Description
Prairie ninebark has been a darling of the horticultural trade for quite sometime, as is evident by the number of selected cultivars, and rightly so. Regardless whether you are admiring it au naturel (wild type) or all dolled up as a cultivar this is an outstanding versatile shrub. As the common name hints, this shrub us native to the midwestern interior of North America; south and west of New England out to the Dakotas and Texas. Arthur Haines, in his seminal work Flora Novae Angliae, states that it is “native in part to Vermont (and possibly Connecticut) and introduced in other states. Native populations are usually associated with river banks and shores.” It grows quite happily in the upland areas of our gardens in a variety of sunny to partly sunny conditions in average soil. A customer recently purchased one from me to replace a Forsythia that she just tore out, which I thought was a splendid idea.
The long lasting flowers provide much needed foraging for a number of different butterfly and moth species. Blooms in late spring to early summer. It is the larval host plant for a number of colorfully named moths such as the Io moth, Bluish spring moth, the Glorious Habrosyne, Hitched Arches (really, I’m not making these names up!) and Large Maple Spanworm moths.
12″-15″ plants in 2 to 3 gallon pots for $18 each
