Regional Picks: Cutting-Garden Essentials – Midwest

1. Orange butterfly weed

Name:Asclepias tuberosa

USDA Hardiness Zones:4 to 9

Size:2 to 3 foot tall and wide

Conditions : Full sun ; well - drain loam to dry stain

This indigene is as carefree as the butterfly it attract . Mix it with other wild flower for a free-and-easy , sunny look in the garden or a vase . This species is a surprisingly long - lasting cutting flower because , unlike its relatives , it does not ooze milklike cosh . It blooms from July to September , trace by green yield filled with silky , silvery white seeds , which offer a unique hint to floral arrangements .

2.‘Prairie Fire ’ switchgrass

Name:Panicum virgatum‘Prairie Fire’

Zones:5 to 9

Size:4 to 5 feet high and 2 to 3 foundation wide

Conditions : Full Lord’s Day ; fat , well - drained soil

The stiff , sensational , gloomy - green foliage of this native supergrass start to ferment wine cherry in former summertime . Airy , flushed blood-red blossom panicles are hold just above the leafage into capitulation . We enjoy cutting the panicle and sum up them to bolder prime in a vase for a fine - textured counterpoint . They are long lasting in a vase and versatile in the garden . ‘ Prairie Fire ’ is unique among switchgrasses because its color peaks early and holds well into decline .

3. Blue false indigo

Name: Baptisia australis

Zones:3 to 9

Size:3 to 4 feet tall and wide

condition : Full sun ; well - run out , sandlike ground

From late saltation into July , 1 - foot - marvelous spikes of showy , indigo - dismal flowers appear on grizzly stanch that arise above the mound blue - green foliage . Each floweret on the flower spike looks like a sweet-flavored - pea blossom . Blue false indigo ’s lasting bloom are excellent and long lastingwhen geld for a vase . In addition , the black seedpods that follow the bloom are perfect for dried arrangements .

4. ‘Prairie Dusk’ penstemon

Name: Penstemon ‘Prairie Dusk’

Size:24 to 30 inches eminent and18 inches wide

weather condition : Full sun ; fair to dry dirt

Penstemons are one of our favorite summertime bloomers . Long and graceful flower spikes offer a cornucopia of snapdragon - like , rosy purplish flowers in other summer and are a beautiful add-on to flowered arrangements . In the garden , they are drought tolerant , disease resistant , and deer immune ; they are , however , attractive to butterfly stroke and hummingbirds . Developed by the University of Nebraska , the cultivar ‘ Prairie Dusk ’ is especially dauntless and easy to grow .

Denny and Cathy Caliva own and operate Earthworks River Farm Nursery near River Falls , Wisconsin .

Photos , except where observe : Michelle Gervais , courtesy of Denny and Cathy Caliva , courtesy of Amber Wave Nursery , good manners of Bailey Nurseries

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