Richard D. Wood These plants are best suited to be left in the back roads.

Benjamin Vogt Why do you say that, Richard? It is not invasive and is a prairie native that sustains masses of wildlife. Its value to the environment is massive. I've grown mine in a 1500' garden for years.

Sigrid This looks remarkably like a plant I have that has to be regularly pulled up to avoid choking out other stuff. It's pretty and it spreads, but if you don't watch out, in a few years, it will take over.

Benjamin Vogt Sigrid, that seems strange. Seriously folks--I have this in my backyard garden, and for 6 years I've not seen one seedling. Of course, often there are native prairie plants that can be "aggressive" (just like many more which are nonnative) because we have put in a foreign monoculture of lawn and a 19th century English ideal of what a landscape should be, not letting the natural landscapes thrive and clean the water, enrich the soil, or provide for the native wildlife. If you live in the Plains states I encourage you to re-see and rethink your landscape as native populations of insects dwindle--populations which feed songbird babies in droves (songbirds are also on the downturn, losing 1-3% of their populations each year due to habitat loss, scarcity of food resources, and over-reliance on chemicals in landscapes).

ursulav I love this plant. I wish it WOULD seed more--it tends to get lost in the asters, and it's spectacular in bloom.

Sigrid Benjamin
I may have a different plant. It's tough to tell, given that it's winter and I can't look at it. I've kept some of it, but I removed plenty to give my mildewy peonies some fresh air and room. I like natives and when I lived in England, the gardens I admired were those that enhanced nature, not replaced it. My yard has great bones. A lot of old specimen trees, and gardens overrun by the same weedy perennials.

I've never used chemicals, but my experience in Russia has left me with no enthusiasm for buggy meadows. Mowing keeps the horseflies and ticks away and both are real problems in the countryside outside of Moscow, as is tick-borne encephalitis.

Benjamin Vogt Sigrid, I used to have a bad mosquito problem, then as my garden grew up and attracted birds and (neatest of all) droves of dragonflies, the mosquitoes went away. I think this is the benefit of an extensive garden (though mine is only 1500' square), one that is rich and full and vibrant with life seen and unseen. I'm not trying to diminish your experiences at all, just writing this down for anyone in the future about the potential benefit of thick planting (another benefit is much less invasive weed competition and soil moisture conservation). Did you live near the steppes then? That environment very closely resembles the great plains. My ancestors came from the Black Sea region and were wheat farmers.

Dar Eckert It looks like one to plant out on our farm, lotsa wetlands & space. Any idea where I could buy some?

Benjamin Vogt Dar, looks like you're in Minnesota, so if you can't find it at a local nursery, I'd mail order it from Prairie Moon Nursery (southern MN) or Prairie Nursery (western WI) -- both nurseries specialize in native prairie and have healthy plants I used when I was starting my garden here in Nebraska. Go Gophers! (I grew up in the TC)

Dar Eckert Thanks but it's MSUM Dragons (Moorhead, MN) for me.

ZH Design This is a plant I must admit, I have not used a lot, but always seems to be in my limelight. I love the flowers when they're in bloom. They are reminiscent to me of rockets shooting off. And it is an exceptional plant to remind us that not all perennials should be cut down before winter, not just for wildlife and ecology reasons, but aesthetic purposes as well. The seedheads are so dramatic, especially covered with frost. I have found it most stunning when the flowers can be shown off against a darker backdrop and the dark seedheads amongst the ambers of ornamental grasses.

Benjamin Vogt Zach, the way you describe it is right on the money!

Sigrid @Benjamin

Moscow's in Central Russia, far from the steppes. It's north of the fertile black earth zone of the south, too. I have alkaline clay --- in fact, when you dig deep, the clay is so clay-ey that we stuck it in the bonfire and got something that holds water.

However, the veronicastrum is in my Maine garden. I plan to make the gardens more lush in Maine, but I have to contend with a lot of shade and tree roots. I have a copper beech, which is probably hundreds of years old and one of the biggest in the area, but my yard isn't big. I also have a butternut, with a trunk that is easily 5 feet in diameter.