Prairie Nursery: Another Favorite Native Plant Catalog
Recently I’ve written about a couple of my most beloved plant catalogs, and I can’t turn away from this subject without mentioning Prairie Nursery.
Located in central Wisconsin, Prairie Nursery grows all kinds of native wildflowers, grasses, sedges, ferns, and woody plants.
The Prairie Nursery catalog makes great bedtime perusing. It’s beautifully laid out, and the photography, which incorporates plenty of bees and butterflies, is wonderful.
By my count, the catalog includes more than 200 species of plants. Some are common, others are quite rare. New offerings in the 2019 catalog include Silky Prairie Clover (Dalea villosa), Wavy Hairgrass (Deschampsia flexuosa), White Tinged Sedge (Carex albicans), and Creek Sedge (Carex amphibola).
Silky Prairie Clover is a close cousin of Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea), but adapted to poor, drier soils.
I’m tempted to give Wavy Hairgrass a try this year. It looks like a shorter but highly ornamental native grass for medium shade. The seed heads are appealing to me than those of Tufted Hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa). (Also, Tufted Hairgrass sounds like something regrettable you that happened at the barber shop.)
There’s one plant I want to mention that isn’t new but is carried only by Prairie Nursery: Butterflyweed for Clay (Asclepias tuberosa var. Clay). This plant is worth trying if you’ve had difficulty establishing Butterflyweed on sites with clay or rich, moist soil. It’s worked pretty well for me.
Finally, I was glad to see that Prairie Nursery now let’s consumers save money by buying trays of 16 or 32 plants in 3 inch pots – any combination, shopper’s choice.
Have you ever ordered plants from Prairie Nursery? What’s your favorite plant catalog?
gardeninacity 
Yes! They are a great company. I’ve never bought for my own yard, however bought custom seed in bulk for large restorations.
I would love to work on that sort of project!
Being originally from that part of Wisconsin, I love prairie nursery. All of the plants in my prairie garden are ones that I ordered from there. I’ve been able to expand the garden using seeds I collected, so I haven’t bought any plants from there in a while. They also have a no-mow grass mix that is really fantastic for low-maintenance lawn areas. I love how informative their catalog is– it’s like getting a textbook on native plants for free!
Definitely. I love looking at the pictures and reading the text – even if I’ve read it a hundred times already. It’s like bedtime stories for native plant fanatics.
Yes, I have ordered from Prairie Nursery. And yes, I have planted butterflyweed for clay in my heavy soil. It is still a bit finicky but survives better than the regular.
It can take a few years to really settle in.
Beautiful! But never have ordered from them.
You might want to look at their shade plants.
Will do!
No, I’ve never ordered from them, although I read about them often. I enjoy the Baker Creek catalog (the free version, I’d love to see the entire one, but won’t pay for a catalog! I even saw it for sale at Barnes and Noble!).
I have clay soil. It’s why I use raised beds. There are a few areas where it doesn’t get soggy due to not draining well, but mostly it’s pretty unplantable. I am going to try some false sunflowers this year, ones that are said to like clay.
False sunflowers and false blue indigo will be new to me, and all thanks to seeing pictures of yours!
I’m not sure I should thank you for adding to my collection or not!
That sounds like a great combination!
Sounds like a tempting read.
I enjoy it.
I’ve never even heard of them but they sound like a great supplier for your area.
Yes, a great resource.
I have ordered several times from Prairie Nursery. And now I think I need a bigger yard.
You and me both!
I was happy to return to Asheville today to a stack of seed catalogs in our mail bin. I’m not planning to order a lot, but, it’s great fun to look through them.
I like to order a little something from some catalogs once in a while to make sure I keep getting them.
I haven’t ordered from them, but I’m headed over right now to look.
Enjoy!
High-quality plants–always! I’ve ordered from them many times, too.
What would we do without them?
I’d estimate 70% of my plants are from Prairie Moon. They’re terrific!
I love both Prairie Moon and Prairie Nursery!
A marvelous catalog! I do like the look of wavy grass.xxx
One of my favorites.