HO-74
YARD AND GARDEN
HORTICULTURE DEPARTMENT COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE PURDUE UNIVERSITY WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA 47907
WILD FLOWERS... A FEW FAVORITES
Indiana has an abundance of beautiful wild flowers and native plants. The proper place to enjoy them is in their natural habitat, but many are well suited to home gardens, city parks, and school grounds, so long as each species is supplied with its natural environment. This is very important since some species can exist only under certain conditions. For instance, some plants require wet places, such as swamps and bogs, while others prefer shady areas, slopes, ravines, rocky or sandy knolls, sunny or semi-sunny places. Soil type and soil reaction (acid or alkaline) may also greatly affect the plants’ response.
Many home grounds may have an area where grass and the usual kind of garden flowers are either difficult to grow or fail to give the desired effect. These waste areas may include a steep terrace, bare ground beneath shrubs and trees, the area behind the garage, a strip beyond the service drive, or along the back fence. With a little care, however, these areas can be made very suitable for native plants. The planting should be in nature-like masses, not in straight lines, circles, or formal beds.
Native plants may be obtained in two ways -(1) by securing seeds or plants from nurseries now specializing in such plants or (2) by gathering them, by permission only, from their natural habitat. The first method generally proves less costly and more satisfactory, and it does not deplete the natural supply.
Fall seeding of most wild flowers, just as it occurs in nature, is recommended. Plants purchased from nurseries should be planted according to the nursery’s recommendations. Never dig native plants from woodlands and meadows during their blooming period. Spring-flowering types are best transplanted in the fall and fall-flowering varieties in early spring.

Suggested references
Fieldbook of American Wildflowers. F. Schuyler Mathews, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York.

Fieldbook of Illinois Wildflowers. Illinois Natural History Survey Division, Urbana, Illinois.

Flora of Indiana. Charles C. Deam, State of Indiana Department of Conservation, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Wild Flower Guide, Northeastern and Midland U.S. Edgar T. Wherry, Doubleday, Doran & Co., Garden City, New York.

Beginners Guide to Wildflowers. Ethel L. Hausman, New York, 1080 Drawings, 1948.

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Wildflowers. Doubleday, Doran & Co., Garden City, New York.

How to Know the Spring Flowers. Mabel Jacques Cuthbert, Wm. C. Brown Co, Dubuque, Iowa.