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Nebraska Wildflowers

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June 2-10 has been Nebraska Wildflower Week. And although the term “wildflower” almost seems an oxymoron in our nature-meddling lives, there is, nonetheless, an essence of wild that we crave in our home landscapes. So below is an abbreviated tour of some of my favorite Nebraska native perennial bloomers.

Wild Quinine

So few people grow this I’m putting it front and center. It’s probably the first of the summer bloomers in mid June. Although not photogenic, its small, cauliflower-like blooms are headlights on a dark road—this plant pops in the early summer garden and has nice winter interest. Although I must say insects don’t flock to it, and I never see leaf damage, so not sure what wildlife uses it. But it’s a native I hardly see, so it’s part of my collection. Get parthenium integrifolium (3’tall by 2’ wide).

Milkweeds

I’ll keep preaching these until people stop asking me if it’s a weed. The definition of a weed is subjective at best. I grow several species, a total of thirty plants in 1500 square feet, because it feeds monarch caterpillars, and because while in bloom it’s nectar-sipping nirvana for insects. The best milkweed for me is Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed, a clumper that doesn’t spread), followed by sullivant’s, speciosa, syriaca, and purpurascens. Tuberosa, the short orange one, never gets caterpillars or butterflies. Ever. I raise 200 monarchs a year from eggs, and there just aren’t eggs on tuberosa, so I use its leaves to feed fat caterpillars.

Joe-Pye Weed

Also not a weed, also a butterfly nectar magnet. I like the 8’ tall eupatorium purpureum, partly because it makes a quick summer screen, and partly because in winter birds love to perch on top of it. I have 2’ to 10’ varieties that bloom from July into mid Autumn. Some are a mottled cream / green (E. altissimum ‘Prairie Jewel’ that blooms white) and some are short purple-blooming (E. coelestinum). Slow but consistent spreaders, the lot of them.

Asters

Aster laevis on right

Perhaps this is a cliché choice, but asters are so important for insects getting ready to batten down the hatches for winter. My top two performers in this regard are New England aster (4’tall by 1’ wide) and smooth aster (A. laevis, 2’ by 2’).

Both have clouds of butterflies, bees, wasps, moths, flies, and much more in September and October–it’s as if the plants are shooting off sparkler fireworks. Magical.

I pinch back my asters every day from mid May to July 4 for many more fall blooms. In fact, I pinch back joe-pye and the next plant, too.

 

Blue Sage

Real quick, Salvia azurea ‘Nekan,’ a sport discovered in north Lincoln, Nebraska. Sky-blue flowers that hummingbirds like.

And the seeds are easy to germinate with no cold treatment necessary—perfect for hooking kids on growing plants (why plant green beans in elementary school when it could be fine-smelling sage?). 2-4’ tall by 1’ wide.

Mountain Mint

Real real quick. Don’t have a picture, but this slow spreader (which divides easily) gets white flowers in early summer that insects from every state visit. Indeed, I’ve seen insects with “La Vida Loca” tee shirts, so we must get some from Montana. Get pycnanthemum and brew it into a tea (2’ by 2’).

© 2012, Benjamin Vogt. All rights reserved. This article is the property of Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens. If you are reading this at another site, please report that to us

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Filed Under: Perennials
About Benjamin Vogt

Benjamin Vogt has a 2,000 foot garden on a 10,000 foot lot in Nebraska (zone 5). Roughly 80% of his plants are native to either the Midwest or Great Plains. He is the author of Sleep, Creep, Leap: The First Three Years of a Nebraska Garden (essays), Monarch Butterflies: The Last Migration, and a new poetry collection, AFTERIMAGE (SFA Press, 2012). Benjamin’s poetry, essays, and photographs have appeared in several publications, including Crab Orchard Review, ISLE, Orion, Prairie Fire, Sou’wester, The Sun, and Verse Daily. He has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and an M.F.A. from The Ohio State University. Benjamin is on the board of Wachiska Audubon, a regional prairie conservation group, and is a Great Plains Native Plant garden consultant at Monarch Gardens. He blogs / rants about writing and gardening at The Deep Middle. You can also find him on Facebook, and if you insist, Twitter.

Comments

  1. Donna@Gardens Eye View says:
    June 9, 2012 at 8:59 am

    I really enjoyed your series and wish we celebrated wildflowers in NY…sad really that we don’t…but my meadow certainly does get a lot of neighbors scratching their heads.
    Donna@Gardens Eye View recently posted..Gardens Eye Journal-June 2012

    Reply
  2. Loret says:
    June 9, 2012 at 9:10 pm

    Thanks for the tour Benjamin. I love your choices!
    Loret recently posted..Condo living for bluebirds?

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  3. Carol Duke says:
    June 10, 2012 at 9:33 am

    Great choices Benjamin and hopefully during the week many more gardeners will become converted enthusiast for wildflowers.
    Carol Duke recently posted..Early June Garden Fragrances Merge ~ A Potpourri of Pinks With Touches of White ~ Roses and Pink Lilacs

    Reply
  4. Benjamin Vogt says:
    June 10, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    I think I converted a few yesterday at a talk I gave at a local nursery. At least, I was told I did! Thanks for the comments, friends.
    Benjamin Vogt recently posted..Nebraska Wildflowers Day 7 — Asters

    Reply
  5. Rambling Woods says:
    June 10, 2012 at 9:24 pm

    I am with Donna..I wish we celebrated here in NY..I have planted swamp. common and butterfly weed over the past 2 years and I get butterflies and eggs on all of them. It is harder for me to find them on the butterfly weed, but I find the eggs and then raise them on the common as I have access to more of that..also have Joe Pye.. People on the street have commented on the pretty orange flowers ..of course if you say the word ‘weed’ it is a turn-off..but I have yet gotten anyone to plant any milkweed of any kind…sigh…Michelle
    Rambling Woods recently posted..Macro Monday-Large Yellow Underwing Moth

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  6. Hal Mann says:
    June 11, 2012 at 9:24 am

    Great article Benajamin.

    We had a different experience with Butterfly Milkweed. We put 5 BF milkweed plants into our first ever native planting along with 3 other species of flowering natives. Late in the season I was so excited to find 5 Monarch caterpillars eagerly chomping away on the plants. By the time I found them they were 5th instar and lost track of them after a few days. Since we’ve converted to full native, I’ve added swamp, common, and Sullivant’s milkweed with Swamp being the most suited for most of the yard. We’ve also added six more tuberosa. If we find Monarch cats this year, I think we’ll raise some of them in a controlled environment.

    Thanks again for the great info.

    Hal
    Hal Mann recently posted..Making a Difference

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  7. Carole Sevilla Brown says:
    June 13, 2012 at 12:15 pm

    What lovely choices, Ben!
    Carole Sevilla Brown recently posted..Starting Over: Deciding What Can Stay and What Must Go

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