Diversity is essential to long term prairie success. At Duffy Meadows, we have 48 species seeded into our native prairie. Instead of looking at a long list of latin names, I decided to create a photo guide for identifying these prairie plants. Below are the guides to the plants we seeded in 2016 and the percentages used.
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| Wet Prairie Zone |
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| Dry/Mesic Prairie Forbs |
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| Dry/Mesic Prairie Forbs |
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| Dry/Mesic Prairie Forbs |
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| Dry/Mesic Prairie Forbs |
In addition to the plants that we seeded, there are other native plants growing on the property that have or will seed themselves into the prairie – along with a few sporadic extras added by us. As they become more prominent – and we determine which plants survive long term – I will compile a list of all the plants we are working with and which have proven to be important forage plants.
We are aiming to create a habitat that allows forage for all seasons (especially the late fall season in zone 4a) with adequate pollen and nectar for a large apiary. We want the bees to stay on our property (though no animals respect arbitrary property lines) and plan to accomplish this by having the best quality/quantity of forage plants on our land.
We are anxiously awaiting the spring thaw to see which plants will emerge and how full the prairie will become – finally bringing bees onto the property is incumbent on the prairies success.
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