Prairie Style Gardens

Prairie gardens should be sited in full sun.

Though most native midwestern prairie land has been converted for other uses over the past century, there has recently been a renewed interest in their restoration.  Prairie gardens are found growing naturally in areas that receive limited rainfall and have hot summers and cold winters.  If you would like to create a traditional prairie garden, choose a flat or gently rolling plot of land that is out in the open in full sun.  Enrich the soil with generous amounts of organic matter but be sure it drains freely.  Copious amounts of information on native prairie gardening can be found on the internet, so be sure you do your research before you begin.

 

If you don’t have enough land to create a traditional prairie garden, you can group prairie type plants together in your garden.  Be sure to include native grasses and wildflowers such as Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium), Blue Indian Grass (Sorghastrum), Coneflowers (Rudbeckia and Echinacea), False Sunflower (Heliopsis), and Blue False Indigo (Baptisia). 

A few prairie garden plants to consider...

Sorghastrum n. 'Sioux Blue' (Blue Indian Grass)	Echinacea p. 'Magnus' (Purple Coneflower)	Baptisia australis (Blue False Indigo)

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