Why plant Audubon® Native Prairie Dropseed?
All the little ground-dwelling birds will be grateful for the addition of this sweet native Fringe to your garden. Sparrows, juncos, towhees, and doves will happily bob about among the grassy tufts, foraging for seeds in fall and winter. In summer, they may find the occasional grasshopper or caterpillar hiding there, too, and grab a quick snack. Prairie Dropseed provides cover from predators for these friendly backyard birds, as well as nesting material in the form of dried leaves and stems. Leave it standing until spring, and winter-resident birds will make use of it all season.
Prairie Dropseed is a North American native that was once more plentiful, growing from Saskatchewan to Quebec in Canada and reaching as far south as Texas here in the U.S. It was most common as a component in the vast Midwestern prairies. Development has since wiped out most of our prairielands, and Prairie Dropseed is now endangered in many of the states where it once flourished. Support this noble native by growing it in your landscape. Prairie garden not required! This classy Fringe is polished enough for formal, manicured landscapes as well as more naturalistic ones.
How to use Audubon® Native Prairie Dropseed in the landscape?
In fall, Prairie Dropseed turns up the heat when its lustrous green foliage takes on bright golden and pumpkin-orange tones. Its winter color is a pleasing peachy tan. The plant holds up well under ice and snow and supplies plenty of interest during the dormant season.
Planting Zones
Hardiness Zone: 3-9
How To Plant Audubon® Native Prairie Dropseed
Even novice gardeners are likely to have great success with Prairie Dropseed. It’s easy to please, low maintenance, and long-lived. Give it a position in full sun if possible; light shade will also suffice. Any kid of soil is suitable—even clay, as long as it drains well. Provide regular water during establishment. Eventually, Prairie Dropseed will be exceedingly drought tolerant. Yearly maintenance involves simply cutting the old foliage to the ground in early spring. Understand that this fabulous Fringe does take a few years to really settle in, but it’s totally worth the wait!
How To Water
Water twice weekly for the first 3-5 weeks; then water weekly for the remainder of the year until winter. When you water, water very slowly and very thoroughly. The water needs to reach to the bottom of the root ball and that takes time. Watering needs may be altered due to extreme weather conditions.
How To Fertilize
Incorporate Elements Starter Plant food granular form into the soil when planting. If planting in spring or summer start fertilizing late fall using Elements Starter Plant food granular form on an annual basis each late year. Continue this for three years to get your plant well established.
How To Prune
Each fall, just before winter sets in clean up the previous years foliage and compost it. Be sure your perennials are mulched well for winter protection. Two inches of an organic mulch will do the job. Consider leaving the plant debris in place through the winter and doing your clean up on the weather warms in the spring. While it doesn't make things neat and tidy, the debris provides overwintering protection for insects, their eggs and pupae including our native Viceroy butterfly.