Wisconsin Native
Showing 97–104 of 109 results
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Spiraea alba Meadowsweet, Du Roi Z 3-7
This short shrub sports white flower spikes 4” long blooming from June to August, deadhead for rebloom.
This short shrub sports white flower spikes 4” long, blooming from June to August, deadhead for rebloom.
Size: 3-4’ x 3-4’
Care: sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: Northeastern 2/3 of North America, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: nectar attracts butterflies & hosts caterpillars of Spring azure butterflies1st described in literature in 1772. Algonquin made a medicinal tea with Meadowsweet’s leaves and stems. Iroquois administered a decoction of mashed and powdered dry roots to remedy pain in the sides.
**LISTED AS OUT OF STOCK BECAUSE WE DO NOT SHIP THIS ITEM. IT IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT OUR RETAIL LOCATION.
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Sporobolus heterolepsis Prairie dropseed Zone 3 – 9
Mound of graceful thinnest of grass blades
The description in the Chiltern Seeds catalog cannot be improved: “This is the most elegant and refined of the North American prairie grasses …the finest texture composed of the thinnest of thin, thread-like, glossy green blades,.. in autumn turning deep orange before fading to a light copper for the winter. In late summer the plants bear, on very slender stalks high above the foliage, unbelievably delicate, graceful flower panicles, excellent for cutting.”
Size: 2’ x 2’
Care: Full sun in well-drained soil
Native: from Canada in the north to Texas in the south, Wisconsin nativeSporobolos is Greek from sporo meaning seed and ballein meaning to cast forth because the seed readily falls from the flower (or dropseed, the common name). Ojibwa “Medicine Society” used roots to cure sores & “remove bile.”
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Stylophorum diphyllum Celandine poppy Z 4-9
Sunny yellow cups in May-June
OUT OF STOCK
Sunny yellow cups bloom in late spring, reblooming sporatically, atop this 12-18″ tall native. Ornamental foliage – scalloped and deeply lobed.
Size: 12-18" x 12"
Care: Part shade, but tolerates sun, in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: PA west to WI, south to MO & AK. Wisconsin native.1st collected by French plant hunter extraodinaire André Michaux, who spent 11 years in North America. (1746-1802) William Robinson, father of the mixed perennial border, described this as “a handsome Poppywort … (with) large bright yellow flowers freely produced in early summer.” Self-seeds and likely you’ll be happy for it.
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Symphoricarpos albus Snowberry Z 3-7
Clustered spikes of tiny, bell-shaped, watermelon-pink buds open to blush-toned flowers in the leaf axils of arching stems in early to mid-summer. Flowers are followed by clustered spikes of round berries (drupes) that start pale green, ripen to clean snow white with a waxy skin by late summer looking like big pearls. Fruits remain on the leafless winter stems showing off until spring.
OUT OF STOCK
Clustered spikes of tiny, bell-shaped, watermelon-pink buds open to blush-toned flowers in the leaf axils of arching stems in early to mid-summer. Flowers are followed by clustered spikes of round berries (drupes) that start pale green, ripen to clean snow white with a waxy skin by late summer looking like big pearls. Fruits remain on the leafless winter stems showing off until spring.
Size: 3-6’ x 3-6’
Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained to well-drained soil
Native: Novia Scotia to British Columbia south to New Mexico on the west, Virginia on the east, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: Deer resistant, flowers attract hummingbirds, numerous bee species and moths. The shrub is habitat for several bird species. The drupes provide food for Grouse, Pheasant, Prairie chicken, Quail, Robins, Cedar waxwing, and Grosbeak.Many Native Americans put the Snowberry to numerous uses. The largest number of tribes made preparations of different plant parts for skin such as a wash for injuries, burns, chapped skin, cuts, sores, “truthfulness” (Nitinaht of British Columbia), deodorant, itch, rash, sores and antiseptic. Next most common use, Natives remedied sore eyes. Several groups used it to counteract difficulty urinating for people and horses. Uses for Snowberry contradict one another. Several tribes considered eating the drupes as poison while others ate the drupes as food, an antidote to poisoning, and to “clean out” a new mother after giving birth.
**LISTED AS OUT OF STOCK BECAUSE WE DO NOT SHIP THIS ITEM. IT IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT OUR RETAIL LOCATION.
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Thalictrum dasycarpum Purple meadowrue Z 4-9
Panicles of delicate dangling ivory flowers May to July, purple stems
Panicles of delicate dangling ivory flowers May to July, purple stems.
Size: 4-5’ x 2’
Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained to moist soil
Native: All North America except Atlantic & Pacific coasts and northern Canada, Wisconsin nativeCollected for gardens by 1842. Used by Native Americans to enliven horses by giving them seeds or rubbing a poltice on their muzzles. (Pawnee & Lakota) Meskwaki, Ponca & Potawatomi used as an aphrodisiac. Potawatomi smoked a mixture of this and tobacco before meeting their woman. HoChunk used it to perfume smoke. For Potawatomi smoking dried seeds brought luck in hunting. Ponca boys made flutes from the hollow stems.
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Thalictrum dioicum Early meadowrue Z 5-9
Chartreuse blooms in spring
Hanging chartreuse blooms dangle from the stems in spring
Size: 30" x 24"
Care: shade to part shade in moist or moist well-drained soil. Deer resistant.
Native: Quebec west to No. Dakota, south to Georgia, Wisconsin nativeCherokee made an infusion of the root to cure nausea and diarrhea. Iroquois used it to remedy sore eyes and heart palpitations. The plant also would “make you crazy.” 1st collected by Rev. John Banister who moved to colonial Virginia in 1678. A gunman mistakenly shot and killed him while he collected plants. Thomas Drummond collected this on the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains before 1800.
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Tradescantia bracteata Spiderwort Z. 4-9
rosy purple flowers July-August
rosy purple flowers July-August
Size: 12-18” x 12”
Care: full sun to part shade in moist well drained soil
Native: WY east to MI, south to OK, WI native
Wildlife Value: attracts bees & butterfliesGenus named after John Tradescant the Younger, an English botanist, who introduced Tradescantia virginiana to garden cultivation in 1637, when he sent it to his father, gardener to King Charles I. This prairie plant collected before 1938.
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Tradescantia virginiana Spiderwort Z 4-9
bluish lavender to purple 3 petaled stars with showy yellow stamens
Prominent pendulous buds open to bluish lavender to purple 3-petaled stars with showy yellow stamens. Free blooming from June thru September.
Size: 18-24" x 24"
Care: Full sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: From New York to South Dakota, Virginia and ArkansasNamed after English planthunter John Tradescant the Younger, who introduced this plant to garden cultivation in 1637. Parkinson explains the origin of this plant: “This Spider-wort is of late knowledge, and for it the Christian world is indebted unto that painfull industrious searcher, and lover of all natures varieties, John Tradescant who first received it of a friend, that brought it out of Virginia,” (1639). Cherokee ate the young greens and prescribed it to cure stomachaches after overeating, female illnesses, cancer and insect bites. Menominee revived those “defiled by touch of bereaved.” By 1659 ones with white, light blue and reddish flowers grown in England.
