Little Goldstar Black-Eyed Susan Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Little Goldstar’ PP22,397 Description & Overview Little Goldstar Black-Eyed Susan is an ultra-compact profuse bloomer, supporting as many as 80 flowers. Handles heat, humidity, cold, and drought once established. Core Characteristics Wisconsin Native: No – Variety of North American Native USDA Hardiness […]
Viette’s Little Suzy Black-Eyed Susan Rudbeckia speciosa ‘Viette’s Little Suzy’ Description & Overview With endless blooms from July through September, great disease resistance, and bright yellow, daisy-like flowers, Viette’s Little Suzy is a dependable perennial that brings a dose of happiness wherever it’s planted. This dwarf cultivar blooms all season […]
Sweet Black-eyed Susan is a superb Wisconsin native perennial with sweetly fragrant, buttery yellow, daisy-like flowers and purplish-brown centers. Seeming to dance upon tall stems, masses of flowers bloom from July through October. With larger and longer-lasting blooms compared to other Black-eyed Susan, they’re great in cutting, cottage, or native gardens.
My son, Jack loved to grab, throw, and chew on books when he was one year old. He also adored books being read aloud to him. I was reading him “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle and it occurred to me that we often overlook these juvenile versions of […]
Fall Blooming Plants for the Pollinators Using fall blooming plants in the landscape will give insects an extra boost for late-season and winter. These days, insect population decline has more attention than ever. The most popular of which is the Monarch Butterfly. There is also frequent news over the Honeybee […]
Deer Resistant Plants, Buck Rub & Protection Deer resistant plants is a very common topic in Wisconsin, especially in fall. It\’s often an initial question on new landscape projects of all sizes. Deer resistant, repellent, deterrent, and deer proof can all be used synonymously with the topic. Ultimately, fencing is […]
Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ Description & Overview Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass is a beautiful and versatile cool-season, clump forming grass. Its lustrous deep green foliage is strictly upright. Showy feathery plumes on erect vertical stems are followed by striking, wheat-colored seed heads that […]
Urban Approved The goal of the Urban Approved standard is to be the starting point when selecting plants for difficult sites in built-up areas. Decisions regarding the Urban Approved title are made conservatively, and we will not grant the title to a plant that has not been adequately tested. What […]
Top 10 New Plants in 2020 Top 10 New Plants in 2020 Another season in your landscape is on the horizon and now is a great time to preview some of the new plants we’re releasing in 2020. Wisconsin’s local propagators are making waves in landscape plant propagation – woody […]
American Gold Rush Rudbeckia Rudbeckia x ‘American Gold Rush’ PP28,498 Description & Overview Bright yellow flowering and foliar disease resistant this hybrid nativar thrives in full sun and average soil conditions. Tolerant of both hot and humid summer months, American Gold Rush Rudbeckia is naturally compact fitting well into a […]
2021 Color of the Year & Your Plants Hopefully, the 2021 Color of the Year will help offset my family’s recently muted New Year’s Eve plans. No bar revelry. No toasting with friends and strangers at midnight. Instead, I spent a contented night at home with my husband and 4-year-old […]
Culver’s Root Veronicastrum virginicum Description & Overview White candelabra-like flowers bloom in July, lasting through August. Gray-green, upright foliage adds visual texture and height. Found throughout Wisconsin in moist prairies, savannas, and open woodland edges. Attracts butterflies, bees, wasps, and moths. May also be known as Culver’s-physic, Bowman’s root. Core […]
Wild Bergamot Monarda fistulosa Description & Overview Wild Bergamot is an iconic Wisconsin native perennial is commonly seen in dry prairies, meadows, and wood edges. Soft lavender-pink flowers show up in late June through August (sometimes as late as September), which offers a midsummer food source for a variety of […]
Heath Aster Symphyotrichum ericoides Description & Overview A bushy, clump-forming native forb that spreads by creeping rhizomes. Abundant, white ¼” flowers with yellow centers are produced from August through October. Performs best in full sun, sandy to loamy, well-draining soils. Pollinators and wildlife will flock to asters in late summer […]
Blue Fortune Anise-Hyssop Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’ Description & Overview Blue Fortune Anise-Hyssop packs a visual punch in the garden with its upright architecture and season-long color. Part of the Lamiaceae (mint) family, Blue Fortune Anise-Hyssop’s stems are enrobed with fuzzy leaves that have a pleasant licorice scent. Flower spikes are […]
Prairie Blazing Star is a Wisconsin native perennial with dense spikes of pink flowers in mid-summer. A critical plant in all native gardens, it supports many pollinators, especially Monarchs, later in the season.
Little Bluestem is a Wisconsin native clump-forming grass blue-green foliage. In fall the foliage changes to a flaming orange or striking red, topped by fluffy silver seed stalks. Great for massing or naturalizing.
Ironweed Vernonia fasciculata Description & Overview Ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata) gets its common name for its tough, rusty green-colored stems among other “iron-like” plant characteristics. This large statured perennial features large clusters of distinctively glabrous bright purple flowers which stand out in the late summer landscape drawing in pollinators from far […]
Blue Giant Hyssop is a Wisconsin native perennial commonly found in drier prairies and upland forests. Leaves and flowers are fragrant, similar to licorice. Great nectar source for bees, butterflies, and their allies. The aromatic leaves can be used to make herbal teas or jellies. Seeds can be added to cookies or muffins.
Purple Prairie Clover is a Wisconsin native prairie legume with stunning reddish-purple, thimble-sized, bottlebrush flowers atop wiry stems in mid-summer. Tolerant of a wide range of soils. Fixes nitrogen.
Golden Alexanders Zizia aurea Description & Overview Golden Alexanders are native Wisconsin perennials found throughout the state, blooming for about a month during the summer, followed by a lovely burgundy-red fall color. You may have seen this plant and assumed it was a weed, but it is anything but. Valuable […]
Sullivant’s Milkweed is a Wisconsin native perennial that blooms in late spring into summer. Fragrant, pinkish-white to pinkish-purple, star-shaped flowers attract many pollinators including Eastern Black Swallowtail and Clouded Sulphur butterflies. In autumn, Sullivant’s Milkweed has large seed pods that split open to release silky-covered seeds.
Wild Senna, a Wisconsin native perennial, displays a profusion of bright yellow pea-like flowers in summer, attracting tons of pollinators. Feathery leaves provide excellent foliage interest throughout the season while seed pods add winter interest, and provide food for birds.
Sweetgale is a delightful Wisconsin native plant at home in moist to wet areas along wetlands, bogs, marshes, streambanks, and low-lying areas. An underused shrub with many benefits, Sweetgale has pink catkins in spring, followed by small, greenish-yellow to brown nutlets that persist into winter. In addition to fixing dinitrogen, Sweetgale provides great coverage and food for birds. To set fruit, one male must be present for every three females is required.
Large Beardtongue is a rarity in the wild, but a must-have in any pollinator garden. Beloved by bees, pink to lavender tubular flowers blooms from May to June. Large Beardtongue is the most spectacular of all Penstemons and is lovely planted in drifts for outstanding color.
Indian Grass is a resilient and striking Wisconsin native ornamental grass with tall, silvery blue-green leaves. Foliage turns a vibrant orange-yellow in fall, followed by light brown feathery flowers that provide cover and seed to birds and mammals. An excellent option for tough areas, Indian Grass is drought, erosion, and air pollution tolerant.
Steeplebush is a Wisconsin native perennial full of movement, texture, and color. Gorgeous plumes of deep pink-purplish flowers bloom from the top down from July through September. Steeplebush prefers moist to wet soil and is fantastic along streams, ponds, or rain gardens.
Royal Catchfly is an underutilized plant in the landscape that is wonderful for attracting hummingbirds and butterflies. Bright red, star-shaped, trumpeting flowers bloom from July through August. Sticky stems and leaves trap insects, giving them the name ‘Catchfly’. A great pop of red in prairie or pollinator gardens.
How to Attract Monarch Butterflies to Your Yard With the addition of the Monarch butterfly to the Red List of Threatened Species and categorized as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), many people have asked us how they can help this beloved creature. While they face […]
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