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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.