Urban Prairie Garden in June - Second Year

 In Mineral Point, Wisconsin, at the corner of the two busiest retail streets, there is a building that was formerly a Mobil gasoline station and recently, a mechanic's garage.  A local entrepreneur cleaned up and added on to the building and replaced the pavement out front with gardens.  PlannedScapes was hired to design and install this prairie and perennial garden.

About 80% of the plants in this highly visible urban garden are prairie plants, but since they do not kick into high bloom until July, a couple reliable non-native perennials keep things colorful during the month of June.  Happy Returns daylily takes turns edging the street side and the internal sidewalk with prairie dropseed grass, and a shrub rose adds a hot contrast to the soft yellow of the daylily. The prairie coreopsis and spiderwort are a couple of prairie plants that are showing some color.  About the time these plants take a rest from flowering, the leadplant and purple and pale purple coneflowers and swamp milkweed and mountain mint and rattlesnake master and other early summer flowering prairie plants will be ready for their show, followed by the taller yellow coneflowers, prairie dock, and sky blue asters.