairs set to read the newspaper or have a mint lemonaid.

The last time I checked this was a free country. I believe that would mean we would be allowed to plant and landscape our own property as we see fit as long as it didn't have any safety issues. For example I wouldn't plant a Spanish dagger next to a walkway. The guy put time, effort and money into his yard and keeps it maintain. And as far as ratio of turf to plants is nonsense. How many times in the past years have we had to watch water consumption during the heat of the summer? Turf is far too over rated and takes a lot of water to maintain a green yard. This guy has found a way to cut back on water and should be commended for doing so. You know if he had a sodded yard he would have to keep it watered because the HOA don't want any dead grass. I'm glad I'm not in a HOA because I have given up keeping my yard green in this heat. You couldn't pay me to live in a HOA neighborhood. I should be free to choose what color to paint my own home. No one should be able to even tell me what shade to use. Government should not have ANY control over paint choice or plant selections. Give me a break! I've been driving along and see a house painted in some wierd color and I might say something like "They must have got a good deal on that paint 'cause why would anyone pick that color?" But I'm not going to run to city hall to complain. It was their choice to use that color on their own home and that is call freedom of expression. And as far as not only plant selection but an HOA controlling color of a plant is absolutely absurd! There are so many cookie cutter homes these days and now they want us to have cookie cutter yards? If everyone on the street had Pink Crape Myrtles and I like the lavender better then I should be able to plant the color I enjoy. And if someone came upon my property and pulled up plants...isn't that called trespassing and destruction of property? Aren't there still laws on these? I read Karmas' post and she hit it on the head. And mommyfox I agree with you, I may not like the plant chosen but I will defend the freedom to plant it. Thank you for letting me vent...This type of "control" really ticks me off. Deb