Description
ARCHIVED
Note: This is a plant not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.
Cone-shaped fuzzy yellow flower spikes rise above sparse foliage in April-June
Cone-shaped fuzzy yellow flower spikes rise above sparse foliage in April-June
ARCHIVED
Note: This is a plant not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.
Cone-shaped fuzzy yellow flower spikes rise above sparse foliage in April-June
OUT OF STOCK
Wine-red petals of bell-shape with yellow centers flowers in early spring. Fun, furry foliage and Medusa-like seed heads.
Size: 12-20” x 4-8”
Care: sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
Native: Europe
Wildlife Value: Deer resistant, early pollen source for bees.
Called Pasqueflower because it blooms at Easter time. Variety rubra considered a separate species, not a variety, by Caspar Bauhin in Theatri botanici, 1671. Illustrated in Gerard’s Herball, 1636.
OUT OF STOCK
Gorgeous – July – September bright orange cymes
Size: 2-3' x 12"
Care: Sun in moist well-drained to dry soil
Native: East and south North America, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: Host for Monarch caterpillars and its nectar is a favorite for 13 different butterflies: 4 Swallowtails, 2 Fritillaries, Checkered white, Spring azure, Small copper, Sachem, Monarch, and Coral and Gray hairstreaks. Attracts Ladybugs that eat many insect pests.
Awards: Great Plants for Great Plains; Perennial Plant Assn. Plant of the Year 2017.
Named after Asclepias, a Greek god of medicine. Omaha Indians ate the raw root to cure bronchial and pulmonary ailments, their Shell Society was the authorized guardian of the plant, taking 4 days to dig, prepare and distribute the root. Most important medicine for Menominee Indians. The Iroquois smashed roots on legs to impart strength to runners. Navajo cured coyote bites and flu with Butterfly weed. Millspaugh said used as “subtonic, diaphoretic, alternative, expectorant, diuretic, laxative, escharotic, carminative, anti-spasmodic, anti-pleuritic, stomachic, astringent, anti-rheumatic, anti-syphilitic and what not?” 1st collected by Rev. John Banister in colonial Virginia c. 1680. A gunman mistakenly shot and killed him while he collected plants. Used by natives for Bloody Flux; the Root must be powdered and given in a Spoonful of Rum, or rather as the Indians give it, bruise the Root, and boil it in Water, and drink the Decoction: Pehr Kalm saith it is excellent for the hysteric Passion.” HoChunk placed masticated root into wounds. Cultivated by Jefferson. Pressed specimen in Emily Dickinson’s herbarium.
$12.75/bareroot
BuySpikes of yellow pea-like flowers in spring cover this broad plant – really makes you say “awe” or “oooh” when it blooms. All season resembles a shrub Flowers turn into round seed pods the size of a marble. This is a legume that improves soil fertility by making nitrogen available to the Baptisa and surrounding plants.
Size: 3’ x 3’
Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained to dry soil. Drought tolerant.
Native: Missouri to Mississippi to TX
Wildlife Value: food source for several caterpillars and nectar and pollen for a number of butterflies and bees pollen. Deer resistant
Awards: Missouri Botanic Garden Plant of Merit.
Baptisia is Greek meaning “to dye” referring to use of Baptisia australis as a substitute for indigo dye. Sphaerocarpa means “round seed.” Collected before 1834 by Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) English planthunter who scoured the US from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
$9.25/bareroot
BuyUmbels of arching stems with nodding bells of lilac shading to pink or occasionally white. May to June.
Size: 12”-18”x 3-6”
Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil
Native: Canada to Mexico, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: nectar source for Hairstreak butterfly, Attracts hummingbirds.
Cernuum is Latin meaning “nodding.” Many groups of 1st Americans ate the bulbs raw, roasted or dried for winter storage or as flavoring for soups and gravies. Cherokee used this plant medicinally to cure colds, hives, colic, “gravel & dropsy,” liver ailments, sore throats, “phthisic,” and feet in “nervous fever.” Those in the Isleta Pueblo were not quite as creative as the Cherokee and used this only for sore throats and infections. Meriwether Lewis collected this in Montana and wrote, “I met with great quantities of a small onion about the size of a musquit ball … They were crisp, white and well-flavoured. I gathered about a half a bushel of them before the crew arrivd.” Chicago is believed to be named for the Algonquin word for this plant chigagou.