Native Plants

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Wednesday - August 18, 2010
From: Wausau, WI
Region: Midwest
Topic: Wildlife Gardens
Title: Want to create a native wildlife habitat for our home in Wasau, WI.
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
I am trying to create a native wildlife habitat for our home. We live in Marathon County, Wisconsin (north central Wisconsin). We live near woods, meadow, wetlands. Could you send me a list of native perennials, shrubs, grasses, trees, annuals, biennials, etc. to plant that would attract the following:Birds, butterflies, moths, beneficial insects, that would benefit all wildlife native to this region? Thank you!ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants will do even better than that. He will aquaint you with the numerous resources available on this web site, and show you how to use the NPIN Database which will allow you to generate such a list for yourself.
Lets first get some background information. Go to the How To Articles page which contains a wealth of information about the type of project you have in mind. The list below has some articles that I selected which seem pertinent to what you want to do. As you read through this material, you will come to realize that your endeavor is going to take a lot of time, effort, and patience. (Ggardening is not for the faint of heart!)
A Guide to Native Plant Gardening
For the plants, lets go to the Native Plant Database. There are two ways of doing this; the first is to use the Recommended Species list. Start by clicking on the View Recommended Species page button. When this page comes up, click on Wisconsin on the map and you will get a list of 178 commercially available native plant species suitable for planned landscapes in Wisconsin. Visit our Suppliers Directory to locate businesses that sell native plants or seeds or provide professional landscape or consulting services in Wisconsin. Clicking on the name of each plant will bring up its NPIN page which has information about the characteristics of the plant, its growing conditions and requirements, and images. Scroll down to the Narrow Your Search box, and you can specify the types plants you want by choosing among the parameters of Habit, Life Span, Light Requirements, and Soil Moisture (ignore the Bloom characteristics in your early searches, and add them in later as your refine your list). By intergrating the information on these pages with what you have learned from the reading material how to come up with a plant list.
Another approach to using the Native Plant Database is to use the Combination Search box. This is similar to the Narrow Your Search option previously mentioned. Use this if you already have some idea of the plants you want. it will usually generate a larger list than the Recommended Species list.
I think you can see that by altering your selections, you can generate severallists of plants for your project.
More Wildlife Gardens Questions
Plants for butterflies and hummingbirds in Louisville, KY
March 31, 2009 - Mr. Smarty Plants,
I live in Louisville KY. I have a waterfall and ponds connected by a small stream. I want to plant several plants around my waterfall- approx. 20 sq ft on both sides of waterfall....
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Wildlife gardening in Georgia
February 19, 2008 - I am looking for native shrubs/flowers that will attract butterflies and/or birds. I live in Milledgeville, GA which is in central GA, 1 mile from the Oconee River. Some areas of my yard are full sun...
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Native plants to attract butterflies
October 18, 2007 - I'm a Texas A&M Wildlife and Ecology student working with a landowner in Bastrop County, Texas. As part of their Habitat Management Plan, they are hoping to enhance butterfly habitat on their proper...
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Memorial garden in Georgia
December 08, 2008 - I would like to plant a memorial garden in memory of my mother. She loved butterflies and bulbs blooming. Our backyard is shaded by large oaks and pines. A pool is located to the right, a large fire...
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Appropriate riverbed and quail habitat plantings for southwest OK
September 27, 2009 - Mr Smarty Pants, I have an area in extreme SW Oklahoma along the Red River. What native plants could I plant that are both appropriate for the sandy/saline soils in the vegetative area of the river b...
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