Natural Shore Technologies, Inc. Newsletter July 2013
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Native Plant of the Month
Prairie Blazing Star
Liatris pycnostachya
 
Exposure: Sun or Partial Shade
Blooms: July-September
Bloom Color: Purple
Height: 2-5 ft
Moisture: Wet/Moist

Description:
The tallest of the Blazing Stars, this is a showy, robust plant with hairy, stout stems. Small Purple disk florets are densely arranged on a long spike which is 1/2 of the plant's height. Grows best in full sun but will handle part sun and tolerates heavy soils. Found in low, moist prairies, meadows, marshes, and lake edges. Flowers visited by butterflies for nectar. Pollination is by bees and butterflies. Other common names are Thick-Spike Blazing Star, This-Spike Gayfeather, and Tall Blazing Star. 
Invasive Species of the Month
Butter and Eggs
Linaria vulgaris
 Exposure: Sun or Partial Shade
Blooms: July-September
Bloom Color: Yellow and Orange
Height: 1-2 ft
 
Description:
An aggressive perennial weed from the Snapdragon family that spreads from rhizomes and root fragments. It is native to Europe and Asia and found in dense clumps. Leaves are smooth, narrow, and alternately attached to the stem. Management strategies include continual pulling and select herbicide treatments.
 Pollinator of the Month

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Papilio eurymedon

Range: Eastern United States, North Dakota down to Texas

Adult:  

Wings are yellow with black stripes on both sides and small blue dots on hindwings.

Females can be black with orange and white marks on underside of hindwings.

Caterpillar: 

Green with eyespots with a humped back. The caterpillar eats cottonwoods, ashes, willows, and birches. 

 

Pollination: Swallowtails pollinate a variety of native species while feeding on nectar but have been known to prefer red or pink flowers including Joe Pye Weed, Milkweed, and Coneflowers.
Garden Club Tours!

 

Natural Shore Technologies is now hosting FREE field trips for Garden Clubs with 10 or more members. Come join our Native Plant Specialist Shirley Mah Kooyman for a 1 hour lecture and tour of our retail nursery in Maple Plain! Your club will get an up close experience learning more about Minnesota Natives! 

Choose from one of the following lectures:

  1. Minnesota's Native Plants: A Sampling for Your Garden
  2. Landscaping with Native Plants
  3. Top 30 Native Plants for your Garden

 

Call or email Shirley for more information at 763-464-8323 or at [email protected]
Choosing the Right Plants for your Restoration

You're interested in designing and planting a native plant restoration? Great! Let's get started with the plant list. Be it a raingarden, shoreline, prairie, or native garden, there are specific plants that will do the best in different conditions.  Minnesota native plants grow in a variety of different soil, light, and moisture conditions; giving you multiple options for any site. But then, where do you begin? First, ask yourself a few questions to determine the plants that will do the best on your site. How much sun shines in that area throughout the day? How moist is the soil and how well does it drain water? Below are plant lists for probable site conditions based on those questions:

 

If you have a wet area- Blue Flag Iris (Blue, Medium), Marsh Marigold (Yellow, Short) Cardinal Flower (Red, Tall), Turtlehead (Cream, Medium), Swamp Milkweed (Pink, Tall),  Joe-Pye weed (Purple, Tall), Boneset (White, Medium), Prairie Blazing Star (Purple, Tall) , Obedient Plant (Pink, Medium) Grey Headed Coneflower (Yellow, Medium), Canada Blue Joint (Tall), Bottle Brush Grass (Medium)

 

If you have a shady area- Culver's root (White, Tall), Columbine (Red, Medium), Large leaf aster (White, Medium), Wild Geranium (Pink, Medium), Smooth Blue Aster (Blue, Medium), Wild Ginger (Red, Short), Bottle Gentian (Blue, Short), Foxglove Beardtongue (White, Medium),  Zigzag Goldenrod (Yellow, Short), Sprengel's Sedge (Short)

 

If you have a sunny, dry- Butterfly Milkweed (Orange, Medium), Hoary Vervain (Purple, Medium), Wild Lupine (Blue/Purple, Medium), Black-eyed Susan (Yellow, Medium),  Anise Hyssop (Purple, Medium), Prairie Smoke (Pink/Red, short), Horsemint (White, Medium), Blue Grama (Short),. Indian Grass (Tall)

   

You'll notice the plants in these lists have bloom colors and heights denoted as well. Different plant heights add "layers" to your restoration, making it more diverse and interesting.  An assortment of color  also adds beauty to your restoration! The timing each flower blooms is also significant if you want beautiful flowers during the summer and into the fall. 

 

If you have any questions about what native plants to use in your restoration, give us a call or visit our website at naturalshore.com for more plant information. You can find all of these plants and more at our retail and wholesale nursery with over 80 different Minnesota native plant species!
Retail Nursery Hours

 Come in for our Retail Nursery's Summer Blast!

 

Friday June 28th 12-6 pm

Saturday June 29th 9am- 4pm

 

Friday July 19th 12-6pm

Saturday July 20th 9am-4pm

 

5300 Hw 12, Maple Plain
Employee Profile: Betsy Bumblebee

Betsy has been with us at the greenhouse for a few months now, starting a little late this spring due hibernating through random blizzards in May. Hired by a private contracting company called The Colony, her boss Queenie sends Betsy and her sisters to the greenhouse everyday, often much earlier in the morning than our human workers. Betsy plays a crucial role for our business; pollinating our native plants!  Staying busy all summer, Betsy has engineered a revolutionary tactic to collect pollen called buzz pollination. She buzzes on a flower which shakes lose the pollen so she can collect it in her basket (tiny hair on her legs) which she takes back to The Colony. Every year we have new plants thanks to Betsy! 
 
FREE Swamp Milkweed Plant
With any purchase at our Retail Nursery
612-703-7581          
Coupon valid  at our retail nursery only. Retail location is 5300 Hwy 12 in Maple Plain.
Present coupon at time of purchase.  
Cannot be combined with other offers. Limit One Per Customer. Offer Expires: July , 31st 2013,  Natural Shore Technologies 2012.