Native Plants

Over hundreds of years people have been bringing plants to the United States from other continents. These non-native plants have been valued for their culinary and medicinal purposes or their sheer beauty. While useful, many of these plants escape the garden and become a problem. Non-natives can be very aggressive. Because they have no naturally occurring pests to keep them in check, they may move into disturbed soils, take over the native plants in their path, and leave a landscape populated largely by one or two species of European and Asian origin. The diversity found in a delicate web of native prairie plants thriving together in a unique ecosystem is often destroyed. Today, less than one percent of our original prairies remain.

The native prairie plants grown at Morning Sky Greenery are beautiful and uniquely adapted to growing in the prairie and transitional regions of the upper Midwest. They have built-in defense mechanisms which allow them to thrive in their natural environment. These plants are vigorous and exceptionally hardy. They tolerate harsh winds, periodic drought, and severe winter weather. When planted in a natural setting, native plants are resistant to insect infestations and plant diseases. Most of them are long lived perennials that come back from the same root system year after year. Some of them are annuals which live one season and produce large amounts of seed; or biennials that have a two year life cycle and produce seeds the second year. Once established, these plants are maintained with little effort.