Fall Native Plant Sale at Matthaei

The birds and the bees and the environment will thank you for planting native species in your garden. Native plants are low-maintenance, often drought-tolerant, and suited for our local climate. They also attract beneficial pollinators, insects, and birds. Join us for our annual Native Plant Sale, October 1 & 2, 2016. See below in this post a list of plants we're offering.

Local grower Native Plant Nursery will have woody plants and shrubs for sale.

Matthaei Botanical Gardens 

1800 N. Dixboro Rd. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48105

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Native Plants—A Heritage Worth Protecting 

Learn what a native vs. an invasive plant is and why planting natives is a good idea. 

What is a native plant?

Plants that are “native” to Michigan have grown here for thousands of years. Michigan’s native plants have adapted over the centuries as glaciers, rivers, storms, and fire have shaped the landscape. Our native plants evolved together with other plants, animals and fungi, forming complex webs of relationships known as ecosystems.

What is an invasive plant?

Non-native plants, on the other hand, evolved in other parts of the world. When humans travel, we often carry (both intentionally and unintentionally) plants from other parts of the world. Some of these non-native plants have become invasive, spreading into natural areas. A non-native plant that spreads aggressively and crowds out native plants is called an invasive plant.

Why are native plants and ecosystems important?

Since native plants co-evolved with our native animals, these plants provide the ideal food and shelter for our native wildlife. Native plants are also especially adapted to our soil and weather conditions; so native plants are perfectly designed to filter water and produce oxygen for our region.

Biodiversity—a variety of living things—keeps ecosystems healthy. A diverse animal community needs a wide variety of plants. When an invasive plant, such as buckthorn, enters an ecosystem it can replace hundreds of native plant species with one monotonous stand of buckthorn.

If we cultivate and protect native plants, we can preserve the precious biodiversity of our state!

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Images of some of the plants for sale (click on the common name to see an picture of the plant form the University of Michigan Herbarium):

Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

Great blue lobelia (Lobelia silphitica)

Nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum)

2016 Native Plant Sale list – Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Sat. & Sun., Oct. 1 & 2

Plant Name     Common Name           

Allium cernuum                   Nodding Wild Onion   

Andropogon gerardii           Big Bluestem   

Aquilegia canadensis           Columbine       

Asclepias incarnata              Swamp Milkweed        

Asclepias syriaca                 Common Milkweed     

Asclepias tuberosa              Butterfly-weed 

Carex grayi                         Gray's Sedge

    

Echinacea purpurea            Purple Coneflower      

Eryngium yuccifolium        Rattlesnake Master      

Eurybia macrophylla          Big-leaved Aster          

Fragaria virginiana             Wild Strawberry           

Heuchera americana          Alum Root       

Liatris aspera                     Rough Blazing Star      

Lobelia siphilitica              Great Blue Lobelia      

Monarda fistulosa             Wild Bergamot            

Monarda punctata             Dotted Mint; Horse Mint        

Penstemon digitalis           Foxglove Beard-tongue           

Ratibida pinnata               Yellow Coneflower      

Rudbeckia triloba             Three-lobed Coneflower          

Solidago flexicaulis           Zig-zag Goldenrod      

Sorghastrum nutans         Indian Grass    

Thalictrum dasycarpum    Purple Meadow Rue    

Verbena hastata                Blue Vervain