A RELIABLE LIST OF FORBS FOR GRASSY SITUATIONS
Forbs (wildflowers) are important in prairie restorations. Forbs provide pollinator habitat, especially for bees, which spend the majority of their life on flowers foraging for nectar and pollen. Our recent studies have also found that forbs are important for weed control (Coming soon), and helping prairies recover from droughts (Xia et al. 2017).
It is important for prairie restoration seed mixes to include forbs in high quantities. However, forb seeds can be expensive, and should be carefully selected. It is disappointing when an expensive forb species does not establish. Many prairie seed mixes must remain cheap, but even in cheap seed mixes, managers still try to include forbs that will persist even in high grass environments. But what species are they? We recommend the following forb species if you need to establish a grassy low diversity seed mix for whatever reason. The following forbs persisted for five years in our 90% grass, 10% forb seedings.
Table 2. Forb species that persisted in the 90% grass, 10% forb plots (i.e., present in >75% of plots after five years). It is recommended that these species be used if a cheap, grassy seed mix is necessary.
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Common name of species Scientific name
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Gray-headed coneflower Ratibida pinnata
Pale purple coneflower Echinacea pallida
Golden Alexander Zizzia aurea
Oxe-eye, false sunflower Heliopsis helianthoides
Vervain Verbena stricta
Purple prairie clover Dalea purpurea
Prairie sage Artemisia ludoviciana
Common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
Rigid sunflower Helianthus pauciflorus (syn. rigidus)
Compass plant Silphium laciniatum
New England aster Symphiotrichum nova-anglae
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