Beneficial insects are vital to pest control in organic gardens! Bugs like praying mantis, lacewings, and ladybugs patrol the garden eating and destroying vegetable pests. This packet of Michigan native, perennial, wildflowers contains plants that attract and provide food and habitat for beneficial insects. In addition, these plants will attract pollinating insects as well. Native plants provide needed biodiversity that is so often lacking in many landscapes. In collaboration with Greg Vaclavek of the Native Plant Nursery, we have selected plants that will provide a display of bloom progressing through the growing season. Plants range in height from 3-5 feet tall and require a full sun location. Once established they are relatively low maintenance. Although they may reseed, in our experience, none of these plants will become excessively “weedy.” Since perennial plants can take a few years to get established, we recommend sowing annual plants with the native plant seed such as Winter Rye or annual flower such as Hopi Red Dye Amaranth, Cosmos, or Coreopsis. Seeds are Midwest genotype. Packet covers 100 sq. ft. Mix includes: Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea), Sand Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), Stiff Goldenrod (Solidago rigida), Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus), Tall Coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris), Beebalm (Monarda fistulosa), New-England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum), Ironweed (Vernonia missurica). For more information about ecological restoration see http://www.wildones.org/. Photo credit: Greg Vaclavek The Native Plant Nursery database provides an excellent resource for ethical seed collecting: http://www.nativeplant.com/plants/search/input.
