The document discusses the importance of using native Illinois wildflowers in home gardens, highlighting their benefits for local wildlife and lower maintenance needs. It provides various strategies for planting, including considerations for color, bloom time, and soil conditions, along with a comprehensive list of native plant species. It also includes information on natural areas in Illinois and emphasizes the necessity of conserving native flora for future generations.

1. Illinois Wildflowers for
the Home Garden
by Christopher David Benda
Home, Lawn, and
Garden Day
March 4, 2017

2. CHRISTOPHER DAVID BENDA, M.S.
Past President
Illinois Native Plant Society
Instructor, Flora of Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois University
Instructor
The Morton Arboretum
Technical Expert Consultant
Illinois Endangered Species
Protection Board
Plant Ecologist
Illinois Natural History Survey
Instructor – Master Naturalist
Somme Woods – Cook County
Illinois Environmental Council

3. www.illinoisbotanizer.com

4. Become a
member
today!

5. Kankakee Mallow (Iliamna remota), IL-E
Annual Gathering
Augustana College
Rock Island, IL
June 2 -4, 2017

6. Illinois Botany Facebook group
Illinois Botanists Big Year Competition

7. What are natural areas and nature preserves?
Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI)
Category I – High Quality Natural Communities
Category II – Threatened and Endangered Species
Category III – Natural Preserve
Category IV – Geologic Features
Category VI – Unusual Concentration of Flora or Fauna
(High Quality Streams)
Category I – High Quality Natural Communities
Category II – Threatened and Endangered Species
Category III – Natural Preserve
Category IV – Geologic Features
Category VI – Unusual Concentration of Flora or Fauna
(High Quality Streams)

8. 0.07% in a natural condition

10. Illinois Natural Areas Inventory Update
the numbers:
19 counties
685 potential natural areas
33,727 photos taken
56,828 miles driven
632/984 days in the field

11. George B. Fell – Natural Land Institute
“We are living at the time of man’s final conquest over the wilderness.
What we have saved, and what we may save in the next few years, will be
all the true wild nature that will remain to pass on from generation to
generation in the years ahead. There will never be another chance.”

12. Illinois Glaciation

13. Illinois Natural Divisions
1. Wisconsin Driftless
2. Rock River Hill Country
3. Northeastern Morainal
4. Grand Prairie
5. Western Forest-Prairie
6. Illinois/Mississippi River Sand Areas
7. Upper Mississippi/Illinois River Bottomlands
8. Middle Mississippi Border
9. Lower Mississippi River Bottomlands
10. Southern Till Plain
11. Wabash Border
12. Ozarks
13. Shawnee Hills
14. Coastal Plain

15. Why use native plants?
1. Support native wildlife
2. Adapted to region
3. Less maintenance
4. Cheaper
EVOLUTION

16. Strategies for planting
1. Color
2. Bloom time
3. Species adapted for soil/light conditions
4. Ferns, grasses, shrubs

17. Plant Identification

18. Plant Identification

19. Plant Resources for Southern Illinois
Field Guide Books & Websites

20. Plant Resources for Southern Illinois
Field Guide Books & Websites

22. Common & Variegated (Asclepias syriaca & A. variegata)

23. Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

24. White Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias perennis)

25. Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

26. Prairie Milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii)

27. Tall Green & Horsetail (Asclepias hirtella & A. verticillata)

28. Green & Green-flowered (Asclepias
viridiflora & A. viridis)

29. Poke & Purple (Asclepias exaltata & A.
purpurescens)

30. Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias quadrifolia)

31. Mead’s & Oval-leaved Milkweed (Asclepias meadii & ovalifolia)

32. Climbing Milkweed – Matelea gonocarpos

33. Climbing Milkweed – Matelea obliqua

34. Illinois Beach Nature Preserve – Lake County

35. Bird’s-foot Violet (Viola pedata)

36. Queen-of-the-Prairie (Filipendula rubra), IL-T

37. Prairie Gentian (Gentiana puberulenta)

38. Prairie Lily (Lilium philadelphicum)

39. Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense)

40. White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)

41. Wild Hyacinth (Camassia scilloides)

42. Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)

43. Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)

44. Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)

45. Canada Milkvetch (Astragalus canadensis)

46. Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)

47. White Wild Indigo Bush (Baptisia alba)

48. Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)

49. Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana)

50. Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa)

51. Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis)

52. New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)

53. Cleft Phlox (Phlox bifida)

54. Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis)

55. Blue Sage (Salvia azurea var. grandiflora), IL-T

56. Royal Catchfly (Silene regia)

57. Leafy Prairie Clover (Dalea foliosa), Fed-E, IL-E

58. Nachusa Grasslands – Lee and Ogle counties

59. Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera leucophaea), Fed-T, IL-E

60. Shoe Factory Road Prairie Nature Preserve – Cook County

61. Bluff Spring Fen Nature Preserve – Cook County

62. Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve – Will County

63. Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve

64. Glade Coneflower - Echinacea simulata

66. Weston Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve – McLean County

67. Prairie Soil Conservation

68. Munson Township Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve – Henry County

69. Prospect Cemetery Nature Preserve – Ford County

70. Dead River – Illinois Beach Nature Preserve

71. Blue Flag Iris & Copper Iris (Iris schrevei & I. fulva)

72. Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

73. Spiderlily (Hymenocallis caroliniana)

74. Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

76. Deer Grove West – Cook County

77. White Trillium – Trillium flexipes

78. Red Trillium (Trillium erectum), IL-E

79. Liverleaf (Hepatica acutiloba)

80. Dwarf Larkspur– Delphinium tricorne

81. Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata)

82. Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium reptans)

83. Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

84. Celandine Poppy – Stylophorum diphyllum

85. Wild Columbine – Aquilegia canadensis

86. Doll’s Eyes (Actaea pachypoda)

87. Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

88. Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

89. Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)

90. Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus)

91. Asters (Symphyotrichum spp.)

92. Busse Forest Nature Preserve – Cook County

93. Merwin Savanna Nature Preserve – McLean County

94. Spitler Woods Nature Preserve – Macon County

95. Simpson Township Barrens

96. Piney Creek Ravine Nature Preserve

97. Piney Creek Ravine Nature Preserve

98. Starved Rock State Park – LaSalle County

99. Small-flowered Fameflower (Phemeranthus parviflorus), IL-T

100. Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens)

101. Widow’s Cross (Sedum pulchellum)

102. Wild Orpine (Sedum telephioides), IL-T

103. Don’t forget about the fern, grasses, and shrubs!

104. Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea)

105. Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

106. Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

107. Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)

108. Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia)

109. Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra)

110. American Strawberry Bush (Euonymus americanus)

111. Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica)

112. Black Haw (Viburnum prunifolium)

113. Bladdernut (Staphylea trifoliata)

114. Silverbells (Halesia tetraptera)

115. Wild Azalea - Rhododendron prinophyllum

116. botanizer@gmail.com
www.illinoisbotanizer.com
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