b"Texas' only Harvestersof Native Little Bluestem PrairiesCritically imperiled grasslandsFRESH FRESH MILKWEED SEEDS PLANT NOW2025 MIGRATIONvaluE $b iggesto ffeRing Long ago, we dedicated our work to restoring landputting it l owestp Rice back like it was. Work and life have always been interwoven connections of all kinds. 100% Pure Native Texas Seeds Not easy for folks to watch whats coming downall the land scraped. Beautiful birds and insects going down. All the numbers Little Bluestem once dominated our tall grass prairies fromstacking up. We hear about the need. We see what could be done. Canada to Mexico. But almost everywhere that could beThen we see the cost. Believe me, I get it. How can we each do our For Wildlife Valuation, Little Bluestem qualifies as food and plowed has been plowed. Texas, the largest prairie state, haspart, when it costs so darn much ???the least acres conserved. Besides a few refuges, current-dayhabitat. The seeds are nutritious for goldfinch, quail, dove, and many mammals. Excellent ground-nesting cover for prairie sightings still find it growing on thin, infertile, highly erodibleSpent years working to solve this. Learned some hard lessons how soils.surviving harsh conditions with good land stewardshipbirds, mammals and larval food source for butterflies. most TX milkweeds just dont do well in scaled agronomic practices. Sadly, in many regions, 'Lil Blu' is almost gone.production. There is a lot to be said about domestication of native plants. As people, weve got 10,000-plus-years on corn and wheat.Dpak $12 / 200 sq ft $27 / lbLittle Bluestem was once so important for forage, the USDA For the Landscape, Little Bluestem can be grown from seed.Plant Materials Centers developed several 'improved' But milkweed? NOT SO MUCH. We know by heart, discipline is selections called cultivars, mostly taken from northern and mid Being a well-behaved 1 to 4' clump grass makes it ideal forrequired to make an honorable harvest.blue-green spring color. Later in the growing season, with nowestern prairies decades ago. Agronomists targeted selections A. asperula USDA range map with highest forage production. After years of refinement and mowing and blessed mid-summer rains .seeds begin to form.processing of cultivars and certified seeds, many naturally By autumn, rich bronze stems with frost-white, fuzzy, deworns Asclepias asperulaA ntelopeH occurring genetic adaptations are intentionally bred out to glistened seeds sparkling at sunrise helps us to remember why Named for shape of seed pods. Low growing perennial with narrow pointed leaves. Blooms Comanches fought so hard for this land. Howling cold northerscontrol uniformity. in spring and sometimes fall. Required species for the survival of Monarch butterflies. Very eventually blow seeds to the winds.where ground nesting hardy, drought tolerant and long-lived. This and other Texas native milkweed species are If local adaptability to changing environmental conditions over quail, meadowlarks or grasshopper sparrows forage for food. being rapidly lost to human population growth and land fragmentation. time is important to you .consider planting diverse Native, perennialseeding rateNon-certified seeds. Usually the best adapted seeds are bloom MarOctOpen Space 2 lb per acreFor Ag producers, 'Lil Blu' greens up a month earlier than alien coastal bermuda and provides excellent grazing untilnatives harvested reasonably close to the planting site with no height 13Lawn & Garden 1 lb / 10,000 sfsupplemental breeding or trait selecting. How close? How ever Soil TypeSunlightSoil Moisture Dpak $14 / 200 sq ft $29 / lbmaturity. Native hay meadows are low-input. 'Lil Blu' does SandLoamClayfar a buffalo can run.PartialDappledShadenot like petro-fertilizers. Good stewardship includes managedCalicheFull X Well Drainedgrazing, no late haying or short summer mowings, and Item #3068 D-Pak $241 pkt $3.49 a prescribed burn plan. Little Bluestem prairies can last150 sf10 sfperpetually.What is a Native Anyway?see centerfold8n ativEa mEricanS EEd 800 728 40438n ativEa mEricanS EEd 800 728 4043"