Plant Driven: Ozarks, Part 4
Elizabeth catches me looking my worst!
Today concluded my plant-driven outing to the Ozarks with plant pals Josh and Elizabeth. Part 4 proved to be the most fun and most exciting of the trip, thanks in large part to the invaluable assistance of Susan Farrington and Dan Drees, local botanists and wildlife experts who own several hundred acres of prime Ozarks habitat. We spent the morning and early afternoon at the “Farrington/Drees Research Station” and began our trek back to Iowa around 2:00 PM. I write from my office in Bedford tonight a little tired but ready to find some local prairies to trek through tomorrow. I’m a sucker for the quest.
After scanning through a floristic inventory of the property that Susan kindly provided me, my eyes instantly caught sight of Nemastylis geminiflora, a native Irid (Iris family member) known commonly as prairie celestial. I suppose it basically looks like a blue-eyed grass on steroids with giant, starry blue flowers held above grass foliage. Susan led us to one of several populations where we collected seed. Prairie celestial is another species I came to know thanks to Claude Barr’s out-of-print tome Jewels of the Prairie, which happily extolled its many ornamental virtues. Though the flowers last only one day (and the longest of any Nemastylis mind you), the two to three weeks each clump remains in bloom satisfies want and yearn for blue in the spring garden. Who says all plants must bloom on and on for eternity? Why not appreciate the emblems of the season and the joy of the moment? While I love the idea of my favorite plants (irises!) staying in bloom for longer than they do, it would be akin to Christmas every day. And mom always said that would never be much fun.
Silene regia
Topping our list of must-finds today were the two red catchflies, Silene virginica and S. regia. The latter, commonly dubbed royal catchfly is just beginning to open now in the Ozarks. The former, called fire pink bloomed three to four weeks ago and had already set seed. Many gardeners already grow both of these striking beauties, but with a little selection work these natives can become even better. I think fire pink especially will prove promising for those seeking dianthus-like plants in better colors with better heat tolerance and garden carrying capacity. Why grow sad, meltable Dianthus when you could grown a rough, tough, and red Silene?
Trekking through Susan and Dan’s glade was alone worth the trip, even if we didn’t add tons of new species to our “found” list. Their glade seemingly spans on and on and flourishes at the hands of such able managers keen on preserving and conserving this fragile ecosystem. We tossed back and forth ideas about horticulturally worthy plants (both have horticultural backgrounds/experience and even propagate native plants for local plant sales) found in glades and across the Ozarks. We agreed most of the time!
Closeup of flowers of Asclepias variegata
One plant we both agree warrants additional attention is the seductively beautiful Asclepias variegata, the redring milkweed. The native milkweeds (with the exception of A. syriaca, the common milkweed) make such great garden plants! They thrive, if sited well, without much care and continue to reward the gardener for a lifetime. We’ve been on the lookout for four or five this week and have happily tagged populations of most for seed collection. The redring milkweed especially calls a siren song to me and macro lens (note the burgundy ring subtending the showier, coronate petals). Red stems, red rings, white flowers for contrast. Say no more!
Asclepias variegata
The last plant that I’ll mention before tucking in tonight is the grass pink, one of my favorite orchids and a “weed” as far as native orchids go. Calopogon tuberosus puts out showy pink flowers on grassy stems only when happily oriented in a bog setting, just like we found in Dan and Susan’s garden (99% natives) behind the house. I squealed with delight. This dapper pinkling could easily have a home in a homemade bog like this one or a flooded container garden (bog ala miniature). Though not readily available, more gardeners should seek out this relatively easy orchid.
Calopogon tuberosus
This isn’t one of my better worded posts, and it lacks my usual fluency. Mea culpa! The comforts of home and bed tempt me now at this point more than my keyboard! I’ll post more tomorrow from my local hikes and a recap video as soon as our team produces it in the next week or so.
 | Published on June 14th, 2009 | Posted by kdnblog |