COLUMN: Ramblings : Stroll through a meadow

Last month, I said I’d take my readers on a stroll through a summer meadow to enjoy sun-loving wildflowers. Although most of the plants I am going to mention thrive in a meadow environment, they also will thrive in a small garden space.

Most of us do not have large expanses of land to grow our favorites. These plants will thrive in a small yard or in containers on a patio. I hope you will give a few of them a try this year. Growing native plants invites the pollinators and the birds to visit you. They are easy to grow and most of them self-seed.

One of my favorite native plants is Butterfly Weed. Asclepias tuberosa is that fiery orange bloom that attracts butterflies along most of our country roads. This prairie plant grows well in full sun and likes average, well-drained soil. It has a long tap root and does not like to be transplanted. The plant will reach a height of 30 inches. It is an important larval food source for monarchs. I have grown it in the Owen County clay. It behaves well in a bed of mixed natives.

Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, is a plant that most people recognize. The tall plants are covered with big purple daisy-like flowers all summer and well into fall. In the fall, the spiky-orange seed heads attract small birds. The plant, which can reach heights of 40 inches, does well in a small garden space. I am going to try it in a pot this year.

We can’t have a meadow without grass. My favorite grass is Little Bluestem. Some of the old folks in Owen County call it poverty grass, probably because it will grow in any kind of soil. It seems to love the clay covered hills and fields of Owen County. Schachyrium scoparium is the most widespread grass of the prairie. It is native to every state except Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada. The tiny shoots emerge a rich bluish green in the spring. In autumn the three-foot-tall grass turns pale orange-red. A snow-covered field of Little Bluestem grass is a fantastic sight. Plant a single clump in a mixed perennial bed for a focal point or along a fence for some winter color.

Other grasses that could add interest would be bottle brush grass (Hystrix patula) with its unusual seed head or Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis). Ground feeding birds and small mammals love the seeds; they smell like popcorn.

A meadow or a garden needs some yellow blooms. Black-Eyed Susans or Kansas sunflowers do well in a mixed garden or a meadow. They bloom all season.

I love goldenrod, especially the variety called Wreath or blue-stemmed goldenrod. Solidago caesia has lance-shaped leaves on an arching branch. The small yellow blooms grow in the leaf axis.

A mixture of these plants will give you blooms for months. Getting them established will take some work, but you will have years to enjoy them. A bonus is that you are helping all the pollinators and the birds.

‘til next time,

Annie