Our Native Landscape Story (Part 8): Planting Prairie Plugs & Removing More Stone Mulch

This is Part 8 of Our Native Landscape Story.


Each of the posts in this series has showcased sections of our yard and what we've done in each section including before and after photos.

Part 1 and Part 2: Removing Impervious Surfaces
Part 3: Removing Stone Mulch
Part 4: Removing Invasive Species and Smothering Grass
Part 5: Smothering More Grass and Planting Woodland Natives
Part 6: Planting Natives on a Steep Hillside
Part 7: Planting the Hillside


Part 8 is the area in front of our west facing deck and the top of the slope from Part 7. More stone mulch was covering this part of the garden. Interspersed in the stone mulch was some Japanese Spiraea which were removed.

Before photo, July 2004. View towards deck.

Stone Mulch Removed in September 2004

View looking up slope.
Started to remove wood timbers along steps as well.

All stone mulch and wood timbers removed.
Prairie plugs planted in late fall 2004.

March 2009. Left plant stems and leaves
all winter for overwintering insects.

Early May 2009. Cut down plant stems and left on
ground around plants. Prairie species emerging.

Late August 2009.

Some of the native prairie species we planted were, Little Bluestem, Kalm's Brome, June Grass, Pale Indian Plantain, False White Indigo, Black Eyed Susans, Joe Pye Weed, Pale Purple Coneflower, Butterfly Milkweed, Stiff Goldenrod, and Prairie Smoke. We also added Pasque Flower and Wild Lupine for early spring color.

Native Plant of the Week: Hog Peanut Vine ~ Amphicarpaea bracteata

Hog Peanut Vine ~ Amphicarpaea bracteata


Related Posts:
Native Vines in our Yard
Local Native Vines
One More Native Vine
Another Native Vine & Its Invasive Cousin

Hog Peanut Vine is a twining annual herbaceous vine of partially shaded woodlands and openings. It seems to like richer soil along streams and water edges, but can also be found on drier upland wooded slopes.

The three leaflets are often mistaken for Poison Ivy but the stems do not become woody like Poison Ivy.

Hog Peanut Vine has light pink to white flowers that emerge in mid July. They are arranged in clusters on stems that emerge from the leaf axils. It also produces a second type of flower near the base of the vine which are "self-fertilized without opening." USDA Plants Database

Seeds form in a long pod in September. They are eaten by birds and rodents including "Ring-Necked Pheasant, Bobwhite, White-Footed Mouse and Meadow Voles". (Illinois Wildflowers)

Hog Peanut showed up in our yard last year, most likely from the healthy meadow vole population we have.

It also had several ethnobotanic uses for Native Americans. See the USDA Plants Database factsheet for more information.

Many people weed this vine out of their yards not knowing all the benefits it can provide to wildlife. Not only are the seeds sought out, but it is a larval host plant to several butterfly species including:

Silver Spotted Skipper ~ Epargyreus clarus (pictured on the left)
Read an earlier post about this butterfly


the Long Tailed Skipper ~ Urbanus proteus
and the Gray Hairstreak ~ Strymon melinus

Native Plants Favored by Bumble Bees

I have been reading the Attracting Native Pollinators book released by the Xerces Society, and it got me thinking about where I would see bumble bees nectaring in my yard.

So I went through my photos to see what natives I captured bumble bees nectaring upon this past summer.

It's important to provide nectar sources for our pollinators throughout the year. Bumblebees are one of the first bees to emerge in spring and last well into late fall.

"Many (bumble bee) species have long tongues that enable them to access nectar from deep flowers..." Attracting Native Pollinators 


May
Wild Geranium ~ Geranium maculatum was an early spring favorite, pictured here at the end of May.

We had Wild Geranium growing in our yard so we have many seedlings available to transplant throughout the yard.

June
Anise hyssop ~ Agastache foeniculum

This is a great native plant for sunny dry sites. If you're a licorice fan like me, you'll love the anise smelling foliage.

July
Culver's Root ~ Veronicastrum virginicum

Culver's root likes moist, rich soils but can spread quickly in your landscape. I have planted it in slightly drier conditions and it does not spread as quickly.

The bees love this native, as well as many wasps species.

August

Cup Plant ~ Silphium perfoliatum

Cup plant is a tall, sunflower like native with large coarse leaves that join at the stem to hold water.

It is rated as one of the best wildlife natives for its nectar, water, seeds and cover it provides. 

September

Stiff Goldenrod ~ Oligoneuron rigidum (Solidago rigida)

The Stiff Goldenrod in our yard this year won the pollinator prize. I did a post in early September about all the different pollinating insects it attracted including bees, flies, wasps butterflies and beetles.

What plants in your yard attract the most pollinators?

Carole Brown wrote a good post about native pollinators too this week on the Beautiful Wildlife Garden blog.

Check out more native wildflowers at Clay and Limestone for Wildflower Wednesday.

Name That Native Plant - Quiz 16

Do you know what native plant this is?

Post your reply, more photo clues will be posted later.

Our Native Landscape Story (Part 7): Planting The Hillside

This is Part 7 of Our Native Landscape Story.


Each of the posts in this series has showcased sections of our yard and what we've done in each section including before and after photos.

Part 1 and Part 2: Removing Impervious Surfaces
Part 3: Removing Stone Mulch
Part 4: Removing Invasive Species and Smothering Grass
Part 5: Smothering More Grass and Planting Woodland Natives
Part 6: Planting Natives on a Steep Hillside


Part 7 is the area near the top of the hill in our yard and also the sunniest spot. The hill faces southwest. We smothered the grass and have been adding prairie natives. 

The before photo from 2004

We removed the wood on the sides of the steps, smothered the grass with paper and mulch and started planting prairie natives.

Early May just as plants are emerging

August 2008

We relocated some of the taller plants in this photo in 2009 and added more prairie grasses like Little Bluestem, Blue Grama, Side Oats Grama and Indian Grass. It has been overseeded with a shortgrass dry prairie seed mix and we added several new species that we grew from seed. 

We made these changes to replicate the species present in a short grass remnant nearby. I will showcase these new results at the end of the season.

Before 2004

June 2009

Native Plant of the Week: Snow Trillium ~ Trillium nivale

Snow Trillium ~ Trillium nivale


Other Common Name: Dwarf White Trillium, Lesser Snowy Trillium, Dwarf White Wakerobin

This tiny native Trillium is the smallest Trillium in the Midwest only growing about 4 inches tall. It is also one of the earliest flowering Trilliums, in central Minnesota its flowers can open as early as mid-April. This photo was taken on the 21st of April a couple of years ago.

The three leaves are a light gray-green and arranged in a whorl around the stem. The flower is about 1 inch wide with three white petals. These tiny plants are very easy to overlook as they emerge from the leaf litter.

Their habitat includes medium to moist sites in rich deciduous woods. The Wildflowers of Wisconsin book also notes limy soils are preferred.

The status of Trillium nivale is somewhat equivocal. Although it grows in fifteen states and is considered "secure" nationwide, populations are considered "scattered to rare across its range" (NatureServe 2009). The species is listed as endangered or threatened in half of the states in which it occurs, and it is watch-listed or special concern in the remainder of states. (Minnesota DNR)

See the USDA Plants Map for distribution and status for your State.

Where have you seen this Trillium?

Our Native Landscape Story (Part 6): Planting a Steep Hillside

This is Part 6 of Our Native Landscape Story.


Each of the posts in this series has showcased sections of our yard and what we've done in each section including before and after photos.

Part 1 and Part 2: Removing Impervious Surfaces
Part 3: Removing Stone Mulch
Part 4: Removing Invasive Species and Smothering Grass
Part 5: Smothering More Grass and Planting Woodland Natives






This post will highlight how we smothered our hillside and created native plantings. 

Here is the before photo.

This slope was also smothered with paper and mulch. The line of invasive Tiger Day Lilies were removed as well as the Japanese Barberry shrubs. We planted prairie natives including prairie coreopsis, queen of the prairie, little bluestem, big bluestem, pale purple coneflower, butterfly milkweed and side oats grama.

This photo was taken in late May of 2010.

A river birch tree was added on the far left, and we planted low growing native shrubs (Bush Honeysuckle and Fragrant Sumac) to grow underneath the main tree.

Name That Native Plant - Quiz 15

Do you know what native plant this is?

Post your reply, more photo clues will be posted later.

Answer: Jack in the Pulpit
Arisaema triphyllum

Our Native Landscape Story (Part 5): Smothering Grass

This is Part 5 of Our Native Landscape Story.


Each of the posts in this series has showcased sections of our yard and what we've done in each section including before and after photos.

Part 1 and Part 2: Removing Impervious Surfaces
Part 3: Removing Stone Mulch
Part 4: Removing Invasive Species and Smothering Grass

This post will highlight how we smothered the lawn to create native plantings.


As I mentioned in Part 4, the lawn that we inherited from the previous homeowner was dominated by Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea). The best approach was to smother the lawn with paper and mulch.
Read an earlier post about smothering grass.


Here is the before photo. A red pine in the foreground and in the background (trunk barely visible) is a large white oak.

We smothered this area in the fall, again taking advantage of the leaves that had fallen. We spread those on top of the lawn, added paper and mulched it with 3-4 inches of mulch. 


We used free wood mulch from our City to create the paths but ordered the other mulch which was more finely shredded and packed down better.


When smothering Creeping Charlie, you have to make sure you overlap the paper at least 4 inches so it doesn't creep through.
This photo was taken in the early spring the year after it was planted.
We started to add woody plants the following fall. The native shrubs added here were Snowberry, Cranberry Viburnum, American Hazelnut, Chokeberry, and Witch Hazel. Also an Ironwood tree.

This photo was taken in June 2010. 


Native perennials added were Downy Yellow and Common Blue Violets, Zig Zag Goldenrod, Meadow Rue, Dwarf Crested Iris, Wild Ginger and False Solomon's Seal.

This is the before view from the top of the walkway.

Early Spring

Late June 2010

Native Trout Lilies

We are fortunate enough to have three species of Trout Lily (Erythronium) native to Minnesota, one is endemic to the State and listed as endangered.

Trout Lilies, also called Dog-Tooth Violets or Adder's Tongues are a spring flowering woodland native. These ephemerals flower from early April through May in rich woods before the tree canopy leaves open.

Trout Lilies have light green leaves with gray mottling.

The most common is the White Trout Lily ~ Erythronium albidum which is found in the southeastern part of the State and north along the three major river corridors.

Its flowers have 6 white petals and bright yellow anthers that hang downwards. Emerging bees will nectar on these flowers.

The Yellow Trout Lily ~ Erythronium americanum is less common in Minnesota, only found along the eastern edge. It is native to much of eastern North America. I have seen large patches of this Trout Lily growing in rich woods in the Great Lakes region.

The yellow flowers are 6 petaled as well with red anthers. These flowers are about the same size as the White Trout Lily, around 3/4 inch in diameter.

The last one is Dwarf Trout Lily ~ Erythronium propullans, the most rare and listed as federally endangered. It only grows in a few southeastern counties in Minnesota.

This Trout Lily is much smaller in size than the other two and can have anywhere from 4-6 petals. The one pictured here has four petals. The flowers are much smaller too, less than 1/2 an inch in diameter and are a whitish-pink in color. Note the size of the fly on the leaf above the flower.

Other differences include: "Fruits of E. propullans are also smaller and, when mature, are nodding rather than erect.
Offshoots of E. propullans arise not from the bulb as in E. albidum but from the stem above the bud, and only from flowering plants." (Minnesota DNR)

If you want to see the White and Dwarf Trout Lily, visit Nerstrand Woods State Park in late April.

Native Plant of the Week: Pale Purple Coneflower ~ Echinacea pallida

Pale Purple Coneflower ~ Echinacea pallida
Pale Purple Coneflower is an excellent prairie native for medium to dry locations in full sun. It is by far my favorite Coneflower, with its light pink narrow petals that hang downwards from the large cone.

Echinacea is Greek for hedgehog which describes the sharp, spiny chaff of the disk when in seed. (Wildflowers of Wisconsin)

It flowers in late June, earlier than other Coneflower species, reaching heights of 3 feet. It is sought out by many bee, butterfly and other pollinating insect species.

"Long-tongued bees, butterflies, and skippers are the most important visitors to the flowers. Among the long-tongued bees, are such visitors as bumblebees, Nomadine Cuckoo bees, Large Carpenter bees, and Leaf-Cutting bees." (Illinois Wildflowers Website)

It is very attractive when interplanted with prairie grasses, the stiff hairy stems grow above the height of grass blades creating an interesting layered effect. "There is a tendency for Pale Purple Coneflower to flop over when in bloom if it is pampered by too much water or lacks adequate support from adjacent vegetation." (Illinois Wildflowers Website)

The dried seed heads are thoroughly picked at by Goldfinches and Chickadees in late summer and early fall in our yard.

We added several more Pale Purple Coneflowers to our landscape last summer in our Watershed Grant Project so I'm looking forward to having more in flower this coming summer.

Pale Purple Coneflower is native to Nebraska south to Texas and eastwards but not including all States. See the USDA Plants map for complete distribution.