Nebraska Wildflower Week is June 1-8. The week shines a spotlight on Nebraska’s unique and diverse native wildflower species. The week will also include the ribbon cutting of the freshly planted Scotts Bluff County Courthouse Pollinator Garden in Gering. The Master Gardeners and 4-H members invite the public to the ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 6.
Pale Purple Coneflowers and Purple Coneflowers have been planted together to give many weeks of coneflower blooms. The Pale Purple Coneflower, a Nebraska native, grows up to three feet tall and has very pale purple to pink flowers. It blooms in early summer when only a few of the sun-loving plants are in bloom and provides nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies, and the leaves provide food for the Ottoe-skipper butterfly larvae.
The Purple Coneflower is a prairie classic, with a fibrous root system and short woody rhizomes. It is a drought-tolerant perennial that is also deer resistant. The flowers are a golden red to purple and may release a slight fragrance in strong sunlight. They are much-loved by bees. Blooms appear June-September, and some Purple Coneflowers may re-bloom in the fall, especially if dead-headed early on. Echinacea purpurea matures to four feet in height.
Also in the garden is the Narrow-leaved Coneflower, a showy perennial of dry prairies and rocky barrens in the tallgrass prairie and Great Plains regions. Its flowers are similar to the more commonly planted Purple Coneflower. The threatened Ottoe Skipper butterfly's life cycle depends greatly on native coneflowers, and drier prairie grasses such as Little Bluestem, Side-oats Grama, and Prairie Dropseed. This flower is deer-resistant and attracts many pollinators. It is also drought-tolerant.
The June 6 ribbon cutting is also part of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum Wildflower Week.
