Prairie Garden Anniversary

Twenty years ago, I decided that I needed a place where I could grow some of the interesting plants found at Blue Jay Barrens that would allow me to view them daily and learn something about their growth patterns.  I gathered seed from various places around the property and in the summer of 1995, planted that seed in a front yard location with such poor soil that typical lawn grass had trouble growing.  I thought this would best simulate the stressful conditions found in the barrens from which the seed originated.  The Prairie Garden took off and is now about twice its original size.

In addition to planting seed directly onto the Prairie Garden site, I attempted to grow some of the uncommon species in pots for later transplant.  I had limited success, but managed to get a few plants.  Seed had been collected and stored, and then stratified or scarified as suggested by several texts I consulted.  I soon learned that most seed, such as that from this False Gromwell, Onosmodium molle var. hispidissimum, does best when planted in pots at the time it falls from the plant and then allowed to experience natural weather conditions until its natural germination time.

My original idea was to have each plant species growing in a certain location so it would be easy to find and observe.  This was the case for the first few years, but the plants soon began behaving as they do in the wild.  I had three of these American Aloes, Agave virginica, that survived transplanting and grew to flowering size.  Two are still persisting, but their offspring are scattered around the garden.   With many species, the initial planting has died, but younger plants have taken their place.

Even though my goal was to showcase uncommon species, I included several common species in the mix.  Gray-headed Coneflower, Ratibida pinnata, is a very common prairie species in this area. 

Gray-headed Coneflower was the first prairie species I found on this property after its purchase 30 years ago.  About a month after moving in, I was on my way home from work and passed a small plant growing out of the loose stone on the edge of the road just in front of the house.  At that time, I had not had an opportunity to explore any of my newly acquired property, so I didn’t know that in just a few weeks this species would be blooming everywhere.  Fearing that the plant was in danger of being destroyed by passing traffic, I grabbed a shovel and transplanted the coneflower to a spot near the edge of the yard.  It prospered in its new location and produced many new blooms through the summer.

I planted a single grass species, Side-oats Gramma, in the Prairie Garden.  Besides being a lovely plant, it only grows a few feet tall.  I thought the short stature of the grass would make it easier to keep track of the other plants.

The Side-oats Gramma can still be found in the garden, but it is no longer the only grass.  Indian Grass soon found its way here and now dominates about a third of the garden area.

Some of the wildflowers bloom early in the season while the Indian Grass is still short.  Others, like the Western Sunflower, Helianthus occidentalis, grow along with the grass and later produce tall flower stalks.  In August, these Western Sunflower plants will top out at over six feet.  Their flowers will be held up above the thick mass of grass leaves where they will attract a variety of pollinators.

Allegheny Mound Ants maintain a single residence in the center of the Prairie Garden.  Their appearance was the result of a colony migration, with a three foot diameter mound being created in just a few weeks.  Once the mound was established, the ants proceeded to eliminate selected nearby plant species that apparently posed a threat to the colony.  Spider Milkweed, Asclepias viridis, an uncommon species that I had planted here, was eliminated soon after the ants arrived.  Other species, such as this Round-podded St. Johnswort, Hypericum sphaerocarpum, are allowed to grow right up to the edge of the mound.

An extension to the garden was added a few years ago.  Since I know that grass will eventually colonize this area, no grass was planted in the addition.

Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, was represented by only a few plants when I first discovered it on the property 30 years ago.  Their numbers were so few when I first created the Prairie Garden that I didn’t take any of their seed for that initial planting.  Clearing away cedars and other woody growth allowed to plants to flourish, so there was an abundance of seed available for this recent planting.  The addition of colorful plants makes it more likely that passersby will consider this an intentional creation and not just a random patch of weeds.

Purple Coneflower is also eagerly sought by many pollinator species.  In most years, butterflies are the dominant visitors of these plants.  So far, Bumblebees are outnumbering butterflies by several to one at all of the nectar sources.  Conditions this past winter must have been perfect for Bumblebee queen survival.

The Prairie Garden spawned this patch of prairie vegetation growing along the driveway.  I refer to this as the Prairie Garden Annex.  I am thinking of expanding the garden to tie in with this area.

The Annex grew up around this patch of Northern Fogfruit, Phyla lanceolata.  I found the Fogfruit growing at the edge of the driveway several years ago.  I was curious about its origin, whether it was already on the property or if the seed had been carried in on some visiting vehicle.  I decided to let it grow to see what developed, but people kept running over it.  When the Indian Grass began to grow here, people must have gotten the idea that I wanted those plants to stay, because they stopped driving there.  I allowed the Indian Grass to spread as a further deterrent to vehicular traffic.

My original intent for this project has been realized.  Developing the Prairie Garden has allowed me to observe the growth of plants in a way that was not possible in their natural sites far from the house.  I hope to continue increasing the size of the garden and to establish additional uncommon species to the mix.

Collecting Purple Coneflower Seed

The Purple Coneflower in my Coneflower Management Area produced an abundance of seed this year. Conditions were perfect for seed collection. The remnants of a morning frost softened the seed head so I could grab the spear-like bracts without the sharp points breaking off beneath the skin of my palms. I later had to spread the seeds out to dry, but that was easier than tweezing a bunch of spines out of my hand.

There were enough plants growing in this small area that I was able to collect about a pint of seed. That’s not bad for a site that just a few years ago held only a few blooming plants and a lot of spindly basal leaf clusters.

The plants aren’t quite as easy to see now as they were when in bloom. I had to get right into the stand before I could see the seed heads sitting atop the tall stalks.

It only took a couple of minutes to strip the seed heads of their bounty. Half of the seed I collected was immediately scattered into some nearby openings. I’m hoping that five years from now this coneflower site will have blooming plants stretching another 150 feet along the base of the hillside.

I always sacrifice a few seeds to make sure that they developed properly. Every seed I checked was full and ready to grow.

I wasn’t the first seed collector to visit the coneflower patch. I scared a Goldfinch away from this seedhead as I walked into the clearing. I usually feel guilty about taking the bird’s food, but I never take it all. I left about half of the seed heads in place to be eaten or scattered naturally. If the finches come up to the house, I’ll be glad to replace the pilfered coneflower seed with some high quality sunflower seed.

Purple Coneflower Area

Last year I mentioned the expanding population of Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, in a small clearing I created beside one of the prairie openings. This year I counted almost three times as many blooming plants as last year. Purple Coneflower is fast becoming a dominant species on this site.

The coneflower area was not cleared completely. My goal was to allow in enough sunlight to stimulate the plants to flower, scatter seed and increase in number. I wanted to leave enough trees to maintain the moist conditions favored by the coneflowers. The result has been very much what I wanted. It’s quite a good feeling to have things turn out just as planned. It doesn’t happen often.

Enough sunlight has entered the clearing to allow Purple Coneflowers to expand into the fringes of the uncleared areas. Doing some additional clearing ought to allow the population to increase even more. This is one of only two sites at Blue Jay Barrens that contains Purple Coneflower. The other site only has about a dozen plants and doesn’t have the same potential to expand.

The more open areas slightly uphill of the site tend to stay too dry for the coneflowers to persist. Without some shade, the coneflowers area would begin to look like the grassy area in the background. Now that I have a healthy population of Purple Coneflower, I can begin collecting seed to introduce into other suitable areas of Blue Jay Barrens.

Basal leaves of young plants almost cover the ground in this area. They represent a healthy influx of new plants resulting from seed falling from the mature plants. It usually takes about two years of growth before the plants will flower. In this picture are young seedling plants with only one or two leaves, on up to plants making their first attempt at producing a flower stalk. The broad mix of ages indicates a healthy population that is rapidly increasing in size.

The orange spikes growing out of the central disk are bracts associated with the individual florets of the flower head. The curled stigmas of the floret can be seen down between the bracts. The bracts must act as a beacon to attract pollinators.

This colorful guy perfectly compliments the pastels of the petals. He looks as though he was designed to sit on this flower. I wonder if he’s the one that chewed all those holes.

Those legs look slightly out of proportion to the body. I think I’ve taken pictures of a smaller version of this guy earlier this year. My references only deal with adult specimens so I may never know what species this is.

Purple Coneflower

The Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, was the first plant I came across at Blue Jay Barrens that I knew belonged to the prairie.

This is where I saw it. From here I could see the bright lavender rays waving on a long stalk just to the right of that center cedar. That was twenty years ago and my field notes indicate about a dozen plants were growing in this area.

That particular plant is gone, but there are now many more. The rays show signs of predation. In a healthy ecosystem, something is always eating something else. I’d be worried if I saw plants that weren’t being chewed on.

I found quite a few plants growing in the shade. Without sunlight, the coneflower survives as a few basal leaves and rarely flowers.

This is one of those areas that contained many dozens of plants that didn’t flower. Five years ago I cut enough cedars to allow about 50% sunlight to reach the ground. The number of blooming plants increases each year.

I’m still evaluating this site. There are a lot of woody plants trying to grow here that could compete with the coneflowers. I’ll probably mow this area in the winter and remove a couple more cedars.

This is the part of the Purple Coneflowers that I most enjoy. This central disk looks like a fiber optics display.

When the plant is through and the seeds have been dropped, you are left with the cone. This was left from last season.