wildflowers for the home garden

Illinois Wildflowers for the Home Garden

by Christopher David Benda

Home, Lawn, and Garden DayMarch 4, 2017

CHRISTOPHER DAVID BENDA, M.S.

Past PresidentIllinois Native Plant SocietyInstructor, Flora of Southern Illinois Southern Illinois UniversityInstructorThe Morton ArboretumTechnical Expert ConsultantIllinois Endangered Species Protection Board

Plant Ecologist Illinois Natural History Survey

Instructor – Master Naturalist

Somme Woods – Cook County

Illinois Environmental Council

www.illinoisbotanizer.com

Become a member today!

Kankakee Mallow (Iliamna remota), IL-E

Annual Gathering Augustana

CollegeRock Island, IL June 2 -4, 2017

Illinois Botany Facebook group

Illinois Botanists Big Year Competition

What are natural areas and nature preserves?

Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI)

Category I – High Quality Natural CommunitiesCategory II – Threatened and Endangered SpeciesCategory III – Natural PreserveCategory IV – Geologic FeaturesCategory VI – Unusual Concentration of Flora or Fauna

(High Quality Streams)

Category I – High Quality Natural CommunitiesCategory II – Threatened and Endangered SpeciesCategory III – Natural PreserveCategory IV – Geologic FeaturesCategory VI – Unusual Concentration of Flora or Fauna

(High Quality Streams)

0.07% in a natural condition

Illinois Natural Areas Inventory Updatethe numbers:

19 counties685 potential natural areas

33,727 photos taken56,828 miles driven

632/984 days in the field

George B. Fell – Natural Land Institute

“We are living at the time of man’s final conquest over the wilderness. What we have saved, and what we may save in the next few years, will be all the true wild nature that will remain to pass on from generation to generation in the years ahead.

There will never be another chance.”

Illinois Glaciation

Illinois Natural Divisions1. Wisconsin Driftless2. Rock River Hill Country3. Northeastern Morainal4. Grand Prairie5. Western Forest-Prairie6. Illinois/Mississippi River Sand Areas7. Upper Mississippi/Illinois River Bottomlands8. Middle Mississippi Border9. Lower Mississippi River Bottomlands10. Southern Till Plain11. Wabash Border12. Ozarks13. Shawnee Hills14. Coastal Plain

Why use native plants?

1. Support native wildlife2. Adapted to region3. Less maintenance4. Cheaper

EVOLUTION

Strategies for planting

1. Color2. Bloom time3. Species adapted for soil/light

conditions4. Ferns, grasses, shrubs

Plant Identification

Plant Identification

Plant Resources for Southern Illinois

Field Guide Books & Websites

Plant Resources for Southern Illinois

Field Guide Books & Websites

Common & Variegated (Asclepias syriaca & A. variegata)

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

White Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias perennis)

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Prairie Milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii)

Tall Green & Horsetail (Asclepias hirtella & A. verticillata)

Green & Green-flowered (Asclepias viridiflora & A. viridis)

Poke & Purple (Asclepias exaltata & A. purpurescens)

Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias quadrifolia)

Mead’s & Oval-leaved Milkweed (Asclepias meadii & ovalifolia)

Climbing Milkweed – Matelea gonocarpos

Climbing Milkweed – Matelea obliqua

Illinois Beach Nature Preserve – Lake County

Bird’s-foot Violet (Viola pedata)

Queen-of-the-Prairie (Filipendula rubra), IL-T

Prairie Gentian (Gentiana puberulenta)

Prairie Lily (Lilium philadelphicum)

Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense)

White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)

Wild Hyacinth (Camassia scilloides)

Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)

Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)

Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)

Canada Milkvetch (Astragalus canadensis)

Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)

White Wild Indigo Bush (Baptisia alba)

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)

Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana)

Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa)

Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis)

New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)

Cleft Phlox (Phlox bifida)

Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis)

Blue Sage (Salvia azurea var. grandiflora), IL-T

Royal Catchfly (Silene regia)

Leafy Prairie Clover (Dalea foliosa), Fed-E, IL-E

Nachusa Grasslands – Lee and Ogle counties

Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera leucophaea), Fed-T, IL-E

Shoe Factory Road Prairie Nature Preserve – Cook County

Bluff Spring Fen Nature Preserve – Cook County

Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve – Will County

Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve

Glade Coneflower - Echinacea simulata

Weston Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve – McLean County

Prairie Soil Conservation

Munson Township Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve – Henry County

Prospect Cemetery Nature Preserve – Ford County

Dead River – Illinois Beach Nature Preserve

Blue Flag Iris & Copper Iris (Iris schrevei & I. fulva)

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Spiderlily (Hymenocallis caroliniana)

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Deer Grove West – Cook County

White Trillium – Trillium flexipes

Red Trillium (Trillium erectum), IL-E

Liverleaf (Hepatica acutiloba)

Dwarf Larkspur– Delphinium tricorne

Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata)

Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium reptans)

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

Celandine Poppy – Stylophorum diphyllum

Wild Columbine – Aquilegia canadensis

Doll’s Eyes (Actaea pachypoda)

Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)

Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus)

Asters (Symphyotrichum spp.)

Busse Forest Nature Preserve – Cook County

Merwin Savanna Nature Preserve – McLean County

Spitler Woods Nature Preserve – Macon County

Simpson Township Barrens

Piney Creek Ravine Nature Preserve

Piney Creek Ravine Nature Preserve

Starved Rock State Park – LaSalle County

Small-flowered Fameflower (Phemeranthus parviflorus), IL-T

Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens)

Widow’s Cross (Sedum pulchellum)

Wild Orpine (Sedum telephioides), IL-T

Don’t forget about the fern, grasses, and shrubs!

Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea)

Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)

Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia)

Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra)

American Strawberry Bush (Euonymus americanus)

Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica)

Black Haw (Viburnum prunifolium)

Bladdernut (Staphylea trifoliata)

Silverbells (Halesia tetraptera)

Wild Azalea - Rhododendron prinophyllum

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