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Typically, I reserve this space for writing about trees or shrubs. On this occasion however, I am devoting the space to a group of companion plants – a few wildflowers and some grasses. You might ask: “How in the world does this fit with TCAs and urban forestry?” The answer is quite simple…

Say “urban forestry” and the average person does think trees. It’s probably that word “forestry” that does it, but unlike traditional forestry – urban forestry deals with a broad spectrum of social and forestry health issues in our urban environments.

Forestry health issues – how many sick maples are lining our streets? How many declining ash trees are in our urban environment? Are all of these =

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sorry-looking, declining trees the result of deep planting, construction damage, or poor site selection? Well, to be honest a good number of them are the result of these mistakes, but many of them

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might be helped with a friendly under-planting (i.e. not Kentucky blue grass).

So, to the rescue, please welcome native plants. For those doubters out there – do a Google search of “Chicago Millennium Park” and take a look at the Lurie Gardens. The first week of November I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago and I found some time to head downtown. I was impressed, to say the least, with a very clean city, tree plantings, and beautiful green spaces. =

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The Lurie garden in Chicago is of a scale that most of us will never be in-

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volved with. The concept however, will work nicely on a smaller scale. Even if a

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tree isn’t part of the plan, the greening of the urban environment still falls into the realm of urban forestry.

Where to start and what to include in this discussion? It is tough to decide,

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but let’s focus on the drought tolerant prairie plants that provide some color and in-

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terest in expanses that to the untrained eyes are just another field. Throughout the

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year a prairie can provide hours of entertainment, for some of us. During the winter months I refer often to Wildflowers and Winter Weeds by Lauren Brown. To increase the entertainment value during the warmer months, there are a couple of other companions: Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb and Grasses: An Identification Guide by Lauren Brown. And, that is a good place to start – with a few of the grasses…

Grasses: A couple of my favorite grasses are in the Bouteloua family. Sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) and blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) are drought

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tolerant, warm season grasses that provide good interest right into the winter months. The inflorescences and seed heads on the members of the Bouteloua family are interesting to say the least. The name sideoats grama describes the seed head perfectly – the seed literally hangs from the side of the stalk (photo page 15). Blue grama is a very interesting plant – the common name is a bit misleading.

After reading several descriptions of blue grama, I am not sure where the “blue” part of the name originated. However, the eyelash-like seed structure is phenomenal. Both of these grasses will establish well, require little if any attention and are being investigated as low maintenance turf possibilities.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the blue grasses. Big blue stem or turkey claw (Andropogon gerardii) and of course little blue stem (Andropogon scoparius or more commonly Schizachyrium scoparium). Again, the word ‘blue’ in the name is a little misleading, since the blue color tones are only present early in the growing season. However, where these two really shine is late summer into winter when the stems are colored wine red and tan. This stem color persists most of the

!! B winter providing good contrast with the winter surroundings. There are so many grasses that are worthy of mention such as: three-awned beach grass, porcupine grass, purple-love grass, panicum grasses and the list could go onâ&#x20AC;Ś But, I am going to wrap up this section with Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans). Indian grass rivals big blue stem in height - 48-90 inches tall - and has a very nice golden colored inflorescence to carry into the winter.

Milkweeds: What one person calls a weed is another personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wildflower.

In my case that would be the Asclepias family â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the milkweeds. Phenomenal, drought tolerant plants with good flower qualities such as: flowers that last 7-8 days and a flowering season that can extend from June into August. By choosing several family members one can bring several colors and leaf textures to a garden, not to mention Monarch butterflies. For instance, butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), a non latex producing milkweed (no milky sap), brings colors ranging from red to yellow all by itself. Swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) produces flower colors in the pale pink to dark pink range, almost red. And, one should not rule out common milkweed (A. syriaca) with its pinkish flower color tones and large stature. There are several members of this family that are native to Minnesota with the more common species listed above.

Yarrows: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is one of many plants discovered by the nursery industry and numerous colorful varieties have been propagated. This is another drought tolerant plant that can be simply forgotten in the garden and it will perform beautifully. There was a time when architects would head for the roadside ditches in the autumn to collect the tops of yarrow plants to be used as trees in architectural models.

Blazing Stars: There are several Liatris species that thrive under prairie conditions and they are available from local nurseries. Blazing stars are similar in many regard to the milkweeds in the sense that they can fill multiple niches in a landscape. For instance, rough (tall) blazing star (Liatris aspera) is noted to prefer dry to average soils while prairie blazing star (L. pycnostachya) prefers average to wet soil conditions. The blazing stars provide a nice spike of purple and can be found blooming August into September.

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!! B Gentians: Possibly, I was paying attention this year or I just happened into the right places at the right times. Most likely the second case – sometimes you get lucky enough to find a neat plant to add to your repertoire. For me this year, it happened to be two members of the gentian family. Downy gentian (Gentiana puberulenta) is a prairie native in Minnesota and closed or bottle gentian (G. andrewsii) prefers woodlands (photo page 15). Both species have blue flowers and both bloom in September.

Monardas: Another group of my favorites are those with some fragrance to the foliage (mint family). Consider giant purple hyssop (Agastache scrophulariaefolia) or the monardas also known as bergamots or bee balm. There is a good deal of pleasure to be found in crushing the leaves of these mint family members.

Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) and horsemint (M. punctata) (photo page 15) are fairly common dry site prairie plants found in Minnesota. Both have a strong, minty fragrance when brushed or crushed.

Evening primroses: Oenothera biennis is Minnesota’s common evening primrose. While the flower is pretty, the plant itself becomes rather leggy and not so attractive as the season progresses. Its strong point is that it flowers for an extended period of time. The primrose that is more attractive, typically shorter, and generally available in the nursery centers is Missouri primrose or Ozark sundrop (Oenothera missouriensis) which may also be labeled as a sub-species ‘macrocarpa’ (macrocarpa = big fruit).

Goldenrods: Another family that truly needs to be mentioned, goldenrods are a Minnesota prairie staple. There are prairie goldenrods: Stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida), Canada goldenrod (S. canadensis), gray goldenrod (S. nemoralis) and in the woodlands: zig-zag goldenrod (S. flexicaulis). This is a short list of golden#

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rod family members common in Minnesota.

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Where to stop: There are so many more wonderful prairie flowers that could be mentioned:

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Aliums (onions), Asters, Artemesia (Sages), Echinacea, Helianthus (sunflowers),

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Ratibidas (coneflowers), Rudbeckias, Silphiums (Cup plant, Compass plant), and

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on and on.

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Don’t worry, if you enjoyed this diversion from the usual tree talk (I surely did) – it’ll happen again someday. It is inevitable, since I value my time with the wildflowers of the Mid-west as much as my time in the woods.

!! B Most of the flowers and grasses mentioned above are those found on well drained soils, similar to soils found in our urban environments. But, consider the benefits that these plants could bring to an urban tree planting site: replace the usual turf, beautify the site, different seasonal interests and textures. And, this doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even mention the changes to the trees environment that native prairie plants would bring such as: changes to the soil, cooling shade to the root system, less root space competition as compared to Kentucky blue grass and the list could go on.

Environmental niches are important to consider when selecting trees and if we look to the wild we can often find companion plants to bring to our landscape that will help trees feel right at home and possibly make the site healthier for all involved.

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For Color Photos - Look for this issue of the newsletter on the TCA website.

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