These are all plants that grow on our property, some native to the land and some not native but growing quite happily. In order to grow contentedly these plants must be able to handle cold in the winter, heat and dry weather in summer, wind and sandy or gravely soil.
Common name: Arrow- leaved balsamroot
Latin name: Balsamorhiza sagittata
Bloom time: Early spring
Native or not: Native
Notes: Perennial
Huge arrow shaped leaves, yellow flowers. All parts of the plant can be eaten. Deer and elk eat it.
Common name: Chocolate lily
Latin name: Fritillaria Lanceolata
Bloom time: Spring
Native or not: Native
Notes: Perennial
Hard to find. Often hides under other plants.
Common name: Saskatoon berry
Latin name: Amelanchier Alnifolia
Bloom time: Fragrant flowers in spring with delicious fruit in the summer
Native or not: Native
Notes: Perennial
A shrub to small tree growing up to 5 meters tall. Abundant and very happy. It feeds both animals and people. Another common name is Serviceberry.
Common name: Mountain harebell
Latin name: Campanula Lasiocarpa
Bloom time: Early spring
Native or not: Native
Notes: Perennial
Low to the ground, grows on stony slopes, has bell-shaped flowers. Lovely.
Common name: Paintbrush, Indian Paintbrush or Prairie-fire
Latin name: Castilleja
Bloom time: Spring
Native or not: Native
Notes: Perennial
Family name: Figwort. Eye-catching with brilliant red blooms. A semi-parasite plant, the Paintbrush needs a host plant in order to survive, usually a type of grass.
Common name: Brown-eyed Susan, blanket flower
Latin name: Gaillardia Aristata
Bloom time: Late spring, summer
Native or not: Native
Notes: Perennial
Family name: sunflower.
Common name: Mexican hat, Upright Prairie Coneflower, Thimble Flower
Latin name: Ratibida Columnifera
Bloom time: July, August
Native or not: Not native
Notes: Perennial
Drought resistant with colorful flower heads resembling the traditional broad-brimmed, high-centered hat worn during Mexican fiestas. Part of the aster family. Naturalizes readily.
Common name: Elfin Creeping Thyme
Latin name: Thymus praecox “Elfin”
Bloom time: Late spring, summer
Native or not: Not native
Notes: Perennial
Family name: sunflower. Elfin Thyme, only about 2 inches tall, is smothered in stunning lavender flowers from early to mid summer. It’s attractive tiny fragrant round leaves remain grayish green in colour throughout the year.
Common name: Flax
Latin name: Linum Perenne Lewsii
Bloom time: Late spring, summer
Native or not: Not native
Notes: Perennial
Family name: sunflower. A good xeriscape plant.
Common name: Spirea
Latin name: Spirea japonica
Bloom time: Late spring, summer
Native or not: Not native
Notes: Perennial
Family name: Rosaceae. A Japanese cultivar, it is an upright, rounded, deciduous shrub which typically forms a compact mound to 24″ tall. Pink flowers appear in late spring to mid-summer. Attractive to butterflies. Its leaves take on attractive red hues in fall.
Common name: Feather Reed Grass – Karl Foerster
Latin name: Calamagrostis Acutiflora
Bloom time: Early summer
Native or not: Not native
Notes: Perennial
A versatile ornamental grass with slender, upright, deep-green foliage. It has a clumping form with purplish-green, feathery plumes that turn golden in summer. Deer & drought tolerant & does not self-seed. Just beautiful all year long.
Common name: Crested wheatgrass
Latin name: Agropyron Cristatum
Bloom time: Spring
Native or not: Not native
Notes: Perennial
A. cristatum is a densely tufted grass introduced for forage & erosion control from Russia. Deer, elk & birds eat it & it can be used for hay production. It is long lived, between 1′-3′ tall, not overly invasive and produces stunning, golden heads. Looks great in our gardens and all over the property.
Common name: Wild Roses: Prickly rose
Latin name: Rosa Acicularis
Bloom time: Mildly fragrant flowers in June with hips in late July/August
Native or not: Native
Notes: Perennial
A lovely shrub growing to about 1. 5 meters tall. The hips, which are very high in vitamin C, feed many animals and people – Maya sometimes makes rose hip jams and jellies. Acicularis means prickly in Latin.
Common name: Mariposa lily
Latin name: Calochortus Macrocarpus
Bloom time: Summer
Native or not: Native
Notes: Perennial
Strikingly lovely flower. Mariposa means butterfly in Spanish. No longer commonly found though we had more this year than in previous years.
Common name: Lavender most commonly known as English lavender or Hidcote
Latin name: Lavandula angustifolia
Bloom time: Fragrant flowers in summer
Native or not: Not Native (native to the Mediterranean – Spain, France, Italy, Croatia etc.)
Notes: Perennial, self-seeding
This is one of the most cold-hardy of Lavenders and is also drought & deer resistant. Sun-loving plants that that love hot, dry weather. The flowers and leaves are used as herbal medicines either in the form of oil or as an herbal tea. The flowers are also used as a culinary herb, most often as part of the French herb blend called herbes de Provence.
Other common uses:
Lavender essential oil, handmade soap, bath oils, etc. Dried lavender flowers and lavender essential oil are also used as deterrence against moths which do not like their scent.