6. Integrate key species. When you look at nearby wild landscapes, what native plant species dominate? This photo shows a border of native bunch grasses lending early-fall color to the formal landscape around a Wyoming museum. Even though much of the landscape is lawn, the designer used native limestone rocks and key species of trees, shrubs, grasses and perennial wildflowers in the borders to evoke surrounding wild landscapes. The trees we see include ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum). The grasses and shrubs visible are little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa).In a forest or woodland, what is the overstory? Coniferous trees? If so, which ones? Deciduous trees? Of those, see which are the dominant kinds. Is there a mix of several species, or one kind? What is the understory? Also see what vines are growing between the understory and overstory, and if there are ground cover species.In a grassland or meadow, what are the dominant grasses? Wildflowers? Are there shrubs, and if so, which species?“Key species” also refers to natives that have crucial relationships with pollinators, songbirds o...
Prairie Junegrass(Koeleria macrantha)Native from Ontario to Pennsylvania and Ohio south to Louisiana and all points westPrairie junegrass is native to grasslands and open woodland meadows. It is cold-, heat- and very drought-tolerant. It produces highly ornamental silvery seed heads in early summer, tying in with its common name. Water requirement: Medium to dry soilLight requirement: Full sunMature size: 2 feet tall and wide
Generally, the best time to sow seeds of native cool-season grasses is late fall, after prolonged cold weather, and late winter to very early spring. For containerized plants, look to digging them in anytime in fall or spring. Canada Wildrye(Elymus canadensis)Native to Canada and the U.S., except from Louisiana to Georgia and FloridaCanada wildrye is a bunch grass that prefers moist sites and can live in sandy spots. It grows quickly in spring and seeds vigorously, producing highly ornamental seed heads, as most ryes tend to do, in midsummer. After a few years this grass will give way to other grasses and flowers, but it’s a great option to establish a site and get a weed-competing cover on the ground quickly in spring with a spring seeding. Water requirement: Medium wet to dry soilLight requirement: Full to partial sunMature size: 4 to 5 feet tall and 1 foot to 3 feet wide
5. Sea Thrift (Armeria maritima)Native to Europe and North AmericaA whimsical ground cover when in bloom, this coastal native sends up tiny pink or white pompom flowers from clumping grass-like mounds. The foliage clumps grow from 4 to 12 inches tall, with flower stems extending higher. Native to sea coasts from Europe to North America, sea thrift grows best in well-draining soil with low water. Plant it between flagstones or other pavers as an accent ground cover rather than as the main filler.Great for: Mixing with other low-growing ground covers; low-water and maritime gardens — tolerates wind and salt sprayWhere it will grow: Hardy to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 31.7 degrees Celsius (zones 4 to 8)Water requirement: LowLight requirement: Full sun
8. ‘Oso Easy Hot Paprika’: An easy-care ground cover rose with great heat tolerance. The electric-pink-orange blooms of this rose have an almost highlighter quality, nearly glowing amid the glossy medium-green foliage. Bred as a ground-cover rose, the plants stay low, growing in mounds from 1 to 2 feet tall and twice as wide. The plant is exceptional for both its cold tolerance (can grow down to Zone 3) and heat tolerance (blooms resist fading in hot climates).Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 34.4 degrees Celsius (zones 3 to 9)Water requirement: ModerateLight requirement: Full sunMature size: 1 to 2 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wideA note about ordering roses: Roses ordered now through nurseries or directly from breeders will ship between January and mid-May, depending on the correct planting time for your area. Generally, new introductions sell out early, so it’s best to order sooner rather than later if you’re interested in any of the new varieties. Roses will arrive bare-root.MoreWhat Kind of Roses Should You Grow?Planting Time! How to Order From the Garden CatalogsLearn more about growing flowers where you live
Dinstinguishing traits. This is one of the latest blazing stars to bloom and is a favorite of butterflies, bees and other long-tongued pollinators. It flowers from top to bottom and will develop several spikes as the years go on (and as the underground plant stem, called a corm, gets bigger). Although the bloom time is relatively short, a week or two, you can extend the liatris season by planting other species, especially meadow blazing star, which looks very similar but whose native range is in the northern Plains and Midwest. How to use it. With such a small footprint and a good vertical presence, tall blazing star can fit almost anywhere. It’s striking en masse and in groups but can get lost among taller perennial flowers that bloom at the same time in early fall, like goldenrod (Solidago spp) or some sunflowers (Helianthus spp). It tends to attract more butterflies if planted out in the open. (Maybe the insects find it a safer place to perch, away from any predators, like mantids or spiders.)Planting notes. Some places sell this liatris when it’s dormant, which means there’s just the corm. Plant it like a bulb, about as deep as the corm is wide. Dry soil is best — clay to sand ...
Distinguishing traits. Lead plant could grow on your driveway. Well, no it couldn’t, but once established it is truly drought tolerant — it even likes rocky soils but busts through clay like no one’s business. The purple blooms give orange pollen to a myriad of pollinating insects, and the autumn seeds are valuable to birds and other wildlife. It’s a host plant for at least one sulphur butterfly species and several moth species, among lots of other insects that make great meals for birds feeding their young in their early-summer nests.Photo by Joshua Mayer
Possible for dry creek
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