PRAIRIE GRASSES + FORBS

SECTION 05 PLANT GALLERY

PRAIRIE GRASSES + FORBS

Grasses and wildflowers (forbs) were the predominate groundcover for the state of Iowa pre-European settlement. They are deep-rooted plants that helped build our world-renowned topsoil. Listed below are a few species of both grasses and wildflowers that you may want to consider in your plantings. Most are less than 3 feet tall. Several that are taller are listed because of their visual appeal. Use these plants in large areas adjacent to mowed turf or in front of windbreaks.

RECOMMENDED PRAIRIE PLANTS

GRASSES

• Little Bluestem/Schizachyrium scoparium • Prairie Dropseed/Sporobolus heterolepis • Sideoats Gramma/Bouteloua curtipendula • Junegrass/Koeleria macrantha • Sedges for wet soils/Carex species

WILDFLOWERS (FORBS)

• Nodding Pink Onion/Allium cernuum • Butterflyweed/Asclepias tuberosa • Smooth Aster/Aster laevis • Canada Milk Vetch/Astragalus canadensis • Lanceleaf Coreopsis/Coreopsis lanceolata • White Prairie Clover/Dalea candida • Purple Prairie Clover/Dalea purpurea • Shootingstar/Dodecatheon meadia • Purple Coneflower/Echinacea purpurea • Pale Purple Coneflower/Echinacea pallida • Yellow Coneflower/Ratibida pinnata • Prairie Blazingstar/Liatris pycnostachya • Wild Quinine/Parthenium integrifolium • Smooth Penstemon/Penstemon digitalis • Orange Coneflower/Rudbeckia fulgida • Black Eyed Susan/Rudbeckia hirta • Ohio Spiderwort/Tradescantia ohiensis • Golden Alexanders/Zizia aurea