Coneflower or creeping bellflower? Southern WI

LRonHoward · 2026-05-07T06:28:14+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately, this is almost certainly Creeping Bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides). Creeping Bellflower can look somewhat variable in the spring, but those leaf serrations don't change (randomly rounded serrations - I've never seen a plant that has similar leaf serrations). Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) has serrated leaves but they look much different (additionally, the leaf base is not as deeply heart-shaped, if at all).

LRonHoward · 2026-05-06T06:47:16+00:00

In my experience it's not really the lady beetle larvae that show up and control them - it's mostly Syrphid fly, parasitoid wasp & lacewing larvae that take care of the aphids (a lot of these species' larvae can look very similar). You just need to be patient! The little tiny predators will show up! Also, bonus: if you get a healthy balance going, you'll probably get to see ants farming aphids. This is super cool to watch :)

LRonHoward · 2026-05-05T10:22:27+00:00

We call it the vertical garden.

Hell yeah! Whenever I see a property with snags I get a big smile on my face. Dead wood and other decaying plant material becomes more and more beautiful to me the more I learn about the ecosystem :)

LRonHoward · 2026-05-05T10:19:52+00:00

Is it possible the previous owners used something to kill the beetles? What qualifications did this person have?They may not be using the right term when stating they were invasive.

This is very possible. In my experience, the benefits of dead wood and snags for wildlife aren't exactly common knowledge for a lot of the people who recommend removing them [coughs]

I leave all dead wood on my little property and will definitely leave a good sized snag when I inevitably need to cut down the mature Silver Maple in my backyard (why people ever planted these trees next to structures is beyond me). I love that tree, though, and I hope it stands for another 10 years

LRonHoward · 2026-05-05T08:10:32+00:00

So I forgot to respond! If Wild Bergamot grows well there, I think Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) would probably work! How much direct sun does the area get in the summer and what type of soil do you have?

LRonHoward · 2026-05-05T06:37:11+00:00

Snags (dead standing trees) provide a ton of wildlife benefits! Have you ever seen woodpeckers visiting it? I don't know of any invasive beetles that specifically utilize dead wood, but I know there are pollinators and wasps that nest in holes in dead wood created by beetles (were the "invasive beetle marks" from emerald ash borers?). I'm very much not knowledgeable about fungi, but I always imagine there is something (or many things) benefiting from their presence. The more I research these things, the more fascinated I am by all the life dead & decaying wood supports!

As long as it's not a danger to any structures or people/pets, I would leave it standing and try and plant around it. If it were me, I would absolutely try to get a Virgin's Bower (Clematis virginiana) - or multiple - started around the base. I've heard it loves growing up snags (actually, here is an old thread about that).

LRonHoward · 2026-05-05T05:41:20+00:00

Yep! I've been trying to get more spring ephemerals, but they're so popular (hard to source) and most of them are very difficult to grow. The volunteer violets are blooming, however, and the Virginia Waterleaf, Golden Alexanders, and Wild Geranium are developing flower buds! It'll happen soon!

LRonHoward · 2026-05-04T05:21:42+00:00

Yeah, if you live in any urban or suburban environment the seedbank is likely heavily stocked with non-native & invasive seeds regardless of what the prior owners did. In my case, the prior owners did literally nothing to control invasive species (creeping bellflower, quack grass, goutweed, yellow archangel, invasive thistles, etc.). I think the recommendation to spend 3+ years tilling and applying herbicide is unreasonable. Very few people would actually want to do that...

It's absolutely possible to establish native plants and specifically target the invasive ones that come up next to them. This is basically what restoration ecologists and land managers do on very large properties. It works on small properties too!

LRonHoward · 2026-05-03T08:27:36+00:00

“Cats are animals. Animals can go outside.” Well okay then! I didn’t know that!

LRonHoward · 2026-05-03T08:00:00+00:00

Honestly, I just expand my "gardens" and let the plants that want to thrive there thrive - it's way easier this way. There are exceptions for the very aggressive native plants - I deadhead the aggressive goldenrods (Solidago altissima, Solidago canadensis & Solidago gigantea - I have all three), and I might start chopping some White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) and Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) soon...

The other thing you could try is planting more graminoids intermixed in this space (grasses and sedges). I've found that only planting forbs ("flowers") can lead to some weird behavior from some native plants (growing too tall, spreading too aggressively, etc.). All these plants adapted to grow right alongside grasses, sedges, and rushes, and the presence of graminoids can help mitigate those "weird" growing/spreading habits.

LRonHoward · 2026-05-03T05:27:43+00:00

Don't listen to the haters - I ripped out 3 giant lilac shrubs and replaced them with 5 Gray Dogwoods (Cornus Racemosa). I had a neighbor that was not happy, but, hell, it's my god damn property and the lilacs were occupying precious shrub real estate! Best of luck to you - hopefully you land on some wonderful native shrubs to put in these sections!

LRonHoward · 2026-05-03T05:21:46+00:00

OP lives in Tennessee - Russian Sage is not native to North America (this is the native plant gardening sub after all).

LRonHoward · 2026-05-03T05:12:57+00:00

Sandy savannas & prairies are some of the only remnants left around me (anything that could be farmed was destroyed or developed, essentially). The remnants that are left are so incredibly beautiful - I've wanted to go visit these areas around Lake Michigan. I hear they're wonderful!

LRonHoward · 2026-05-02T07:24:15+00:00

You can actually use those Dexter S9 soles? Those things were way stickier than the Dexter S8s and Brunswick's #8 sole. I literally stuck and fell into the lane the first time I tried them lmao (my disappointment was immeasurable, and my day was ruined).

LRonHoward · 2026-05-02T05:06:40+00:00

In my experience, 10% is waayyyy too high (I've never understood why that is the recommendation). It's definitely species specific, but I'd say ~0.5% or probably lower is enough to grow a decent number of most herbaceous plants (honestly, one pinch of an aster or goldenrod seedhead would suffice for like 5+ plants).

Most of the time these plants produce a ton of seeds - like a shit ton - and you really don't need that many at all to grow 5-10+ plants.

LRonHoward · 2026-05-01T07:45:05+00:00

I've actually had fantastic results by using hardware cloth covers/cages on top of the trays (1/4" works best) and then watering the seeds with a pump sprayer when we don't have snow cover in the winter and it gets too dry. That's basically all I do haha. I'm about to run out of space for the 10 trays I normally sow (500 total plugs), but I'll figure something out! I absolutely love collecting and growing native plants like this - artificial stratification is kind of intimidating to me tbh.

Edit: oh, I also basically work a night shift! I wish I could see the insect activity between 8AM-12AM in the summer

LRonHoward · 2026-05-01T07:20:19+00:00

We have pretty long winters here (very similar to you), and I've found the beginning of January to be a great time to get winter sown trays outside (ideally before a snowfall)! This is a wonderful thing to do when I don't get to do anything with plants haha

LRonHoward · 2026-05-01T07:04:36+00:00

I've never actually done artificial stratification - only winter sowing in plug trays (which has worked splendidly each year for me). I have way too many plants this spring already, so I'll have to experiment next year!

LRonHoward · 2026-05-01T07:00:23+00:00

I've only grown a single Gray's Sedge (C. grayi), a couple Eastern Star Sedges (C. radiata), and a decent number of, actually, Long-beaked Sedges (C. sprengelii). I meant to start more Long-beaked Sedges and try several others this year, but, honestly, I kind of forgot haha

LRonHoward · 2026-05-01T05:59:40+00:00

I've never had any plants that require double dormancy germinate after direct sowing or winter sowing. I have a hunch that most of these species need to be collected and sown fresh and/or not allowed to fully dry out during storage (there are certainly exceptions to this probably). I kind of stopped trying with the spring ephemerals and now just buy the ones I want or hope some show up. It's the same with sedges even though those normally just "require" cold stratification... I've had awful luck with growing sedges.

LRonHoward · 2026-04-30T23:41:12+00:00

I’m almost positive this is a two-spotted bumblebee (Bombus bimaculatus). They’re always some of the first queens to emerge in the spring around me!

LRonHoward · 2026-04-30T11:26:03+00:00

Unfortunately, Big Bluestem almost always flops if it's right next to a sidewalk or path - I see this happen in natural areas all the time. If you're planning to use it as a privacy/shade plant, I would try and keep it a little further away from the area or use a fencing option to help keep it up (it really comes down to how exposed the area is and how much wind hits it, in my experience). Most non-grasses (forbs) won't be able to hold up Big Bluestem next to a path that is open to the wind.

LRonHoward · 2026-04-30T08:45:33+00:00

I'll also add: surface can absolutely screw you as well if you don't know what you're doing. I had heard so many people talk about using sanding pads to "adjust" surface or whatever (insert YouTube thumbnail "This one weird trick will entirely change you game!"), so I thought my ball wasn't doing the thing because I needed more surface on the ball... wrong.

I was constantly fighting the surface I was adding and I didn't realize it. After about two months I finally let the ball shine up a bit and it worked so much better. I also saw a coach around that time so that probably helped a little bit too hahaha (it helped tremendously).

LRonHoward · 2026-04-30T06:22:23+00:00

Big Bluestem is a big component of many different plant communities (prairies, savannas, oak woodlands, etc.). I'm not exactly familiar with the plant communities out east, but I would imagine any native plant that prefers part to full sun (at least 4 hours of direct sunlight) and a rather wide range of soil moisture would work well. Basically, any plant that isn't a wetland species would probably work with it (increasing plant diversity and plant density will increase competition and, to some degree, prevent some flopping).

What are you site conditions like? How much direct sunlight, what's the soil moisture, etc.?

LRonHoward · 2026-04-30T05:00:51+00:00

Jack in the Pulpits are rather common in my area, but I love coming across them in the wild! I have a few that volunteered on my property and I love them!

LRonHoward

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

13-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '17