Plant by Habitat: Tall Grass Prairie

If you're interested in finding plants which grow naturally together, you've come to the right place. So far, we've touched on Oak Savannas and Pine Barrens; this post will cover plants you can find commercially available if you're interested in planting a prairie.

You too can grow a prairie. Here's a sample of ours including Purple Coneflower, Black Eyed Susan, and Blue Lupine

Many retailers carry prairie mixes of native seed. These mixes are often tailored to some specific growing conditions. So make sure you've thought about where you intend lay the seed down. Here are some questions to consider: Is it dry or wet? Is it clay? How much sun or shade does the site receive? The mixes often also have themes like "best for butterflies" or "good for birds." This will impact the content of the mix. Most retailers provide details about the content of each mix detailing an expected percentage of seed per plant.

One quick aside, if the site isn't getting a good amount of sun, prairie plants probably aren't the best choice, many depend on a lot of sun, after all it is the prairie.

As such, I won't be focusing on trees this time, instead this post will focus in on some good varieties of plants you may wish to purchase for your prairie.

Tall Plants: The prairie was home to many plants as tall or taller than an adult. If you are interested in these kinds of plants, that's great, but they certainly aren't for everyone. They can make a really nice background for other prairie plants.

Big Blue Stem is an attractive, tall prairie grass which can readily grow to 7 feet. We have found that birds really enjoy it in the winter including: Dark Eyed Juncos, American Tree Sparrows, and Pine Siskins. During the summer, it's not unusual for us to find American Toads on the ground at the base of the plant which can be remarkably dense. Compass Plant is another attractive native which can grow to be remarkably tall. This isn't one we've attempted to grow ourselves, but we've seen the showy yellow flowers grown locally.

Purple Coneflower is also very easy to grow and it attracts both birds and butterflies.

Less Tall Plants: Other prairie plants may grow more lowly, but be aware that how tall they grow in year one may not represent how tall they will grow in year two. Our Purple Coneflowers, Cardinal Flowers, and Little Blue Stem have gotten remarkably tall, all easily exceeding 3 feet.

Little Blue Stem is an easy to find plant which will grow as a bunch grass. It's remarkably easy to grow and the Dark Eyed Juncos seem to particularly enjoy it in the winter and early spring. Cardinal Flower has little red flag-like flowers which attract Ruby Throated Hummingbirds. It flowers a little later than some of the other wildflowers in our garden, adding some flavor to the garden a little later in the summer. This plant has actually done a little better when it's able to get some shade, our row that is in full sun seems to struggle a little more than a nearby row which gets a few more hours of shade each day.

Legumes are handy plants to include in your planting. Legumes help put nitrogen back into the soil which is beneficial for other plants.

False Indigo is a native legume which can grow into a big bush-like plant. It can be found with white or purple flowers which open earlier than some other plants you may include in your prairie such as Conefloewr or Black Eyed Susan. Blue Lupine is another native legume. Its blue flowers should appear in May ahead of the other native wildflowers. This plant is host to the Blue Karner Butterfly which is endangered. I've found that rabbits find both of these plants delicious so you may want to include some fencing to protect them as they grow.

And one more important but miscellaneous plant...

Butterfly Milkweed is a must have prairie plant for those who love the Monarch Butterfly. Its orange flowers may appear a little later than some of the other wildflowers, but it's a pollinators' delight. It doesn't seem to grow as tall as our Coneflower, but it can pretty dense, almost bush-like. Monarch Butterflies are attracted to this plant both for the flowers as adults, but it is also host to Monarch caterpillars.

Butterfly Milkweed's orange flowers up close.

There are many other plants you want to consider. The ones above only represent a small sample of the plants you want to consider. A number of other plants like: Prairie Dropseed, Blazing Star, Joe Pye Weed, Ox Eye Sunflower, and Prairie Coneflower are pretty easy to find commercially. The combination of height and color is up to you, and the choices are almost limitless. Good luck and enjoy.