In recognition of Earth Day 2013, Prairie Nursery is donating 5% of sales of Red Milkweed and other select Monarch favorites to Monarch Watch, a nonprofit education, conservation, and research program based at the University of Kansas that focuses on the monarch butterfly, its habitat, and its spectacular fall migration.

In its native environment Red Milkweed (AKA: Swamp Milkweed, Marsh Milkweed, Rose Milkweed) is found growing in floodplains, wet meadows, and near the edges of ponds, lakes and streams.  It also grows very well in average, well-drained garden soil. We have a huge specimen, here at the Prairie Nursery farm, that has flourished on a pretty dry site. Full sun is best and some light shade is tolerated.

Red Milkweed plants form a stately bunch of upright stems with long narrow leaves and heads of fragrant mauve-pink flower clusters, composed of many small intricate blooms. At 3′ – 5′ tall a single large clump of Red milkweed makes an excellent focal point in a garden. Put to good use in rain gardens, this Asclepias is also used in shoreline restoration, shoreline buffers, detention basin and bio-swales.

The flowers of Asclepias incarnata are attractive to all kinds of butterflies. The female Monarch Butterfly lays eggs, exclusively, on plants in the Asclepias family, and Red Milkweed is known to be one of the best attractors. Monarchs feed on the flowers and lay their eggs on the plants. The emerging caterpillars then feed on the leaves.

Below is a photo taken at a friends vegetable garden, with Red Milkweed growing among the Asparagus.

The seed pods are a beautiful accent in the fall landscape with their slender pointy shapes and a red/pink tinge. Below is a fall display of Red Milkweed pods, Showy Goldenrod and Sideoats Grama grass.

Red Milkweed occurs naturally throughout most of the U.S., and much of Canada.

Common name: The name Pasque Flower refers to the religious holiday of Easter, when the flowers are often in bloom. In South Dakota, where it is the state flower, it is referred to as the May Day Flower, Prairie Crocus or Wind Flower.

Scientific name: Anemone patens (also known as Pulsatilla patens). Anemone: an ancient Greek name from anemos, “wind.”  patens: Latin for “spreading.”

Flowers on a Hilltop

With less than two months to go until the official start of spring it still seems a long way off. But when the snow finally clears and the hilltops warm in the ever higher sun, the Pasque Flower will be one of the earliest signs of life on the spring prairie.

Last spring Neil Diboll let me in on a great location, not far from Prairie Nursery, where native Pasque Flower adorns a hilltop every spring. Neil gave me directions and we were to meet up there late in the afternoon, as he was returning from a consulting job.

I arrived first and found the spot with no problem. My approach to the designated hill was by the Northwest side and as I began to climb upwards and out of the woods I was happy to find several Pasque Flower groups blooming along the hillside. Wow. What a find. I turned on my camera and started clicking away. The light wasn’t the best there, so I kept angling up the hill, shooting as I went. Upon cresting the hill I realized I had been on the fringe! The large domed hilltop was strewn with flowers. And the light was beautiful. After about 10 minutes of giddy Pasque Flower photo-taking, Neil showed up and we continued the photo shoot together.

Here are some photos from that afternoon, March 22, 2012.

One of the earliest perennials to bloom in a prairie, Pasque Flower is an uncommon plant
that has been extirpated from many areas because of modern development.

Native to both North America and Eurasia, it inhabits hill prairies and gravel prairies.
Barrens with scant woody vegetation are preferred as this reduces competition from other plants.
The preference is full sun, dry conditions, and a gritty soil containing gravel or rocky material. Root rot can be a problem if the soil becomes waterlogged from poor drainage.

Pasque Flower is only about 6” high with a delicate, near transcluscent petals
that can range in color from white to lavender.

The flowers emerge before the leaves, often just after the snow has melted.
The delightful furry leaves remain well into the summer.

The silvery plume-like seedhead is also a treasure.

We have a limited quantity of Pasque Flower in 3″ pots, available this spring.

AKA: Feathery False Lily of the Valley, False Spikenard, False Solomon’s Seal
(Smilacina racemosa – also Maianthemum racemosa)

Smilacina racemosa colony – photo by Neil Diboll

If you’re looking for a great plant for lightly shaded areas of your garden Solomon’s Plume is a beautiful choice for home landscaping in shaded settings, and a good food source for birds. It spreads by rhizomes but not aggressively enough to ever be invasive. Multiple arching stems 1-3′ long grow from a single parent plant, making it a good option for a taller ground cover.

The unbranched stems bear a many-flowered raceme at the tip of the stem (the plume) made up of tiny white flowers. The plumes appear in late spring and are followed by bright red berries, sometimes speckled brown or purple, which last through late Summer and into the Fall. Birds will be attracted to the berries.

Solomon’s Plume – photo by Walter Siegmund (wikimeda commons)

Solomon’s Plume is widely-distributed and native to Eastern North America. Found growing most often in deciduous woods, on shaded banks and ditches, Solomon’s Plume should be grown in well-drained, medium to moist, slightly acidic soil – in light to medium shade.

Solomon’s Plume – At home in the woods. (wikipedia – photo: jaknouse)

Solomon’s Plume seed – photo by Mary Evans

Dry to Medium Soil Alternative
Jason, at gardeninacity.wordpress.com, reminded me that a dry soil alternative to Smilacina racemosa is Smilacina stellata, Starry Solomon’s Plume. It’s a bit shorter than Solomon’s Plume at 1-2′, and is very tough – thriving in dry, sandy soil in the shade. It also spreads slowly by rhizome and is excellent for stabilizing around/under oaks and pines.

Starry Solomon’s Plume has cool berries – mid summer. This photo was taken in early August along a bike path near Crystal Lake in Michigan.

Starry Solomon’s Plume – smilacina stellata flowers from May – June. Great in dry soil, under the trees! Photo was taken at Prairie Nursery in late May.