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
$12.95/bareroot
BuyIndigo blue racemes in June followed by ornamental black seed pods on this perennial that looks like a shrub. This is a legume that improves soil fertility by making nitrogen available to the Baptisa and surrounding plants. Internationally known garden designer Piet Oudolf’s 100 “MUST HAVE” plants, Gardens Illustrated 94 (2013).
Size: 3' x 3'
Care: Full sun sandy soil. Heat and drought tolerant, with no staking needed.
Native: Eastern United States, Wisconsin native.
Wildlife Value: Food source for several caterpillars and nectar for a number of butterflies.
Awards: Received England’s Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit. Perennial Plant Association Plant of the Year Award, 2010. Missouri Botanic Garden Plant of Merit
Baptisia is Greek meaning to dye referring to use of the plant as a substitute for indigo dye. Cherokee used Baptisia australis for a number of illnesses: cease mortification, cure toothaches and induce vomiting. Collected by John Bartram (1699-1777) plant explorer and colonial nurseryman by 1748.
$12.75/bareroot
BuyThe 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. ”One of internationally known garden designer Piet Oudolf’s 100 “MUST HAVE” plants, Gardens Illustrated 94 (2013)
Size: 2’ x 2’
Care: Full sun in well-drained soil
Native: from Canada in the north to Texas in the south, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: seeds are food for birds
Awards: Missouri Botanic Garden Plant of Merit & Great Plants for Great Plains Grass of the Year.
Sporobolos 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.”
$12.75/bareroot
BuyAugust – October, classic violet, pink or magenta daisies
Size: 3-4' x 24"
Care: Full sun dry to moist soil. Heat and drought tolerant.
Native: Vt to Alabama, west to N. M., Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: Nectar source for many butterflies - Checkered white and Checkered skippers, Spring azure, Pearl crescent, Buckeye, Painted lady, Fiery skip butterfly, Sachem, Sleepy orange, Silver-spotted skipper and Monarch. Host for caterpillars Wavy-lined emerald moth.
Aster means star, referring to the flower’s form. For the Cherokee New England aster tea cured fevers and diarrhea. Roots remedied pain and inflammation of the nose and throat. Introduced to garden cultivation by John Tradescant the Younger (1608-1662) in 1637 when he sent it to England where upon borders of New England aster became common. Washington grew New England Aster at Mount Vernon.
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.