Baptisia australis – Blue False Indigo
Baptisia australis – Blue False Indigo

Wild Indigo Duskywing / Eastern Tailed-Blue / Orange Sulphur / Clouded Sulphur / Frosted Elfin / Hoary Edge

Blue spikes of pea-shaped flowers resemble the tall racemes of lupines in May and early June. A slow to mature, but very rewarding native garden perennial. Found in open woods, river banks and sandy floodplains, New York to Nebraska to Georgia.

$10.00 Read more
Boehmeria cylindrica – False Nettle
Boehmeria cylindrica – False Nettle

Host Plant – Red Admiral, Eastern Comma, Question Mark Preferring wet-mesic and semi-shady sites, Boehmeria cylindrica lacks the stinging hairs of some of its nettle cousins. Stringy heads of tiny yellow-green flowers form between leaf stems in summer. Moths and butterflies are attracted to this modest plant.

$12.00 Read more
Ceanothus americanus – New Jersey Tea
Ceanothus americanus – New Jersey Tea

Host Plant – Eastern Tailed Blue / Spring Azure / Summer Azure

A deciduous shrub that grows just 3′ tall, the dried leaves of New Jersey Tea make a flavorful tea that was popular during the Revolutionary War. This extremely adaptable species can withstand inhospitable conditions because of massive, deep roots.

The white flower poms are attractive to butterflies, hummingbirds and pollinators.

New Jersey Tea is excellent as a shrub border and a is a fabulous addition for native plant gardens. It is also effective as a shrubby ground cover for hard-to-grow areas such as dry rocky slopes and banks. Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best in sandy loams or rocky soils with good drainage. Thick, woody, red roots go deep and help plant withstand droughty conditions, but make established shrubs difficult to transplant.

Grown in one quart pot with approximately 6” of top growth.

Plants grown without harmful pesticides and are safe for butterfly gardens.

$12.00 Read more
Chelone glabra – White Turtlehead
Chelone glabra – White Turtlehead

Host Plant – Baltimore Checkerspot

Spikes of elegant white flowers top shiny green foliage in late summer and early fall. Grows best in moist meadows, stream banks, and swamps. Favorite breeding site for the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly.

$10.00 Read more
Dalea purpurea – Purple Prairie Clover
Dalea purpurea – Purple Prairie Clover

Host Plant – Sulphurs

Tiny rose-purple flowers in cylindrical, head-like masses at ends of upright wiry stems.

This is one of the most widespread of the perennial Prairie Clovers, identifiable by their cone-like flower heads. An excellent range species, with high protein content, Purple Prairie Clover decreases in abundance with overgrazing. A midwestern white-flowering species, White Prairie Clover has elongated flower heads and is only 2 (60 cm) tall. A white-flowering southeastern coastal plain species, D. carnea var. albida, has conspicuous green bracts within the heads.

$6.50 Read more
Eupatorium perfoliatum – Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum – Boneset

Growing in moist conditions, Eupatorium perfoliatum (Boneset) produces flat to roundish heads of white flowers. The stem is covered with long spreading hairs with leaves that are often joined at the base, appearing to surround the stem. Many different insect species are attracted to the flowers as the nectar is relatively easy to access.

$10.00 Read more
Eutrochium purpureum – Purple Joe Pye Weed
Eutrochium purpureum – Purple Joe Pye Weed

Easily grown in average, medium moisture soils in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist, fertile, humusy soils which do not dry out. Cut plants to the ground in late winter. Best propagated by stem cuttings. This species generally grows … Read More

$10.00 Read more
Helenium flexuosum 'Tiny Dancer'
Helenium flexuosum – Tiny Dancer Sneezeweed

Grow in full sun or partial shade in average to moist soils. Tolerant of a variety of garden conditions, but prefers not to be in a very dry location

$12.00 Read more
Liatris spicata – Dense Blazingstar
Liatris spicata – Dense Blazingstar

Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Somewhat tolerant of poor soils, but prefers moist, fertile ones and generally performs better in moist soils than most other species of Liatris. Intolerant of wet soils in winter. Tolerant of summer heat and humidity. May be grown from seed, but is slow to establish.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Blazing star (also commonly called dense blazing star or marsh blazing star) is a tall, upright, clump-forming perennial which is native to moist low grounds, meadows and marsh margins. In Missouri, it has only been found in Oregon County on the Arkansas border (Steyermark). It typically grows 2-4′ tall in cultivation, but can reach a height of 6′ in some parts of its native habitat. Features terminal spikes (6-12″ long) of sessile, rounded, fluffy, deep purple flower heads (each to 3/4″ across) appearing atop rigid, erect, leafy flower stalks. One or more stalks arise from a basal tuft of narrow, grass-like, medium green leaves (to 12″ long). Stem leaves gradually decrease in size toward the top. Blooms in summer. Liatris belongs to the aster family, with each flower head having only fluffy disk flowers (resembling “blazing stars”) and no ray flowers. The feathery flower heads of liatris give rise to another common name of gayfeather. See also L. spicata‘Kobold’ which is a popular compact cultivar that is less likely to need staking than the species.

 

Available May – Mid May 2017

$10.00 Read more
Mimulus ringens – Monkeyflower
Mimulus ringens – Monkeyflower

This perennial plant is 1-3′ tall, branching occasionally to frequently. The light green stems are glabrous and bluntly 4-angled, but they are not conspicuously winged. The opposite leaves are up to 4″ long and 1″ across; they are light to medium green, lanceolate or elliptic-oblanceolate in shape, glabrous, and serrated to sparingly serrated along their margins. The leaves are sessile or they clasp the stems; petioles are absent. Leaf bases are round to slightly cordate, while their tips are slender and pointed. Individual flowers develop from the leaf axils of the middle to upper stems. These flowers are about 1″ long, and they have two-lipped corollas that are usually pale blue-violet (less often pink or white).

Available May – Mid May 2015

$10.00 Read more
Ratibida columnifera 'Red Midget'
Ratibida column – Red Midget

This sun-loving plant does best in well drained soils and is very drought resistant.

$8.00 Read more
Ruellia humilis – Wild Petunia
Ruellia humilis – Wild Petunia

Host plant – Common Buckeye Butterfly

Wild petunia occurs in dryish soils in open woods, glades, prairies and fields throughout the State except for the far southeastern lowlands. Typically grows to 2′ tall. Features tubular, bell-shaped, petunia-like flowers (to 3″ long), each with five shallow rounded lobes. May to October bloom period. Lavender to lilac flowers appear singly or in clusters in the upper leaf axils. Oblong to lanceolate, olive green leaves to 4″ long. Leaves and stems are hairy. This plant in on threatened list in the state of Michigan.

Available for shipping mid May

$10.00 Read more