MEET A PRAIRIE PLANT:
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| This is Liatris pycnostachya, the Prairie Blazing Star or Kansas Gayfeather. A true classic of the tall grass prairie biome, it can grow upwards to 5ft tall. It's a lover of wet to average soil moisture and will most certainly tolerate heavy, clay soils! |
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| The "Prairies," as we call them at Blooming Prairie, attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinating insects! Look at the size of the bloom! This species makes some of the most eye catching cut flowers, too! I don't take too many from the prairie or surrounding areas, though; the birds go WILD over the seeds. The enormous bird population is our biggest seed harvesting competitor come fall, so we plant enough for everyone. Sometimes, the small field mammals(snake food) munch on a corm(its bulb) or two, and that's why the snake is GREAT! The tallgrass ecosystem is really entertaining and beautiful. Tomorrow we'll be having a Prairie sale at the Des Moines Downtown Farmers' Market! For $6.50 a gallon, you could start your very own Liatris pycnostachya garden. Stop on by and talk prairie with us! We'd love to hear what kind of prairie restoration and/or gardening you have going on! |
Thanks..
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