Adiatum pedatum

Maidenhair Fern

Family: Pteridaceae (Maidenhair Ferm Family)

       

·        Hardiness Zones:  3-8

·        Height: 12-24 inches

·        Spread: 12-18 inches

·        Bloom: non flowering

·        Light: part shade to full shade

·        Soil: average, well-drained; prefers humusy soils

·        Moisture: medium

·        Use: shaded border, woodland garden, shaded rock garden or native plant garden

·        Care: low maintenance

·        Concerns: no serious insect or disease problems

·        Native to: North America, Asia

·        Notes: lacy, fan-shaped, green fronds; spreads slowly by creeping, branching rhizomes

·        Supplier: Kopke's Fruit of the Bloom

·        Teaching Garden Location & Code: Shade Garden F234

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Asclepias verticillata

Whorled Milkweed

Family: Apocynaceae (Dogbane Family)

       

·        Hardiness Zones:  4-9

·        Height: 12-24 inches

·        Spread: 12-24 inches

·        Bloom Time: June to September

·        Bloom: white, in small clusters; flowers give way to smooth, narrow seed pods (to 3” long) which split open when ripe releasing numerous silky-tailed seeds for dispersal by the wind.

·        Light: full sun to part shade

·        Soil: average, well-drained

·        Moisture: dry to medium; prefers hot, dry soils; tolerates moist soils

·        Use: naturalize, rain garden, meadows, prairie, native bed and border; cut flower;  Monarch butterfly, Queen Butterfly and Milkweed Tussock Moth larval host plant; attracts other butterflies like the Great Spangled Fritillary and other beneficial insects like wasps, flies and beetles.

·        Care: mature plants may freely self-seed in the landscape if seed pods are not removed prior to splitting open; does not transplant well due to its deep taproot; best left undisturbed once established

·        Concerns: no serious insect or disease problems

·        Native to: glades, dry prairies, dry slopes, dry open woods, pastures, fields and roadsides in central and eastern North America extending from Massachusetts to Ontario and Saskatchewan south to Arizona and Florida

·        Notes: stems ooze a milky sap when cut or broken

·        Supplier: Agrecol Native Nursery

·        Teaching Garden Location & Code: Demonstration Prairie I001

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Symphyotrichum shortii

Short's Aster

Family: Asteraceae (Aster Family)

       

·        Hardiness Zones:  3-8

·        Height: 3 feet

·        Spread: 12-18 inches

·        Bloom Time: August to October

·        Bloom: 10-20 pale blue-violet ray with yellow center disk

·        Light: part sun

·        Soil: tolerates almost any soil

·        Moisture: medium to medium-dry

·        Use: prairies, borders, native plant gardens, naturalized areas, rain gardens, cottage gardens, butterfly gardens; attracts butterflies and bees

·        Care: low maintenance

·        Concerns: no serious insect problems; can be extremely aggressive and needs competition; good air circulation helps reduce foliar diseases, like powdery mildew;  aster wilt can also be an occasional problem, if grown in poorly-drained clay soils; taller plants require staking

·        Native to: eastern United States

·        Notes: central stems end in foot-long clusters of compound flowers

·        Supplier: Agrecol Native Nursery

·        Teaching Garden Location & Code: Rain Garden J030

       Content produced through:

       Dane County UWEX Master Gardener Volunteer Program 

       Questions?  

       Dane County UWEX Horticulture Program