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Wildflowers For Indiana Highways, Michael N. Dana, Ricky Darrell Kemery, Brian S. Boszor

JTRP Technical Reports

Questions concerning wildflower usage on Indiana highway rights-of-way were investigated. Native prairie wildflower seed quality was found to be highly variable among supply companies, species, and years. Less variability was found among “garden” wildflower species and suppliers. Direct seeding was found to be successful with six species of native prairie forbs: Butterfly Milkweed Asclepiads tuberose, Wild Bergamot Monarda fistulosa, New England Aster Aster novae-angliae, Pale-purple Coneflower Echinacea pallida, Gray-headed Coneflower Ratibido pinnota, Ironweed Vernonia fasciculosa. Five species of “garden” wildflowers performed well: Common Cosmos Cosmos bipinnatus, Yellow Cosmos Cosmos sulphureus, Cornflower Centaurea cyanus, Goldenwave Coreopsis sincioria, Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hiria. …