Native Garden

A          Serviceberry                            Amelanchier x grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’
B          Common Milkweed                Asclepias syriaca
C          Compass Plant                        Silphium laciniatum
D          Prairie Dropseed                     Sporobolus heterolepis
E          Rattlesnake Master                Eryngium yuccifolium
F          New England Aster                 Symphyotrichum Novae-Angliae
G         Arrowwood Viburnum            Viburnum rafinesquianum
H         Blue Grama                             Bouteloua gracilis
I           June Grass                               Koeleria macrantha
J           Cup Plant                                Silphium perfoliatum
K          Wild Onion-nodding/prairie   Allium cernuum/stellatum
L          Blanketflower                         Gaillardia aristata
M         Lance-leaved Tickseed            Coreopsis lanceolata
N         Whorled Milkweed                 Asclepias verticillata
O         Big Bluestem Grass                 Andropogon gerardii
P          Side-oats Grama                     Bouteloua curtipendula
Q         Little Bluestem Grass              Schizachyrium scoparium
R          New England Aster                 Symphyotrichum Novae-Angliae ‘Purple Dome’
S          Pale Purple Coneflower          Echinacea pallida
T          Purple Prairie Clover               Dalea purpurea
U         Dwarf Bush Honeysuckle        Diervilla lonicera
V          Joe Pye Weed                         Eutrochium maculatum
W        Meadow Phlox                        Phlox maculata
X          Wild Bergamot                        Monarda fistulosa
Y          Purple Coneflower                  Echinacea purpurea
Z          Rough Blazing Star                  Liatris aspera
ZZ        Meadow Blazing Star              Liatris ligulistylis
AA       Ninebark                                 Physocarpus Opulifolius ‘Fireside’
BB        Blue Indigo                              Baptisia australis
CC        Red-osier Dogwood                Cornus stolonifera
DD       Smooth Blue Aster                  Symphyotrichum laeve
EE        Anise Hyssop                           Agastache foeniculum
FF        Purple Love Grass                   Eragrostis spectabilis
GG       Mexican Hat                            Ratibida columnifera
HH       Stiff Goldenrod                       Solidago rigida
JJ         Prairie Smoke                          Geum triflorum
KK        Wild Strawberries                   Fragaria virginiana
LL         Wild Geranium                       Geranium maculatum
MM     Pale Indian Plantain                Arnoglossum atriplicifolium
NN       Snowberry                              Symphoricarpos albus

A native plant species is one that occurs naturally in a particular region, ecosystem and/or habitat and was present prior to European settlement.

A non-native plant is one that was introduced by humans to a location outside of its normal range, also referred to as introduced, alien or exotic.

This Native Garden has been designed using primarily Minnesota native plants to promote their use in home gardens. The reasons for using native plants are many. Native plants thrive in the regions where they have evolved meaning they are adapted to the climate, rainfall, and soil conditions. When they are planted in the proper site, no special soil, additional water, pesticides or fertilizers are needed. Once established they are very drought resistant. The garden here at the Scott County Fairground and Extension Office is in a prairie, so it receives full sun and drying winds. That guided the choice of plants used here. Many of the plants were used by early inhabitants of Minnesota for medicinal or religious purposes. The Rattlesnake Master plant gets its common name from its former use as a treatment for rattlesnake bites. Where the leaves of the Cup plant meet the stem, it forms little cups where dew and rainwater collect which offers a drink to birds and butterflies that gather there. According to author Lynn Steiner, the large leaves of the Compass plant orient themselves horizontally in a north-south direction to avoid the hot rays of the midday sun.

Native plants have coevolved over thousands of years with the pollinators and other beneficial insects present in a place. They have interdependent relationships with each other. The plants provide food, nesting materials and habitat, and the insects pollinate the plants to ensure their survival. Asters, Anise Hyssop, Coneflowers and Blazing Star plants are magnets for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. If the stalks are left standing through the winter, they provide cover and seeds for wildlife.

Native plants are also host plants to many species of butterflies and moths. Their caterpillars that feed on the plants are needed by birds, as it is estimated that a single pair of breeding chickadees must find 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars to rear one clutch of young, according to Doug Tallamy, a professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware. Stiff Goldenrod is a larval host plant to 88 different caterpillar species. A well-known relationship exists between milkweed plants and the Monarch butterfly. It cannot exist without milkweeds. In addition to the Common Milkweed, Whorled Milkweed is also planted in this native garden. Other milkweed varieties are included in the other gardens here.

The use of native plants can replace invasive species that cause environmental and economic damage to our landscape. They are able to capture and store carbon in the soil, fix nitrogen in the soil to enrich it, and help keep our water clean. Some native grasses and plants have roots as long as six to fourteen feet which help to bring water deeper into the soil and prevent erosion. (See MN DNR poster under resources) Several different varieties of grasses have been planted in this garden. Some shrubs and a small Serviceberry tree are included as they provide shelter and food for wildlife.

Many native plants have been bred for certain qualities, such as flower or foliage color, more compact size, fragrance or a double or frilly-type of bloom. Nativars is a term used for a cultivar of a native species. The use of “straight species” of native plants (instead of nativars) is preferred since the relationships that have evolved between plants and pollinators is interrupted when some characteristics are changed. For example, a double bloom can make it difficult for a pollinator to access the flower and plant breeding sometimes changes the amount of nectar and pollen available. However, nativars can sometimes serve a purpose for a gardener who is just getting started using native plants, or perhaps has a small garden. In this garden, we have used three nativars. The Serviceberry ‘Autumn Brilliance’, and the Ninebark ‘Fireside’
shrub are native plants that were bred for more vibrant color and smaller size. The New England Aster ‘Purple Dome’ is more compact than and doesn’t reseed as much as the straight species New England Aster. The garden also has a straight species New England Aster so you’ll be able to see the difference in the two.

To learn more about landscaping using native plants, see the following resources:

Links to all the Scott County Gardens