Just the back yard!? Nah, I want the front and side yards landscaped in natives too.



Monday, March 28, 2016

Plug List

Perhaps it was the great, warm weather we've had for weeks--all winter really--that has had me outside even more than normal for this time of year...whatever the reason, I have been putting off creating a list of plants that I want to order as plugs from my favorite native plant nursery--Archewild in Quakertown, PA (formerly known as American Native Nursery).  I just finished composing a list and I want to post it here for future reference.

My list...although I want them all, those with asterisks *** are my top choices.

  1. Eragrostis spectabilis   (purple lovegrass)***
  2. Gentianopsis crinite (greater fringed gentian)***
  3. Tripsacum dactyloides  (eastern gamagrass)***
  4. Sporobolus cryptandrus  (sand dropseed)***
  5. Fragaria virginiana  (Virginia strawberry)
  6. Deschampsia flexuosa  (wavy hairgrass)
  7. Bouteloua curtipendula   (sideoats grama)
  8. Bouteloua gracilis      (blue grama)  PA ecotype?  I only looked at once source, but didn’t think it was native to PA
  9. Tridens flavus  (purpletop)  Height? —one source listed it as 2-7ft tall...that is quite a wide range!

Now...I'll have to call and hope they are still available.  Next, I'll move on to ordering more seed from Ernst Seed Company for my meadow planting.

3 comments:

Steve Willson said...

Hi, David. I have Purpletop here in southern Ohio that sometimes gets over 5 feet tall, but most of that height is from a seed stalk that is so thin and airy that it is hard to see from a distance.

David said...

Steve,

Many thanks for sharing your first-hand knowledge! Good to know. I think a thin, airy seed head is much more "accessible" than a towering behemoth of a plant.

I may have some areas where some towering, flowering plants could fit--along with some taller grasses...but for the most part, I'd like my meadow a bit closer to 3 feet give or take. :)

If they have the plugs, I'll be happy to include it.

Thank you again.

David said...

I was looking back in hopes that I posted a list of names of what plugs I actually came home with. No luck.

Unfortunately, most of what was on my wishlist was not available at the nursery. I did come home with a fair variety of others...and, I believe some purpletop--the plugs became established enough to bloom, and I was please with he height and the openness--thank you again for sharing your experience of them with me, Steve Wilson.