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Featured Plants: New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae)
and Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
New England Aster, king of the autumn garden. Tall and majestic, this aster's deep blue, purple, and sometimes pink flowers highlight the autumn landscape. As a late season bloomer with a stunning floral display, New England Aster is a critical nectar source for butterflies, and especially Monarchs as they stock up for their long migration to Mexico. It is also a larval host plant for the Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) butterfly.
Big Bluestem, monarch of the prairie. Big Bluestem is the dominant, and tallest, grass species of the Midwestern tallgrass prairie and grows up to 8' tall. At first frost the leaves and stems change to a beautiful red-bronze color - adding landscape interest well into the winter. 'Big Blue' is a seed and shelter source for birds, excellent in a background group or as an accent plant in gardens, and soil-stabilizing (with 10' deep roots)...truly a beneficial ruler!
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The Pros and Cons of Fall Seeding (mostly pros)
Fall seeding can take place anytime from September until the soil freezes – usually around Thanksgiving in these parts. In Southern climates 'fall' seeding can be as late as January or February.
The advantages:
• Seed over-winters as it would in nature and comes up on its own schedule, when conditions are right.
• Most wildflowers exhibit higher germination rates in spring when fall seeded.
• In dry, sandy soils seed germinates early in the spring, when moisture levels are optimal, and before the summer heat.
• Clay soils are also recommended for fall seedings. Often wet and difficult to work in spring, fall-plantings on clay soils allow the seedlings to become established earlier in spring, before the clay dries out and restricts downward root growth.
The disadvantages:
• Warm season grass seed typically exhibits reduced germination.
• There is no opportunity for early spring weed control by cultivation or herbiciding.
• Erosion prone sites need to be seeded no later than September, with a nurse crop to help hold the soil over the fall and winter.
Remember, weeds must be completely eliminated prior to any seeding. Complete information is available online in our Prairie Establishment Guide.
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Jen Baker's Top Ten Reasons to Choose Native Plants
(for your cabin and shoreline)
Native landscaping, often synonymous with natural landscaping, continues to gain popularity with cabin owners who seek an environment that is indigenous and sustainable. Go native and discover the alternative to groomed lawns, sculpted junipers, leaf-blowing and chemical weed-killers. Here are ten more reasons to go native with your cabin scenery:
- Blend. Native plantings create yards that blend into natural surroundings, rather than stand out with Eurasian transplants.
- Plant for the future. Be proud of America’s history. Plant the flora that was here before us, the plant life that will sustain itself for our future generations.
- Relax. When matched with your site conditions, native plants need little to no watering, weeding and fertilizers. Natural landscaping doesn’t need weekly mowing and maintenance. Get off the lawnmower and enjoy your weekend!
- Attract butterflies. Native plants attract native butterflies! Many caterpillars feed exclusively on one type of plant before transforming into their beautiful adult form. Plant milkweeds if you want to see monarchs.
- Attract birds. Go beyond your birdfeeder and create a native plant feeding station that doubles as habitat through the year. Plant a few Cupplants and watch goldfinches and indigo buntings eat the ripened seeds during a late summer day.
- Stabilize delicate shorelines and slopes. Deep-rooted native plants collect and filter more storm-water runoff than shallow rooted lawngrasses, stabilizing shorelines and slopes. Plant Joe Pye Weed, Fox Sedge and alder along your shoreline. Bluegill and bass will benefit from the shelter, shade and insect meals.
- Natural mosquito repellent. If you hate mosquitoes, plant native plants! Dragonflies and other invertebrate predators will flock to your yard like a brigade in search of their evening meal.
- Beauty. There are thousands of choices of wildflowers, grasses, shrubs and trees to add bright colors, textures, and native beauty to your landscape. Picture a pagoda dogwood grove among a sea of Wild Ginger.
- Plant for success. Native plants are superior groundcovers where bluegrass turf fails. If your lawn isn’t thriving, seek a native alternative. For dry, acid, sandy soils, plant wild blueberry plants
- Be a native community advocate. Native plants create and support enitre communites of life. Restore and nurture the environment with native plantings following any building project.
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Fall Maintenance of Your No-Mow Lawn
 Neil Diboll’s complete, detailed article is online
Although the fine fescue grasses in Prairie Nursery’s No-Mow require minimal care, there are a few steps you might take in the fall to improve turf quality and promote better growth in the following spring:
- Overseeding
- Dethatching
- Aerating
- Tree Leaf Removal and Mulching
- Fall Fertilizing
Fall is the best time to do most lawn maintenance activities. The soils are usually drier and not saturated with moisture, as commonly occurs in spring. This makes it easier to perform lawn maintenance activities. Come spring, your lawn maintenance will be minimal, so you can focus on other gardening and leisure activities!
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The Native Plant Champion
Restoring balance to our landscapes and living spaces
We're excited to announce that Neil Diboll, famed prairie ecologist and Praire Nursery's president, launched his new blog last month. It's called The Native Plant Champion and Neil will be sharing his stories from the field and his knowledge of native plant ecology.
Give it a read and share your thoughts.
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Answers to Your Questions
Question: Should I mulch the new transplants I installed this summer / fall?
Answer:
Prairie Nursery’s plants are hardy to USDA hardiness zone 4, so our plants are plenty hardy to survive our long cold Wisconsin winters where our lowest annual temperatures can be -30 F !
In Northern climates plants installed in late summer and into fall face a long winter ahead. Plants installed later in the season may not be fully rooted in the soil and can literally “heave” out of the soil through the process of freeze and thaw that occurs in late winter.
Adding a layer of light mulch will help assure the new transplants are insulated to survive the winter. We recommend that you apply 3 to 4 inches of light mulch such as wheat straw, dried shredded leaves or dried grass clippings on top of the plants after cutting back the foliage -- you can also mulch using trimmed foliage. Apply the mulch after the plants have gone completely dormant, usually in late fall or early winter (depending on your geographical location, mulch can be applied from late October through December). Combined with a typical Midwest snow cover this usually assures new transplant survival.
For our customers in the Southern States/Mid South who experience many freeze and thaw cycles during winter, mulching assures the survival of your newly installed plants.
Thanks for your questions!
Sarie Doverspike, Customer Technical Services Representative
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Final Note
Watch for our holiday gift ideas, coming in November. Also, the 2012 catalog is mailed in January - sign up online to receive a catalog in the mail. We love hearing from our customers! Send us an email with your questions, comments or suggestions about this newsletter to newsletter@prairienursery.com.
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