Urban Leadplant Attracts Urban Pollinators

Fine textured leadplant shares a long planter on a city street with courser textured leaves of compass plant and even finer textured prairie dropseed grass.  Even in this downtown business district, the native prairie plants attract pollinators.  This bumblebee is filling the pollen sacs on its legs with the leadplant pollen which is much more orange colored than the usual yellow pollen of most plants.

Summer at the Lake House Prairie, Year Four

 The lake house garden in July of 2013, when the plants have filled out, meshed together, but diagonal lines and repeats of colors are still very much evident.  The designed shapes will soften as plants interseed, or it can be maintained with some thinning out and transplanting, as desired.  In general, the whites are expressed first, then various purples and yellows come into to and go out of flower as the summer goes on.  Always, the prairie dock serves as a bold structural element with its huge bright green leaves and tall thing flower stalks.

Summer Mix

Mondarda (also called beebalm) and yellow coneflower mix in mid August

Lead Plant

Lead Plant

Amorpha canadense

2' to 3' tall
Fine blue foliage

Purple blue flower stalks
Interesting seed pods into winter

Some winters, stems overwinter so the new growth may be high on the stem.  If this is not desired, cut the stalks back to a few inches from the ground in winter.

Two Oaks and Beebalm Meadow

Bee balm

Monarda fistulosa

2' tall

fragrant foliage

also called wild bergamot, Oswego tea

square stem shows membership in mint family

attracts many pollinators including butterflies

Ironweed

Ironweed

Vernonia fasciculata
4' to 5' tall

Purple Coneflower

Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea

3' tall

Ironweed

Ironweed

Veronia fasciculata

4 feet tall

Late July

Gayfeather

Gayfeather

Liatris pychnostachya

24" tall with long bloom period in July

Bee Balm

Bee Balm

Oswego Tea

Monarda fisulosa

30"

July

Pale Purple Coneflower

Pale Purple Coneflower

Echinacea pallida

Early July

24" high

Basal rosette of leaves with no leaves on flower stalks

Purple Prairie Clover

Purple Prairie Clover

with bumble bee and tiny solitary bee.