Whether it's as simple as maintenance or as penetrating as a connection to nature, many Nebraskans are going native.
Native, as in native wildflowers and grasses.
Native prairie plants -- or at least their close relatives -- are gaining momentum and popularity among Nebraska homeowners and landscapers. Three factors have fueled the interest:
- Native plants require less water and less maintenance. Still, you can't ignore them entirely, said Bill Whitney, who founded Aurora's Prairie Plains Resource Institute with his wife, Jan.
"They respond well to water like any other plant," Whitney said. "But if the water is not there, they won't die. They do fine in low-water conditions. But like any perennial, you need to understand their character."
- Native flowers and grasses offer a bond with Nebraska's nature -- a spiritual sort of connection, if you like. Many of these plants inhabited Nebraska's prairie long before the land was settled and broken by the agricultural plow. Many of our pioneer ancestors wandered vast fields of prairie grasses and flowers in the 19th century.
- A bonus of Nebraska wildflowers is that they are lightning rods for bees and butterflies. Goldenrods, for example, are magnets for bees.
"Butterflies and bees are definitely more attracted to native flowers and their nectar," said Christina Hoyt, a design assistant with the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum in Lincoln.
There are many Nebraska wildflowers that will do well in your back yard. Both Whitney and Hoyt remind gardeners that not every advertised prairie flower or wildflower necessarily has Nebraska roots.
"The butterfly milkweed, for example, could be local or could be introduced to the area," Whitney said.
The New England aster, Whitney added, is a beautiful purple flower and does well in Nebraska. But it is native to New England, not Nebraska, although Nebraska also has its share of native asters.
"There are five species of purple coneflower," Hoyt said, "all with slight differences. Some of them are not native to Nebraska."
Coneflowers, purple or yellow, are showing up more often in flower gardens. They are very hardy and self-seed every fall. Your coneflower garden will expand with very little maintenance or effort.
The penstemon with its tubular flowers is another Nebraska native, Hoyt said. There is a wide array of penstemons, she added, and some are more common than others. The blowout penstemon found in the Sandhills is an endangered species.
Other native (or near native) flowers that may be candidates for gardens are sunflowers (not the large ones with large seed heads), some verbenas, the prairie phlox, purple poppy mallow, yarrow, Plains coreopsis, golden aster, prairie sage and black-eyed susan.
There are several native grasses that also do well in larger landscapes and park settings. After they are established, some such as the big bluestem drop roots as far as 10 feet down -- as deep as some trees.
Whitney and Prairie Plains Resource Institute have inaugurated countless prairie restoration efforts -- covering more than 5,000 acres -- during its 28 years of existence. Many are located in Central Nebraska and offer people an excellent chance to reconnect with nature.
It is that bit of wildness that makes native plants intriguing, Hoyt said.
"Our yards have become increasingly manicured, with tidy lawns, carefully pruned shrubs and limbed-up trees all designed for the adult aesthetic," she said. That's why Hoyt detects an increased interest among gardeners in native plants.
For more information on native Nebraska wildflowers and grasses, check out these Web sites: Prairie Plains Resource Institute, www.prairieplains.org; Nebraska Statewide Arboretum, arboretum.unl.edu.
Where to see wildflowers and native grasses in Central Nebraska
Following is a list of Central Nebraska sites restored to native prairie grasses and wildflowers. All are accessible to the public, although some Nebraska Game and Parks Commission sites require state park permits.
- Lincoln Creek Prairie and Trail, near Aurora (Prairie Plains Resource Institute, or PPRI)
- Deep Well Wildlife Management Area, south of Phillips and two miles north of Interstate 80 (Nebraska Game and Parks Commission)
- Marie Ratzlaff Prairie Preserve, six miles south of I-80 Hampton exit, in southeast Hamilton County (PPRI)
- Rowe Sanctuary, one mile west of I-80 Gibbon exit (Audubon Society)
- Springer Waterfowl Protection Area, six miles west and two miles south of Aurora (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
- Prairie Wildlife Management Area, along the Loup River south of Genoa (NGPC)
- Chalk Mine Wayside Area (#23), near Scotia
- Olson Nature Preserve, north of Albion (PPRI)
- Pearl Harbor Survivors Preserve, north of Riverdale (PPRI)
- Willa Cather Memorial Prairie, south of Red Cloud (Nature Conservancy)
- Calamus Reservior State Recreation Area, northwest of Burwell (NGPC)
- Nebraska National Forest, near Halsey (U.S. Forest Service)
Information courtesy of Prairie Plains Resource Institute and Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. For more detailed information on public access sites, check out the Web at http://www.prairieplains.org or http://arboretum.unl.edu/florasearch/.
