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#ChooseNativePlants Photo Contest – Win $100

WHY DO YOU CHOOSE NATIVE PLANTS?
Submit your photo for your chance to win $100 in web credit at www.prairiemoon.com.

Gardeners everywhere are learning more about the benefits of landscaping with native plants. When you choose native plants, each patch of habitat – large or small – becomes part of a collective effort to nurture and sustain the living landscape. With each small act, we do our part to clean water, reduce resource use, and provide food and habitat for pollinators, birds, and other animals.

We are asking for your help to inspire others to choose native plants! Our goal is to increase our collection of photos showcasing native plants in relationships with various subjects – Property, People + Pets, and Pollinators. We intend to use these photos in future publications for education and marketing. Submit your photo for your chance to win $100 in web credit at www.prairiemoon.com. Three winners will be chosen, one in each photo category.

1. Property – Photos that include native plants with hardscapes like: buildings, paths, benches, bird feeders, fountains, fences, etc.

2. People or Pets – Your loved ones among native plants

3. Pollinators – Insects or birds visiting your lovely native plants

Contest details: You can submit as many photos as you like! Submissions must…

1. tag us using the @ on your preferred social platform, and use the hashtag #choosenativeplants
2. include native plants
3. include a reason why you choose native plants
4. be taken by you
5. be high-resolution, digital format

Deadline to submit photos: September 15th, 2019
Finalists will be announced on October 1st.
Winners will be announced by October 15th and will be contacted through direct messaging on the social media platform they submitted from.

Instagram: @prairiemoonnursery

Facebook: @Prairie Moon Nursery

Twitter: @prairiemoonnrsy

If you do not have any social media accounts please send submissions to molly@prairiemoon.com

Whether it’s a few square feet or several acres,
Hope grows in every backyard.
#ChooseNativePlants

Earth Day 2019 – Healthy Lake Winona

Your unwavering support of native plants allows us to donate to worthwhile environmental groups every year. Earth Day offers another chance for your online purchase with us to make a difference.

HEALTHY LAKE WINONA is a citizen-led, community group dedicated to local lakeshore restoration to enhance water quality and ecological integrity. Their mission is to create a healthy, natural environment that supports a wide variety of native species and provides recreational opportunities for all ages. This small group of volunteers has already accomplished so much in its 2 years since inception, from removing invasive species to planting diversified native seed mixes, and native wetland plugs. Their commitment and organization is an extraordinary example of what can be done by a small group of dedicated people at the grassroots level. To keep future Healthy Lake Winona projects going, they need our support! 5% of profits from your online purchases April 17th through Earth Day 2019 will go directly to funding this environmental action group. Plus, we’ll throw in a free seed packet of Early Sunflower!

Earth Day 2019 - Free Seed Packet of Early Sunflower — In addition to donating 5% of our profits from your online sales to Healthy Lake Winona, you will also receive this free seed packet with every order through April 22nd!

As a business located in a small Minnesota community, as advocates for ecological integrity, and as promoters of environmental education, we are proud to support **Healthy Lake Winona** for Earth Day 2019. Support Healthy Lake Winona!
Shop PrairieMoon.com.

(No coupon code or mentioning of this donation or free seed packet is necessary when you make a purchase on prairiemoon.com, now through midnight, April 22nd. Look for your free Early Sunflower seed packet with your order, and stay tuned to our Facebook/Instagram pages for the Healthy Lake Winona donation amount!)

Free Partridge Pea Seed Packet

In an effort to contribute to the resurgence of native insect populations, Prairie Moon Nursery will include a free packet of Partridge Pea-Chamaecrista fasciculata seeds with every retail order. No need to mention this offer in your web, mail or phone order! Just look for the free packet to arrive with your order.

We love Partridge Pea for its cheery yellow blossom and attractive delicate foliage, but mostly because it benefits all kinds of wildlife. The flowers attract long-tongued bees, the seeds feed birds in the winter months, and the foliage is host to many beneficial insects. Unlike most native wildflowers, Partridge Pea is an annual and it offers a welcome source of color in any newly established planting. Thriving in sunny spaces, this low-growing plant prefers medium to dry soils. It blooms from July through September, and complements native wildflowers like Lead Plant, Blazing Stars, and Sky Blue Aster.

Pollinators are critical to human food crops yet our practices result in habitat loss, environmental toxins, and monocultural cropping that compound stressors on them, threatening their survival. To counter this trend and introduce more pollinator-friendly plants, please consider planting more North American native plants. Even in small urban pockets, these true wildflowers can provide personal satisfaction and education while helping to counter increasing threats to our native insect populations

The Circle of Life

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE: Native plants co-evolved with native insects and wildlife; they are deeply dependent on one another. Plants provide food and shelter to insects, birds, and other small animals, which, in turn support larger predators. Native plants are the fundamental stepping stones of a healthy eco-system.

Why Natives?

Introducing native plants to your garden or land can bring many seasons of delight and discovery. Their many merits, though, exceed their virtues of beauty, resilience and appeal to birds and pollinators.

Ecosystem Restoration: Tallgrass prairies are North America’s most threatened major ecosystem, with about 99% plowed up or paved over since the 1830s. By planting native species, you are restoring ecosystems and preserving countless species that might otherwise be lost forever.

Clean Air: Like forests, prairies and meadows sequester pollutants and carbon from the atmosphere. Even small plantings can help filter the air around your home, and large plantings can help to mitigate climate change.

Clean Water: Because of the deep root system of most native plants, they act both as a sponge and a filter. They help water soak down into the soil and filter out excess nutrients and pollutants, improving water quality.

Healthy Soil: The dance between native plants and animals created some of the most fertile soil on Earth, making the American Midwest the “Breadbasket to the World.” Native plants prevent soil erosion, create topsoil and build fertility.

Invasive Species: Outside of their native environments, some plants will aggressively out-compete others because they lack natural checks and balances like pests and predators. Some of our worst non-native invaders – Buckthorn, Honeysuckle, Dame’s Rocket – were first planted in gardens. By choosing natives, you can help prevent further habitat loss.

Resource Conservation: Once established, native plants can save you time and money because they require little or no irrigation, fertilizer, pruning or mowing.

Keep the Circle complete – plant natives!

Predators like foxes, snakes and birds of prey rely on small mammals, amphibians, birds and insects for their survival. All of these prey species are sustained by native plants.

90% of our native insects are specialists, meaning they require a native host plant in their life cycle.

Birds sustain their young almost exclusively on native insects, primarily caterpillars. It takes thousands of caterpillars and insects in order to raise and fledge a clutch of young birds.

Essential nutrient cycling is expedited by carrion beetles, fly larvae and other scavenging insects, enriching the soil.

A few square feet or several acres, we can all make a difference…

HOPE GROWS IN EVERY BACKYARD

BRING SUSTAINABILITY HOME: GO NATIVE!

Our Stand on Cultivars

The qualities of native plants that we love—their durability, beauty, biological value to other species—all are products of thousands of years of natural selection. The survivors define the species through their ability to adapt to conditions of their native habitat, co-evolving along with native wildlife.

Given the burgeoning popularity of native plants in recent years, it was inevitable that some plant breeders would begin to tweak aspects of their forms and functions. The large horticultural marketing gurus demand product uni-formity as they prepare their “industrialized-native” plants for the mega-chain garden centers. Propagating plants to select for specific characteristics, such as flower size, leaf color or compactness of growth, yields cultivated varieties, or cultivars, which can reliably reproduce the targeted variation but reduce the ecological value and genetic diversity of the original.

These cultivars, which usually sport descriptive and colorful names after their botanical name, are now widely available. Buyers who are attracted by their splashy features may fail to consider the unintended consequences of the variations. Changes in blossom size and color can confuse or deprive nectaring and pollinating insects. Many cultivars are sterile, depriving wildlife of winter seed sources. Vegetative propagation produces identical clones, depriving the plant community of the genetic diversity and flexibility that should be its strength. We encourage growers to stay away from these cultivars in favor of true native species.

In restoration work and native landscaping, we believe that alien species, naturalized species and cultivars should be avoided, particularly when they might contaminate native gene pools.

With the ever-widening array of true native plants available, why degrade the environment by displacing them with lower-value species?

Learn more about Nativars and Cultivars from the Wild Ones.

Our Stand On Cultivars Sheet 8.5 x 11.0″

The Long View

As I turned onto a red dirt road and crossed the narrow WPA-era bridge, a shaded road of washouts and coarse gravel opened into bright oak savanna. Upon entering the Wedel property a diversity of ecosystems greeted me; I immediately loved the place. Oak openings on both sides of the lane, leading to upland savanna on the left and saturated sedge meadow to the right. Beyond that a large shortgrass prairie, which I later found out had spurred the Wedels initial love for prairie.

No more than a minute after meeting, we were talking prairies. Their enthusiasm for native ecology was like caffeine and our conversation bounced between plant communities, birds, insects and natural history; but the primary subject was prairie management. At Prairie Moon we frequently emphasize that establishing a native plant community from seed is a long-term process, requiring 3-5 years. It takes rare dedication to see a long-term restoration project expand and thrive; especially over 30 years.

All members in the Wedel family show an impressive patience in successful prairie restoration while maintaining a strong sense of “land ethic,” both attributes that have grown and evolved with the farm. (Tom) “When we bought [the property], I knew nothing about prairies. Literally nothing. I grew up in Tennessee, and I was a woods person. I figured if somebody gave me 1,000 acres I could fix it with trees. I was going to turn this property into north woods. Then we discovered prairies and now, if it’s not Oak, forget it.”

Starting with Prairie Grasses
The Wedel’s connection to their land originates in 1972, when Tom and Eva purchased the 398-acre former dairy farm. They opted to rent out portions of the land for field-crop production. In 1986 the tenant stopped farming and a decision was made to put the cropped areas into CRP. Their county agency offered several lists of cover planting options, one being “warm-season grasses.” Tom inquired what these were and the county agent replied, “They’re prairie grasses”.

Tom, Andy and husband Adam, standing in a field of brome that will soon be over-seeded with native species.

The Wedel Family (L to R): Tom, his wife Eva, Andy and husband Adam, Davin’s husband David, and Davin. Taken in Tom’s “Retirement Gift,” which was seeded in 2008, after the site was cleared of invasive and weedy underbrush. At the time of photographing (mid-July) the planting showed large stands of Butterfly Weed, Wild Quinine, Hoary Vervain, Pale Purple Coneflower and Prairie Coreopsis.

Unexpected Returns
Along with the list of warm-season grasses, their county agent suggested that “to do it right” they should consider planting forbs (wildflowers) with the grasses. After seeding the initial site with grasses there was $214 left-over. Tom contacted (a young) Prairie Moon Nursery and ordered small amounts of a dozen or so species. This initial planting site (see photo above), has developed into a wonderful plant community. In addition to species introduced as seed, a growing number of plants have appeared that were likely in the soil seed-bank all along. (Davin) “Since we’ve been managing [the land] a lot of unexpected species have come up. After seeing [those species] we’ve had other remnants pop up that we didn’t know were there.” (Andy) “Most people are going to find that if they have some land that wasn’t completely abused for decades, if they start treating it well, burning it, and seeding in native plant [species], they may see some things coming up that they didn’t expect.”

In the Wedels’ case this rings true. Species unseen on the property, maybe in fifty or more years, have appeared and are recolonizing the landscape. For example, following the clearing of underbrush and two controlled burns, an oak savanna area has yielded two species that were never reported in their county.

Fostering the unexpected return of species once thought to have been plowed away forever requires a patient approach with realistic expectations. A rare model that the Wedels adopted early in the process. (Eva) “[We thought] maybe we should concentrate on what is here, instead of what we can make be here; and then we can supplement [species] later on.”

Increased biodiversity starts with native plants, and the resurgence of native species brings with it a greater understanding of ecological relationships. It also brings more responsibility to approach land management with open eyes, open ears and patience.

(Davin) “Over time, it became more and more clear that advice is conflicting, especially because there are many ecological priorities that will naturally conflict. What is good for the Henslow may be bad for the Bluebird. Burning is absolutely necessary, but can harm the insects. Cutting down the Crab Apples may be right for the Savanna but will remove valuable winter food for birds and animals. The list is endless, and gets more complex the more experience you gain. As a steward of the land I think it is important to develop your own perspective and vision, and have an overall decision-making approach that allows you to take a [long view] of things.”

Conflicting advice often touts the broad utilization of fast-acting herbicides. This decision is one that shouldn’t be taken lightly and given the fragility of their remnant plant communities the Wedel’s have gravitated toward a series of focused and persistent mechanical management techniques. By resorting to judicious herbicide use as a last resort their intentional patience often pays off with the re-emergence of previously unseen remnant species. (Andy) We have never taken the tack of ‘nuking’ (strong herbicide use) [a site] into complete submission. We’ve always inter-seeded with no or [limited] herbicide in the spring to discourage new [weed] growth. ‘Nuking’, works very quickly in the short-term, then there is a lot of disturbance and [it becomes] labor intensive to control the things that come up from that disturbance. So many opportunistic [weedy species] come in; but you do get short term satisfaction.

With perspective, hard work and patience comes a powerful sense of connection and accomplishment. In our globalized world, where the metric of success favors financial gain it can be difficult to convey the importance of conservation and restoration. (Andy) “It’s hard to explain to friends who haven’t been here what ‘prairie restoration’ is and why it’s so rewarding. But when they get here, all we have to do is show them two things: first, we take them to one of the old brome fields that we haven’t done anything with yet. These fields are smooth in texture, green, and actually very pretty, but they are also very still. Hardly any birds, any butterflies, any sound. Then we take them to one of the nearby restorations, which are richly textured with native grasses and flowers of all colors – and they can see the motion and hear the hum. Birds everywhere, native bees, butterflies, dragonflies all zooming around making the noises of life. We don’t have to explain any more after that – they get it.”

For nearly thirty years the Wedel family has grown and evolved with the native plant communities they have fostered. (Andy) “Over the course of this journey, our attitude has completely reoriented from, ‘how can we exploit this land?’, to ‘what can we do to help this ecosystem rebuild itself? How can we be better stewards of this little piece of the world?’ Now our purpose in working with this land is no longer primarily about us… and as in so many things in life, when we refocused outside of ourselves, we found more personal joy.”

Despite living over 2,600 miles apart, they continue to meet frequently to conduct controlled burns, cut invasive species, maintenance-mow new plantings or collect seed for fall planting. For the Wedels a long-view approach to restoration equates to meaningful time spent together, while positively impacting the land that they have grown to love, one acre at a time.

The woodland in the upper-left has been cleared of invasive woody vegetation and burned while the adjacent wetland flourishes after several years of management and over-seeding.

Everyone gathers around a young Lupine, the first seen since this savana restoration was started. After removing overgrown woody vegetation and conducting controlled burns, this area was fall planted one year ago and is being mowed through the entire first growing season.

A new restoration project is started with repeated mowing through multiple seasons. Persistent mowing prevents weedy vegetation from dropping additional seed on the site.

The Wedel Family (L to R): Eva and husband Tom, Andy’s husband Adam, Andy, Davin’s husband David, and Davin. Taken in the initial 18-acre site which was seeded in 1987.

Hummingbird Haven

The Hummingbirds of Hummingbird Haven

With frequent talk of neonicotinoids in the news, awareness of pollinators like butterflies and bees has grown in recent years. What is known: habitat loss, lack of suitable forage, and pesticide use are the primary causes of pollinator decline. What is seldom noted is that these pressures are not limited to insects. The perils faced by all pollinators continue to escalate but some are getting help.

Hummingbird Haven

For over forty years Lois White of Smithfield Illinois has admired, studied, fed and advocated for the protection of hummingbirds. The Central Illinois farm where Lois and her husband Creel reside has been their home and livelihood for over fifty years. Perched along the Spoon River valley, their property bears more resemblance to a diverse wildlife preserve than to the agricultural model on which it was founded. With prairie and woodland, streams carpeted by stone, and a legacy of sensitive farming practices, the farm, now known as Hummingbird Haven, is a sanctuary devoted to the wild occupants that it benefits.

The devotion to one species in particular began several decades ago, when Lois started noticing a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds near the house. She observed the hummingbirds more closely, putting out feeders and plants to serve as forage. As her knowledge of hummingbird behavior expanded, so did her passion for these tiny but capable birds.

Now, with four decades of experience, Lois White is an outstanding advocate and citizen scientist, and her efforts are utilized by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which conducts hummingbird-banding sessions three times per year (May, July and August) on the property. Hummingbird Haven is also open to the public, at no charge. During my visit, a couple from the Chicago area arrived unannounced, having driven almost four hours, to relax and observe hummingbirds in the comfortable shade of Lois White’s front yard. Thirty minutes later her phone rang. The coordinator of a master gardening program was calling to arrange a field trip for a group of participants. “We’ve had bus loads of people arrive,” said Lois. In 2014 more than 2300 visitors traveled to rural Fulton County to visit Hummingbird Haven.

Hummingbird Ecology

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) sustains on nectar and small insects. Nesting within deciduous woodlands of the eastern United States and Canada, it is the only breeding hummingbird species native to the eastern United States. Every year Ruby-throated Hummingbirds migrate north from Central America to mate, often undertaking a direct flight over the Gulf of Mexico, quite a feat for a bird weighing less than 0.2 ounces. After reaching their breeding ground, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds will mate one or two times per season, with females occasionally building new nests while their first fledglings are still dependent. According to Lois, she has observed 3-4 fledglings per female in a single season, due in great part to the ample food, protection, and nesting supplies provided at Hummingbird Haven. Unaided, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds usually fledge 1-2 young per season and have been known to live up to nine years. A recent banding session at Hummingbird Haven captured an adult that had been banded seven years earlier. “They’ll keep coming back, year after year,” Lois said.

Feeding Hummingbirds

While eating lunch at a local cafe, Lois pointed out a collection of hummingbird feeders that were hanging around the building’s windows. Some of the feeders were quite ornate, of which Lois said, “That feeder is for the people, not for the birds.” Indeed the feeder, forged in the shape of a fish, was quite ornate but contained many difficult-to-clean glass folds, and lacked a suitable perch. “Young [hummingbirds] can expend as much energy hovering for food as they consume from the food source itself,” she said.

Feeders take up quite a bit of Lois White’s time. With over fifty feeders strategically placed around the property, a substantial effort is made to clean and re-supply them regularly. Bulk amounts of cane sugar, which is boiled into simple syrup “nectar,” must be replaced every 3-4 days to prevent fermentation. Fermentation and contaminated feeder reservoirs are detrimental to a hummingbirds’ health. Just as harmful are the red dyes added to commercially mixed hummingbird feed. “These feeders are designed to attract [humming]birds without the added red of food coloring” which, according to Lois, causes irreversible kidney damage. “We need to get the word out, and tell people that this red colored feed is killing our [humming]birds.”

From Feeders to Forbs

Several years ago Lois’ granddaughter Emma began learning the importance and significance of native plant communities through her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois Springfield. With encouragement from her professor of Conservation Biology, Emma started planning a native pollinator garden at Hummingbird Haven. The initial garden was staked out and arranged two years ago, and included a Mix & Match Potted Tray from Prairie Moon Nursery. “The flowers [plants] we received were absolutely beautiful and strong enough with minimal care after planting” Emma said. “We have been very happy with the plants that were sent to us.”

After a few plants began to flower, Emma and Lois noticed that the hummingbirds were singling out the native flowers, favoring them over the non-native species. In the second year, they decided to expand the pollinator garden with another Mix & Match Potted Tray and seed packets of twenty-five species.

Now a first year graduate student with a focus in pollinator and plant interactions, Emma is pushing ahead with the research that she started two years ago at Hummingbird Haven. This spring, in the pollinator garden’s third year, Emma and Lois plan to expand the garden perimeter with native forbs (wildflowers) and grasses, utilizing their third Mix & Match Potted Tray. “It’s amazing how the hummingbirds fly right to the natives,” Lois marveled. “We’re getting so many people that want to see the native garden, even though it’s only in its second year. People want to see our native plants.”

Visitors are welcome during the summer breeding season but are encouraged to call ahead of time. Visitors are also encouraged to attend one of the seasonal hummingbird-banding days. There is no cost to attend, but for a $5 donation to the Lincoln Land Birdbanders Association, you can “adopt” a hummingbird.

Lois White, Hummingbird Haven
16411 N Co Hwy 2, Smithfield, IL 61477
(309) 783-4375
___________________________________

When referring to “pollinators,” most people think of the charismatic species: butterflies, such as the Monarch, or bees, such as the introduced European Honeybee. In reality tens of thousands of species provide the essential reproductive role of pollination. Beyond the 12,000+ North American Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) species, or 4000+ North American species of native bees, beetles, flies, bats, and birds, like hummingbirds, play an essential role in the reproductive cycle of plants.

A Tribute to Dot and Doug Wade

Despite her legendary status among Upper Midwest prairie enthusiasts, the strongest impressions upon meeting Dot Wade in person were of humility, personal warmth, easy humor, a keen intellect and compassionate curiosity.

Even as Alzheimer’s disease gradually eclipsed her bright personality in her final years, Dot’s benign countenance and friendly presence were inspirations to those around her when she ventured to potlucks, social gatherings or prairie tours. She lived the last six years with her son, Prairie Moon Nursery co-founder Alan Wade, in the house that he built on Wiscoy Valley Land Co-operative in southeast Minnesota. She traveled with him annually to his winter home in the Philippines.

Global travel extended an itinerant theme that prevailed through Dot’s long life. The youngest of five siblings, she was born Dorothy H. Richman at home in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on September 13, 1914. She was raised in Sharptown, N.J., and migrated annually with her affluent family to their winter home in Florida.

Her passion for botany brought her to the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where her undergraduate research included root studies of several native plant species at the newly-opened university arboretum. She met and fell in love with Doug Wade, then a graduate student of famed ecologist Aldo Leopold.

In a 1995 interview with Morris Wiener, Dot recalled the heady intellectual climate in Madison when she first met Doug:

“I remember that I was taking landscape architecture courses in the horticulture building, and our professor said there was a new, exciting professor that the university had hired and that we should pay attention to him. That impressed me, and then when I met Doug and found that he was Leopold’s graduate student…wow! At that time, the university respected Leopold, but I don’t think that he was widely known. He had not done much writing previously, but at Madison he was writing lots and lots of journal articles. All of the chapters in A Sand County Almanac (1949) had been his journal articles, and it was published the year after his death.”

In the midst of their academic work, Doug and Dot eloped to the Wisconsin Dells, where they married and honeymooned in 1936. Their combined expertise and zeal for restoration made them a dynamic, activist couple. Their shared interests and his career eventually took them to Pennsylvania, Missouri, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa, Saskatchewan and Illinois. They raised a son and daughter during those years.

Wherever they landed, the Wades had a positive impact, creating new programs and opportunities to share their love of the natural world. They were early advocates of protecting and preserving prairie remnants, including the Nachusa grasslands in Illinois. In 1964, after four years in Regina, directing education programs for the Saskatchewan Department of Natural Resources, Doug joined the faculty of Outdoor Teacher Education at the Lorado Taft Field Campus in Oregon, Illinois.

In 1965, Dot and Doug purchased five acres of land overlooking the Rock River north of Oregon. Their landscape, featuring native remnants in both hillside pasture land and woodland acres, was complemented by construction of their beautifully unique house, built with limestone rock. Doug described the house, designed by architect Verne Solberg, as extending “organic” concepts developed by Frank Lloyd Wright, whom Dot had met at a party.

Doug and Dot spent 13 years restoring and propagating native plant species on their land, increasing their numbers to well over 100 from the three dozen or so that they originally identified. In 1970 the Wades opened Windrift Prairie Nursery, one of the first of its kind, to offer native seeds and plants commercially.

In his writings about their nursery endeavors, Doug stressed the need for accurate record-keeping, integrity in genetic tracking and a strong code of ethics. Windrift Prairie Nursery provided inspiration and principles, as well plants and seeds, to the Wades’ son Alan when he opened Prairie Moon Nursery in 1982.

Many whose lives were touched by Dot and Doug Wade remember what a powerhouse couple they were, complementing each other’s talents and style. Dot reflected on this in her interview with Morris Wiener:

“I always felt lucky that we were interested in the same things. What he liked to do, I liked to do, and what I liked to do, he liked to do. He was a better birder, and I might have been a little better at plants. We could go anywhere outdoors, anytime, and have a marvelous adventure together because of our interests. We enjoyed meeting the same kinds of people. Wherever we went, we could always find a nature club or birding group. We liked mountain climbing, we liked canoeing, and wherever we were, our interests seemed to focus together on nature and the outdoors.

“I always enjoyed the classes he taught at Taft Campus, and going with the students on field trips. Doug felt that he needed me on the trail. I could always add a little more to the class with my botany and natural history background. Two people in the same field might have had an ego problem, but it didn’t bother me that he was more outgoing. We worked together, and I was happy to be at the end of the line and follow him around. I think that is why I married him. He promised to take me camping! I think that if I had my own professional career, then there might have been conflicts, but that wasn’t the case. Doug could always depend on me to help out with things that students wanted to know about plants.”

Doug died suddenly a few days after his 78th birthday in 1987. Dot continued living in their home until she moved to Minnesota in 2003. Throughout her long, productive life she made things better wherever she applied her energies and knowledge. Her restoration work lives on in natural settings and human hearts throughout the land.

***
Reference: Wiener, Morris, Pathways: The Ontario Journal of Outdoor Education, v7 n6 p 32-35, Oct-Nov 1995
***

Dorothy Wade 1914-2010

Dot with 2004 Prairie Moon Staff

Alan (son) and Dot at a Wiscoy Potluck in 2007

A Deeper Shade of Green…

Keeping it Real

Understanding the difference between “wildflowers” and authentic native plants

Most people correctly understand “wildflowers” to be those that grow freely, without human intervention. However, the poor quality of the “wildflower” seed mixes now being offered in big-box stores and some garden catalogs prompts us to warn, don’t plant wildflowers!

Most of the “wildflower” mixes created to meet popular demand are, in fact, not good for wildlife or the environment. Most contain Asian or European flowers which crowd out plants that are truly native to North America. This degrades the environment and displaces the native sources of food and shelter upon which birds, butterflies and other wildlife depend. Flowers to avoid include Oxeye Daisy, Dame’s Rocket, Bouncing Bet and Queen Ann’s Lace, to name a few. Better choices are authentic native wildflowers, grasses and trees.

For more than 30 years, we have been selling exclusively North American native plants; native plants that are undeniably what our native butterflies, birds and all pollinators need to survive. Reach out to us to learn more about the importance of true North American natives; we’re here to help!

Please, plant native wildflowers – As your native garden flourishes, providing much-needed food and habitat and beautiful blossoms, you can observe first-hand the critical link between native plants and native wildlife.

Why Natives?

Keep the Circle complete – plant natives!

BRING SUSTAINABILITY HOME: GO NATIVE!

The Hummingbirds of Hummingbird Haven

Hummingbird Haven

Hummingbird Ecology

Feeding Hummingbirds

From Feeders to Forbs

Keeping it Real

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