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! |