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Meadow or Prairie?

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Stiff sunflowers greet the sunrise in restored sand prairie at The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies in Nebraska. Photo © The Nature Conservancy (Chris Helzer) A sunny plant community mixed with flowering perennials and warm season grasses -- do you call it a prairie or a meadow?  It seems to depend on what part of the U.S. you live: prairies occur in the Midwest and meadows in the East.  Also, meadows have a European connotation of a grassy area maintained by a farmer for grazing while prairies bring to mind vast grasslands where bison grazed and prairie schooners (covered wagons) traversed on their way west.  We think of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her kin. Either way you say it, the vast grasslands are mostly gone, replaced with corn, soybeans, wheat and European turf grass.  Yes, turf is the fourth largest crop in the United States and the number of acreage keeps rising.  Gone, too, is habitat for wildlife, including pollinators upon which we re...
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Shade is Beautiful

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Many homeowners complain to me that all they have is shade in their landscape.  I guess that means the gold standard is full sun.  This area is predominantly oak-hickory forest, meaning that much of the landscape will be shady, with all the plant communications that can be found under those deciduous trees. Shade gardeners have many options, including Florida Anise (Illicium floridatum) pictured above, a fragrant evergreen shrub with burgundy flowers in the spring.  Other shrubs that grow in shade include Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), Clethra, Mapleleaf viburnum and many azaleas and rhododendrons. You can also create a "fernary" comprised of many beautiful native ferns.  The photo below shows a natural collection of ferns and other woodland plants (North Chickamauga Creek Pocket Wilderness). Notice how natural plant communities cover the woodland floor -- no mulch needed!
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