Johnsons's Garden Centers Text File document - copyright 2003 
PDF file available at http://www.johnsonsgarden.com/newsletter/gardentips.html

Garden Tips 
May 2003
Marty Johnson President, Johnson's Garden Centers & 
     Kansas Certified Nursery Professional

LEWIS AND CLARK PLANTS
    This month, I'm going to share something a little bit different with
you. It's part history and part horticulture. Having recently read
"Undaunted Courage" by Stephen E. Ambrose, I am excited about all the
plants discovered by Lewis and Clark during their exploration of the
Louisiana Purchase territory ...

    It all began in 1803 when Thomas Jefferson sent his personal
secretary, Meriwether Lewis to lead the Corps of Discovery across the
newly acquired Louisiana Territory to find an efficient route to the
Pacific Ocean. Lewis was also to observe and study new plant and animal
life. President Jefferson had a great interest in nature and thought
that "No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth."
Jefferson's botanical goals were "Objects worthy of notice will be: the
soil and the face of the country, its growth and vegetable productions,
the dates at which particular plants put forth or lose their flowers or
leaf."

    Today, the Lewis and Clark Herbarium in the Academy of Natural
Sciences in Philadelphia holds 239 botanical sheets of plants they
collected 200 years ago. Lewis is attributed to adding 176 plant species
to science.

    Listed here are just a few of the plants Lewis collected or
observed. Johnson's offers cultivars (or relatives) of the plants from
the original list that do quite well in the Wichita area. Although the
Corps of Discovery did not travel through our area, their trip from St.
Louis, up the Missouri River did take them past Kansas City.

    - Amelanchier alnifolia--Cascade Serviceberry 
    - Aquilegia Formosa--Red Columbine 
    - Arctostaphylos uva-ursi--Red Bearberry 
    - Artemisia 
    - Clematis hirsutissima 
    - Coreopsis tinctoria--Atkinson's tickseed 
    - Cornus canadensis--Canadian Bunchberry 
    - Delphinium menziesii--Puget Sound Larkspur 
    - Dryopteris carthusiana--Spinulose Wood Fern, Toothed Wood Fern 
    - Echinacea angustifolia--Purple Coneflower
    - Gaillardia aristata--Great Blanket Flower
    - Juniperus horizontalis--Creeping Juniper 
    - Juniperus scopulorum--Mountain Juniper, Rocky Mountain Red Cedar
    - Lonicera--Honeysuckle 
    - Lupinus sericeus--Silky Lupine 
    - Maclura pomifera--Osage Orange Tree, Bodark Hedge-Apple 
    - Mahonia aquifolium--Oregon Grapeholly 
    - Nicotiana quadrivalvis--Indian Tobacco 
    - Oenothera cespitosa--Tufted Evening Primrose 
    - Oligoneuron rigidum var. humile--Low Hard-leaf Flat-top Goldenrod 
    - Opuntia polyacantha--Plains Prickly-Pear Cactus 
    - Penstemon fruticosus--Shrub Beardtongue
    - Philadelphus lewisii--Lewis' Mockorange 
    - Phlox speciosa--Showy Phlox, Bush Phlox 
    - Pinus ponderosa--Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine 
    - Populus deltoides--Plains Cottonwood 
    - Potentilla fruticosa floribunda--Bush Cinquefoil 
    - Prunus virginiana--Western Chokecherry, Black Chokecherry 
    - Quercus macrocarpa--Bur Oak 
    - Sedum lanceolatum--Lance-Leaf Stonecrop

    Give several of these plants a try, to relive history from 200 years
ago. If you haven't read "Undaunted Courage" I encourage you to do so.
It follows the Corps of Discovery from start to finish. Ambrose's
writing style makes you think that you are right along with Lewis and
Clark for the journey. Also, be sure to stop by the Dyck Arboretum of
the Plains in Hesston, Kansas. They feature mostly native plants that do
well in our gardens and are similar to these Lewis and Clark plants.