Garden Ideas

Hildene in Manchester, Vermont

Prairie Gardens

Have you ever thought about creating a prairie garden? Prairie plants are among nature's most spectacular flowers and one of the best things about planting native plants is that they are extraordinarily hardy and easy to grow. All of these native plants will attract butterflies and birds to your garden. Perennials are a good investment; they come back year after year. I personally have each of these perennials in my gardens and they are top performers.

American Roots - Native Perennials

• Bee Balm (Monarda)  Also know as bergamont, bee balm is a summer-blooming member of the mint family that's right at home in a border or a meadow setting. This intriguing perennial grows best in full sun but tolerates light shade.

• Sneezeweed (Helenium Autumnale)  A backbone of the late-season garden, sneezeweed - erroneoously named since it blooms at the same time as ragweed - produces branching stems covered with fringed flowers in orange, yellow, and bronze. It performs well in a border and is great for clay soils.

• Goldenrod (Solidago "Fireworks")  One outstanding selection of native North American wildflowers is Solidago "Fireworks" with its sensational display of vibrant golden flowers that seem to burst from the plant like skyrockets. It's wonderful for cottage gardens or for naturalizing.

More Prairie Friends ...

Check out these other gardenworthy native perennials for your landscape:

Little Bluestem Grass (Schizachyrium Scoparium)
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckias)
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae)
Purple Coneflower (Enchinacea)
Prairie Dropseed Grass (Sporobolus Heterolepis)