Introduction: Tall grass prairie

Urban Prairies

The Workshop

The Material

References

At the workshop, numerous brochures and pamphlets were available to read and take home in addition to a mini greenhouse for germinating the seeds.  The six seed packages included Gaillardia, Purple Prairie Clover, New England Aster, Big Bluestem, Rough False Sunflower and Canada Wood Violet.

The greenhouse keeps the seeds from drying out during the 3-6 day period that it takes them to germinate and a special “soil-less” potting mix enables the seeds to germinate without the complications of soil and air-born pathogens and fungi.  While native plants may be extremely hardy and well adapted to the variability of the prairie climate, they are still very susceptible to early-growth complications.

The plant information sheet included a description of each of the six plants, a picture, their preferred habitat and growth structure, how to prepare the seeds for planting (stratify or scarify), how long they would take to germinate and how long until they could be planted outside. 

Finally, was a Prairie Habitats catalogue listing and describing all of the grasses and flowers that they sell along with an order form for purchasing more seeds or plants from them.

Above: Greenhouse received at the workshop. Below: Six seed packages received at the workshop. Source: Reuben Koole.