2015 Updated Yard Plant List

The 2015 growing season is in full swing! There's been a lot of changes in the yard and I wanted to have an updated plant list. I'll work on a map later this season, but here's the new list!


Prairie Plants = 52

• Big Bluestem 
• Little Bluestem 
• Indian Grass 
• Fox Sedge 
• Wild White Indigo 
• Indigo Bush 
• Black-eyed Susan 
• Brown-eyed Susan 
• Purple Blazing Star 
• Prairie Coreopsis 
• Hairy Mountain Mint 
• Cardinal Flower 
• Purple Monarda 
• Prairie Dock 
• Cup Plant 
• Four types of aster (new england, aromatic) 
• Pale purple coneflower 
• Rattlesnake Master 
• Stiff Goldenrod 
• Germander 
• Golden Alexander 
• Butterfly Weed 
• Sullivant's Milkweed 
• Partridge Pea 
• Hoary Vervain 
• Missouri Ironweed 
• Silvermound 
• Spiderwort 
• Whorled Milkweed 
• Purple Milkweed 
• Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus 
• Common Milkweed 
• Swamp Milkweed 
• Early Goldenrod 
• Prairie Blazing Star 
• Nodding Wild Onion 
• Purple Joe Pye-Weed 
• Prairie Cinquefoil 
• False Aster - boltonia asteroides 
• Bellflower 
• Northern Sea Oats 
• Swamp Candles 
• Maximillian Sunflower 
• Foxglove Beardtongue 
• Side-oats Grama 
• Groundnut 
• Queen of the Prairie 
• Kankakee Mallow
• Gray-headed Coneflower

Shade Plants = 21

• Wild Strawberry 
• Wild Garlic 
• Jack-in-the-Pulpit 
• Prairie Trillium 
• False Solomon's Seal 
• True Solomon's Seal 
• Wild Geranium 
• Columbine 
• May Apples 
• Black Cohosh 
• Virginia Bluebells 
• Wild Ginger 
• Bloodroot 
• Poke Milkweed 
• Dwarf Crested Iris 
• Big-leaved Aster 
• Jacob's Ladder 
• Bellwort 
• Shooting Star 
• Celandine Poppy 
• Wild Blue Phlox 

Ferns = 3

• Maidenhair Fern 
• Ostrich Fern 
• Cinnamon Fern

Shrubs/Trees = 11

• Winterberry 
• Ninebark 
• Juniper 
• Illinois Prairie Rose (Rosa setigera) 
• Sandbar Willow 
• Bladdernut 
• Shrubby St. John's Wort 
• Smooth-leaved Hydrangea 
• American Hazelnut 
• Prairie Crabapple 
• American Chestnut tree 

Total Successful Native Plant Species = 87

There's an additional 14 species that are being worked on by seed, and I think a few of each type of plant will work.

Total Potential Native Plant Species = 100

And then the food plants! These are a lot more "in progress" than the natives, as some might not make it to maturity.

Perennial Food Plants Growing = 6

• Apple trees 
• Peach tree 
• Blackberry bushes 
• Asparagus 
• Strawberries
• Stanley Plums 

Annual Food Plants Growing = 35

• Sweet Onions 
• Shallots 
• 5 types of Garlic 
• Yukon Gold Potatoes 
• Arugula 
• Spinach 
• Boston Lettuce 
• Kale 
• 3 types of carrots 
• Zucchini 
• Yellow Scallop Squash 
• Pie Pumpkins 
• Big halloween pumpkins 
• 3 types of tomatoes 
• 3 types of peppers 
• Sugar Snap Peas 
• 5 types of melons 
• 2 types of beans 
• Sugar beets 
• Pickling cucumbers 

Herbs Growing = 7

• Peppermint 
• Sage 
• Thyme 
• Oregano 
• Lemon Verbena 
• Cilantro 
• Fennel

Total types of food being grown = 48

Totals altogether -

Successful natives + food plants = 135
Total plant species in progress = 131