chicagoland grows® Plant Introduction Program
Ironweeds
SUMMER’S SURRENDER
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SUMMER’S SWAN SONG
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The native ironweeds (Vernonia species) are important pollinator plants in natural habitats throughout the eastern and central United States. They are easy to cultivate, yet relatively few garden cultivars have been developed, no doubt due to their often rangy habits and robust sizes. Dr. Jim Ault at the Chicago Botanic Garden has tamed their wild ways! By combining the best traits of different species, we have developed garden worthy selections that not only bloom for all of September, attracting a plethora of pollinators, but are more uniform, durable, and disease-resistant than the wild ironweeds.
Chicagoland Grows® is an innovative plant introduction program developed to promote the use of new plant cultivars that are well-adapted to the growing conditions of the Upper Midwest. While regional in focus, the program’s plants can be grown successfully in all zone-appropriate regions of North America, Europe and around the world. Chicagoland Grows® is a corporate partnership among the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Morton Arboretum and the Ornamental Grower’s Association of Northern Illinois (OGA), a network of wholesale nurseries located in northeastern Illinois.
Chicagoland Grows®, Inc. Plant Introduction Program is a partnership of
