Late summer is a splendid time of year to go prospecting for native prairie plants that might bring beauty and wildlife habitat to your garden.
“Plants that are native to the prairie are in their glory right now,” said Spencer Campbell, Plant Clinic manager at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “You can enjoy their blooms and consider whether they might fit into your own landscape.”
Prairie plants can be seen in many restored natural areas across the Chicago region. The Arboretum’s Schulenberg Prairie is at its most colorful in late summer, with flowers blooming amid golden grasses. The paved path around Meadow Lake, right near the Arboretum’s Visitor Center, also shows off a wide variety of native plants.
Native plants are those that evolved to live in the local area and were growing on the landscape before settlers arrived to transform the land into farms and cities. In the Chicago region, the native landscape included prairies as well as wetlands and woodlands. “Different plants grew in different land types,” Campbell said.
Many people seek out native flowers that provide pollen and nectar for pollinators such as butterflies, but appropriately chosen native plants, including shrubs and trees as well as flowers, can support a much wider range of animals, from insects to birds to chipmunks. “One way native plants support songbirds is by providing shelter and food for insects, which are bird food,” he said.
Choosing native plants for a garden requires some thought and research, since a garden is a far cry from the natural landscapes in which these plants evolved. Here are some factors to bear in mind:
Know your growing conditions. “Not every kind of plant will grow in every site,” Campbell said. “Just as when choosing any other perennial, you need to select native plants that can grow in the sun and soil conditions of your yard.” Prairie plants such as yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) require full sun — at least six hours a day — while spring wildflowers such as great trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) that are native to the woods need shade. You can learn about many native plants and their growing requirements on the Arboretum’s website (mortonarb.org/search-plants).
Remember that things have changed. “Your land is probably very different than it was 250 years ago,” he said. “It may once have been prairie, but since then it may have been a cornfield or a construction site, which will have drastically changed the soil.” Choose native plants that match the current conditions of your site.
Think about scale. Many plants of the tallgrass prairie grow 5 to 6 feet tall. In a prairie, the vast sweeps of closely growing plants and grasses support each other, but one of those plants alone in a garden may flop. “That’s a reason to consider cultivars of native plants that are shorter and more compact,” Campbell said. A large garden may be able to accommodate larger plantings and taller plants than a small plot.
Choose cultivars carefully. Cultivars are cultivated varieties, and some are selected or sometimes crossbred from native species. “Make sure you don’t plant a cultivar that is too different from the native species,” he said. If the plant is simply shorter than the original plant, with flowers that are similar in size, color and form, pollinators will probably still be able to find its nectar and pollen. “If the flowers are a different color or a different shape, they may not even recognize it and it won’t help them,” he said.
Enjoy a prairie walk in August or September and snap pictures of plants that interest you. “You’ll have the winter to identify them and do your research,” Campbell said. “You can plan to plant some native species in spring to bring some new color and life to your yard.”
For tree and plant advice, contact the Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum (630-719-2424, mortonarb.org/plant-clinic, or plantclinic@mortonarb.org). Beth Botts is a staff writer at the Arboretum.
