Spotlight on: Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa)

The Eastern Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa) is an under-appreciated native plant that has great landscape potential.  One of the few native cacti found here in the Midwest, it’s a very low-growing plant with amazing yellow flowers up to 4″ across.  The edible, pear-shaped fruit is red when ripe.  In fact, Native American Indians ate [...]

What If I Can’t Burn?

On page 65 of our current catalog we advise in boldface type, “Burning is the single most important management practice for native plantings.” Wayne R. Pauly, in his booklet How to Manage Small Prairie Fires, succinctly summarizes the benefits of regular burning:
“Fire rejuvenates a prairie; more plants flower, produce seed, grow taller and are generally [...]

Feed the Bees Please!

(Great Blue Lobelia)
It’s not necessary to have an entire prairie to offer forage for bees.  A dozen or so species in an area as small as 100 square feet can make a difference.  Here at PMN (Prairie Moon Nursery) we have plenty of native plants for seed production that provide excellent forage [...]

Seed Stratifying: one method

There are many different methods to stratifying seeds.  Here is what works well for me for the seeds we grow at Prairie Moon:
First, I have my dry sterile sand, water, plastic bag and a label:
I pour some sand into the bag and pour a little bit of water – just enough to barely moisten the [...]

Higher Seeding Rates for Frost Seeding?

A customer recently asked:
“I want to get your opinion on planting techniques:  The intent is to drill this seed in the spring.  But there is always the possibility that we won’t be ready to plant by then, which might lead us to doing a frost seeding next fall/winter.  Personally, frost seeding appeals to me because [...]

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