Plant Exchange Blog

Now is a fine time to plan flowers for pollinators. Maybe the hobby wildflower grower will find some tips here.

At Lewis & Clark Recreation Area, two 3-acre pollinator plots are at the entrance to the state park. This past early July, the plots were filled with native wildflowers and native grasses.

In this mid-summer photo, the Black-Eyed Susan’s were prominent. Some White Western Yarrow and yellow Prairie Cone flowers appear in the upper right.

Turf surrounding the two plots were mowed frequently. Native wildflowers contrasted with the trim appearance around them.

Here’s another view of one of the plots from a distance that shows how the wildflower plots integrate into the park landscape.

Even as early as late June, among the Yellow Prairie Cone Flowers, White Western Yarrow and red-centered Gaillardia are green bottlebrush shaped native plants that became the scourge of the plots—Marestail.

Shane Bertsch, District Park Supervisor and Dale Dawson, Conservation Foreman, relate the trials to irradiate persistent Marestail, while not harming the establishing wildflowers and native grasses in the pollinator plots. In their interview, they tell the steps they have used for flowers next season. They also share news about native plots at the park and their management plan that includes ongoing selective tree removal and replacement. Link to their story:

https://www.yankton.net/river_city/article_668879a0-0fd9-11e9-bfd5-4b16ec20699b.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

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