Wildflower plantings at the Ladd Arboretum were abuzz with bees and butterflies on Saturday during the Ecology Center’s Pollinator Fest. Orange butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is beginning to set seed, while obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana), prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya), and rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium) are in full bloom.
Here is a short guide to some of the flowers and grasses you might see in the fenced-in sunny patch along the channel banks, just beyond the Ecology Center. As they set seed, a number of these plants also provide food for birds during fall migration and over the winter months.
Ladd Arboretum Sun Flowers & Grasses (PDF)
— Wendy Pollock
