International Boulevard Garden
Local Prairie Flowers,
International Popularity

It's a puzzler.

Many American flowers that are so popular as garden flowers in Europe are dismissed here as merely wildflowers, if not weeds. That is one of the themes of what the American Horticulture Society deems "One of the Great Garden Books."

The book is Allan M. Armitage's Herbaceous Perennial Plants: A Treatise on Their Identification, Culture, and Garden Attributes. And that point is one he also makes in his earlier Native Plants for North American Gardens.  In these books he offers several examples of this situation in which American plants are "so well used and cherished there [in Europe] and so scorned and ignored here." These examples and others can be a very interesting and instructive basis for an "International Boulevard" wildflower garden.

Perhaps it is that Americans tend to have a fairly narrow perception of what goes into a serious or formal garden.  Consequently, with a few exceptions (such as purple coneflower) gardeners in the U.S. tend not to appreciate those plants that offer a mass of rich green foliage. That green foliage may be seen as an important part of the composition of gardens in Europe and other parts of the world, but in the U.S. that rich green foliage would probably be perceived as merely 'weedy.'

For example, Armitage calls Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum) "one of the architectural building blocks of British gardens."

A typical use of Joe Pye weed
in a British garden

Here in America, however, we continue to think of it as a weed -- too 'weedy' to fit into ordinary flower gardens. So botanists found a rather compact specimen of Joe Pye weed and propogated it by division so that all the resulting plants would have this smaller, less 'weedy' characteristic. They called these cultivars 'Bartered Bride' and market the plants under that name. 'Bartered Bride' is certainly a more attractive name than Joe Pye weed, but that is what 'Bartered Bride' flowers are, just Joe Pye weeds that are smaller and perhaps more showy than is typical. It is an example of one of what Armitage calls the "Barbie-dolled-up cultivars that have become acceptable to mainstream gardens" -- by sacrificing much of their interest and indivuality in the process.

Eupatorium purpureum ‘Bartered Bride’

 The praire wildflowers known as blazing stars experienced a "meteoric" rise in popularity in the 1980's, according to Armitage, largely because they were included in "Dutch mix" seed packages exported to America from Europe. The flower that is a native wildflower across much of North America became known as a "Dutch" flower and is still regarded that way in many circles. Armitage calls prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya) a "mainstay of commercial floral arrangements," and with good reason. The large cluster of flowers along the stem is a bold and dramatic statement in any floral arrangement.

     
prairie blazing star
Liatris pycnostachya

However, the plant that produces that large a flower cluster is too large and 'weedy' (about 5’ tall) to fit into some flower gardens. Other blazing stars are a little less intimidating and more popular in gardens. For example, dense blazing star (Liatris spicata) is about a foot shorter than prairie blazing star. And for those who want an even more compact plant, a more compact cultivar (with a more compact flower cluster) is available commercially as the cultivar 'Kobold.'
 
 

dense blazing star
Liatris spicata

Liatris spicata 'Kobold'

The requirement that cultivars be produced vegetatively, that is, cloned by division, from the parent plant is sometimes something of a challenge. But it is usually a necessary one. There is often no guarantee that plants grown from seeds of the parent will be identical to the parent. Just take a look at the differences between children of the same parents; they are certainly not clones of each other or of the parents.

That challenge to avoid propogating plants from seed -- along with considerable commercial pressures -- has led to an interesting case of floral identity theft.

In 1937 a German nurseryman chose a particularly compact and showy specimen of Sullivant's coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida var sullivantii) from a Czecklosovakian nursery to produce clones of and market under the name 'Goldsturm.' World War II stalled the process until 1949 when the clones of this plant became one of the most popular perennials in the world. In 1999 it was named Perennial Plant of the Year to acknowledge its immense global popularity. But along with the acclaim came the realization all these plants around the world probably could not be the clone of a single specimen. Today is it commonly assumed that most 'Goldsturm' out there have somewhere in the family tree either seed propagated plants or perhaps even regular Sullivant's coneflowers that, thanks to public demand and auspicious labeling, became 'Goldsturm.'

Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivanti
'Goldsturm'

Incidently, Sullivant's coneflower is one of a whole host of flowers that are often referred to as black-eyed Susan, so the fact that something is referred to as black-eyed Susan does not mean it is Sullivant's coneflower. As a matter of fact, Sullivant's coneflower is fairly rare (or "occasional" according to one source) throughout the Midwest. It has been documented, for example, in the natural areas of only about ten percent of the counties in Illinois.

Moreover, the ecological niche of this wildflower is narrow and not straightforward. Is it a native wildflower of the Midwest? Absolutely, no question about it. Is it a local wildflower native to your hometown or neighborhood? Probably not. Is it a quientessential prairie flower? No. Is it a prairie flower at all? That depends on how "prairie" is defined, but probably "yes" by most definitions.

In any event, one cannot mention Sullivant's coneflower without mentioning that other ubiquitous workhorse American flower, purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). As noted earlier, it is one of the few prairie plants that tends to be appreciated in all its big, lush natural splendor. It is true that botanists have tinkered with it to come up with a more compact plant or a different hued flower. A German botanist developed a cultivar purported to have a more perky shaped flower (Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus'). But by and large Americans do not seem to be particularly enthusiastic about such tinkering. Most seem content to just remain with the old garden variety -- or old prairie variety -- purple coneflower.

purple coneflower
Echinacea purpurea

A similar situation concerns two Monarda plants popularly known as bee balm. Plant breeders in Europe and Canada are constantly working to combine the hardiness and disease resistance of one of the plants, Monarda fistulosa, with the showy flowers of the other, Monarda didyma. And the results may work fairly well where the particular climate and conditions permit. But that combination of climate and conditions may merely bring out the worst in both.  Probably most gardeners in the U.S. avoid the tinkerings and either settle for the less showy but more hardy Monarda fistulosa or take a pass on the bee balms altogether.

bee balm
Monarda fistulosa

Goldenrods or Solidago are plants that Armitage says are very popular in Europe, but get relatively little respect in the U.S.  Perhaps it is because they are associated with hay fever, although that bad rap belongs to ragweed, not goldenrods.

At any rate, Americans do not seem to be as enthusiastic about experimenting with goldenrods as Europeans. One goldenrod that has become popular in recent years however is showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa). Another goldenrod, early goldenrod (Solidago juncea), is less showy, but as its name suggests, offers a very welcome bit of color a little before late summer when most prairie wildflowers come into their own.

showy goldenrod
Solidago speciosa

PHOTO CREDITS
Allen Armitage: Eupatorium purpureum ‘Bartered Bride,’ Liatris spicata 'Kobold,' Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivanti 'Goldsturm'
Ken Robertson: prairie blazing star, dense blazing star, purple coneflower, bee balm, showy goldenrod

 DOCUMENT INFORMATION
This document: http://www.illinoisprairie.info/InternatBoulevard.htm
Home page: http://www.illinoisprairie.info
Author:  Jim Fay
Comments to: JimFay@prairieInet.net
Last Update: 4/4/09