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Plant Profile: The Gayfeathers
Gayfeathers are truly iconic symbols of the prairie. Also known as blazing stars, these distinctive plants occur throughout Kansas grasslands. Seven species are native to our state, all blooming...
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Butterfly Milkweed-2017 Perennial Plant of the Year™
It is hard to believe that it’s already 2017. We still have several months of winter to endure, but after the first of the year, my thoughts naturally turn toward spring. I anticipate this barren...
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A Native Shade Garden
In Kansas, the benefits of shade are obvious. If you step outside on a summer afternoon, you will quickly move under the canopy of a large shade tree. The sun can be intense. We love the shade that...
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Six Native Groundcovers That Thrive in the Sun
As you think about your native landscape, taller plants are easier to plug into the design. There are more choices from which you can add diversity, color, texture and habitat. These taller layers...
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Growing Berries in the Backyard
Berries are my favorite addition to the production garden – they are the perfect topping for ice cream and yogurt and make delicious pies! But they can be expensive to source from the grocery store and...
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Partner Perennials
As the weather warms up and perennials begin to sprout I find myself in the gardening mood! Whether filling in gaps in an existing garden bed or planting up a new area, knowing which plants will look...
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Plant Profile: Dwarf false indigo (Amorpha nana)
When we think of shrubs that grow in the prairie, lead plant (Amorpha canescens) is the first one that comes to my mind. Rightfully so, the soft gray foliage and lavender flower spikes are a must for...
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Plant Profile: Shortstem Spiderwort (Tradescantia tharpii)
Garden centers and nurseries carry more native plants each year, because gardeners have caught on to the many benefits that native perennials – such as milkweeds, coneflowers, blazing stars, black-eyed...
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Plant Profile: Prairie Clovers
Daleas – now called Petalostemons and commonly known as prairie clovers – is a genus in honor of Samuel Dale, an English botanist (1659-1739). Sixteen taxa of these hardy legumes are listed in the...
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New Shrubs, Big Color
Each year Scott and I scour catalogs and websites to find new and interesting plants to offer at the spring and fall FloraKansas plant sale fundraisers. New shrub varieties are, in my opinion, the most...
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Plant Profile: Wild Senna, Senna marilandica
Sometimes there are plants that surprise you. It’s not that they are doing anything new, but for some reason you notice them in ways you hadn’t before. This summer, for me that plant is wild senna. I...
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Plant Profile: Letterman’s Narrowleaf Ironweed (Vernonia lettermanii ‘Iron...
In the late summer and early fall, it is a good time to evaluate how your landscape has performed. What plants have thrived and which plants have disappointed you? I take notes of these plants and...
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The Wildly Attractive Leavenworth Eryngo
Leavenworth eryngo (Eryngium leavenworthii) During the last week, the stunningly-brilliant display of blooming Leavenworth eryngo (Eryngium leavenworthii) near the Dyck Arboretum Visitor Center has...
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Little Known Natives
Our FloraKansas Plant Sale is the largest native plant sale in the state of Kansas. We do our best to provide a wide selection of native and adaptable perennials that will grow reliably, but will, over...
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A Short List of Sun-Loving Favorites
This time of year as we greet the true arrival of spring and the FloraKansas Native Plant Festival, I am asked quite a few questions about native plants. Often people ask about how to establish their...
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Plant Profile: Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccafolium)
There are quite a few native wildflowers that everyone knows – coneflowers, gayfeathers, prairie clovers, evening primrose and so on. But when I tell folks to try some rattlesnake master, Eryngium...
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Plant Profile: The Versatile Viburnums
In addition to our interest in native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses, one of the goals of the Arboretum is to grow plants which, while not native, are adapted to the rigors of the central...
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Stately Natives
This past Monday, at the swearing in of the new Kansas governor, some native plants from Dyck Arboretum got their time in the limelight. Cuttings from our grounds of evergreens, red twig dogwood, big...
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A few plants for your sunny spot
Over the past several months, as I have been working on landscape designs for homeowners, I have been noticing a few trends. First, homeowners are increasingly interested in native plants. They...
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Woodland Phlox
Few plants are as visually striking to me in spring as woodland phlox with its showy lavender color, blooming mid to late April in Kansas. Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) is a woodland understory...
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