The Midwestern Native Garden. Charlotte Adelman

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The Midwestern Native Garden - Charlotte Adelman


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species as nectar plants for adult butterflies. Hummingbirds seek the small insects the flowers attract plus the nectar, as do sphinx moths and long-tongued bees, including honeybees. Penstemon hosts the chalcedony midget moth (Elaphria chalcedonia). The foliage provides the caterpillars (larvae) with lifetime protection against hungry birds.

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       Large beardtongue (Penstemon grandiflorus)

       More Native Alternatives:

      INDIGO, pp. 111–12, WILD LUPINE, p. 37.

       Nonnative:

      FRITILLARIA. Family: Lily (Liliaceae). Genus: Fritillaria. Origin: Turkey, Iran, Western Europe. Species include CROWN IMPERIAL (F. imperialis). Height: 30–36 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Orange or yellow flowers in spring. Leaves persist after flowering. Have a skunk-like odor when crushed. Not always winter hardy; GUINEA HEN FLOWER, CHEQUERED LILY (F. meleagris). Height: 12–15 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Mauve flowers checkered with squares of purple. Cultivation: Sun. Welldrained soil. Gardening Note: These “heavy feeders” “exhaust the soil.”56

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       Chequered lily (Fritillaria meleagris)

       Native Alternatives:

      BUTTERFLY MILKWEED, p. 109; HOARY PUCCOON, p. 36; SMALL YELLOW WILD INDIGO, p. 112.

       Nonnative:

      FUMITORY, EARTH-SMOKE, DRUG FUMITORY. Family: Fumitory (Fumariaceae). Genus: Fumaria (F. officinalis). Origin: Europe. Height: 6–36 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Pink flowers May to August. Climbing gray-green plant. Cultivation: Sun, light shade. Medium soil. Invasiveness Note: Naturalized or invasive throughout the Midwest.

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       Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis)

       Native Alternatives:

      BLUE-EYED GRASSES, p. 44; FRINGED BLEEDING HEART, p. 17; FRINGELEAF WILD PETUNIA, p. 151; PALE CORYDALIS, p. 17; PRAIRIE SMOKE, p. 28.

       Nonnative:

      GERANIUM: MEADOW GERANIUM, CRANESBILL, HARDY GERANIUM. Family: Geraniaceae. Genus: Geranium (G. pratense); DOVE’S FOOT CRANESBILL (G. molle). There are other species and hybrids. Origin: Turkey, India, China. Height: 4 inches to 2 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Looks “similar”57 to our native wild geranium. Pink or purple upward facing saucer shaped flowers. Seeds end in a long beak that looks like a crane’s bill. Lobed, dissected leaves. Cultivation: Sun/partial shade. Moist well-drained soil. Invasiveness Note: Both species (and others) are naturalized or invasive throughout much of the Midwest. Nomenclature Note: Perennial geraniums are not the annuals in the genus pelargonium sold by nurseries as geraniums.

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       Meadow geranium (Geranium pratense)

       Native Alternatives:

      WILD GERANIUM, SPOTTED GERANIUM, SPOTTED CRANESBILL, HERONSBILL, WOODLAND GERANIUM. Family: Geraniaceae. Genus: Geranium (G. maculatum). Height: 1 foot in sun, 2 feet in shade. Ornamental Attributes: Showy large, long-blooming pink, lavender, or rose-purple upward-facing, saucer-shaped flowers April to July. Or, as Keeler writes, “In purple gauze dressed.”58 Seeds end in a long beak (or cranesbill). Lobed, dissected leaves resemble Canadian anemone and also look good until winter, hiding empty spots left by ephemerals. Cultivation: Sun in moist soil. Shade in dry or medium soil; BICKNELL’S NORTHERN CRANESBILL (G. bicknellii). Note: Endangered in parts of the Midwest; CAROLINA CRANESBILL (G. carolinianum). Ornamental Attributes: The latter two have smaller flowers. Nature Note: Geranium nectar and pollen attract small butterflies, skippers, and interesting and beneficial flies. “In the meantime the petals continue their honey call to the bees and the pistil awakens. . . . The life of the flower is usually two or three days; the first day the insects get pollen, which they carry to older blossoms; the second day, seeking nectar, they bring to the receptive stigmas the pollen they have brushed from a younger flower.” A blossom “awaits the insect guests as long as it can.”59 Geraniums host their own moth, the geranium budworm (tobacco budworm) moth (Heliothis virescens), as well as the white-marked tussock moth (Emerocampa leucostigma). The flowers eject and thus scatter their seeds. Chipmunks (p. 14) eat and also spread the seeds.

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       Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)

      VIRGINIA WATERLEAF, EASTERN WATERLEAF. Family: Waterleaf (Hydrophyllaceae). Genus: Hydrophyllum (H. virginianum). Height: 1–2 feet. Ornamental Attributes: One-sided (scorpoid) clusters of white, pink, or violet flowers in April and May resemble phlox and wild geranium. Round, bump-studded light green buds. The leaves often have white splotches resembling water stains. Foliage persists to fall, hiding empty spots left by ephemerals. Cultivation: Light shade. Moist soil but tolerant of some dryness. Nature Note: The flowers attract nectar-seeking bumblebees, other long-tongued bees, and beneficial flies. Waterleaf species are pollinated by the oligolege waterleaf cuckoo bee (Nomada hydrophylli).

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       Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)

       More Native Alternatives:

      GREEK VALERIAN, p. 10; WILD BLUE PHLOX, p. 38.

       Nonnative:

      GERMANDER, WALL GERMANDER. Family: Mint (Labiatae, Lamiaceae). Genus: Teucrium (T. chamaedrys). Origin: Europe. Height: 1 foot. Ornamental Attributes: Purple flowers. Aromatic evergreen subshrub. Cultivation: Sun. Moist soil. Nature Note: Attracts cats.

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       Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys)

       Native Alternatives:

      MOSS PHLOX, MOSS PINK. Family: Phlox (Polemoniaceae). Genus: Phlox (P. subulata). Height: 6–9 inches. Ornamental Attributes: “Magnificent mantles of fluorescent pink, white and blue radiate from hills, roadsides and gardens everywhere in this country.”60 Needle-like foliage forms carpets. Cultivation: Sun.


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