Why Grow Wisconsin Native Plants?

Wisconsin Natives are perfectly suited to growing in our climate and soil. The landscape of southeastern Wisconsin was historically comprised primarily of prairie, wetland, oak savanna, and mixed hardwood forest. These native plant communities evolved in harmony with our native soils and climate and, as a result, the plants are perfectly suited to growing in our area.

Long before we began gardening, our native prairie grasses and flowers thrived in a vast Midwestern grassland. There were no gardeners pampering them with water during droughts or protecting them from the bitter-cold winters.

Wisconsin prairie natives are tough, durable plants. Their primary strategy to survive is to develop extensive, deep root systems. In fact, over 70% of the biomass of most prairie grasses and flowers is underground. With the ability to draw moisture and nutrients from deep within the earth these plants survived drought and required very little if any, supplemental nutrients. Once these plants become established in your garden they are truly low maintenance plants.

Prairies are one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, surpassed only by the tropical rainforests. When Europeans settled in the Midwest they plowed the prairie and turned the land over to agricultural production. Today our native tallgrass prairie has been reduced to about 1% of its original area, making it one of the rarest and most endangered ecosystems in the world. The home gardener can play a critical role in maintaining populations of native birds and beneficial insects by growing some of these native prairie plants in our home gardens.

Just as with our native prairie plants, our native trees and shrubs are ideally suited to growing in southeastern Wisconsin. They are supremely winter hardy and, once established, quite self-sufficient. Many of us are familiar with the most impressive of the native trees, including the statuesque Oaks and our official Wisconsin State Tree, the magnificent Sugar Maple. We grow these as well as a selection of lesser known, but equally worthy, native trees and shrubs.

A few native plant articles you might like:

• Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)
• Wild Senna (Cassia hebecarpa)
• Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)
• Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis)
• Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)