Please Follow Us At Our New Blog Ion Exchange Native Seed & Plant Nursery
IonXchange Native Seed & Plant Nursery
“All About Native Seed And Plants”
Click Here to Follow Our New Blog
Please Follow Us At Our New Blog Ion Exchange Native Seed & Plant Nursery
IonXchange Native Seed & Plant Nursery
“All About Native Seed And Plants”
Click Here to Follow Our New Blog
Seed Cleaning is in full swing at Ion Exchange, Inc., “Native Seed & Plant Nursery“
Fanning Mills are a Critical Element In Cleaning Native Seeds
There are many steps in the process of cleaning native seeds. Each step needs to be understood if you are interested in cleaning your own seed or if you are just curious.
The fanning mill is an old invention but most farmers owned fanning mills to clean their clover seed and oats. However, they are also very effective in eliminating chaff and unwanted weed seeds from native seeds. Usually there are two screens in the mill on a shaker. In older days they were hand cranked to operate but now we have electricity. In the beginning, only one screen was used at a time and held with both hands while shaking back and forth. If the holes were the correct size, the seed would fall through and leave the chaff on top of the screen. We started cleaning our seed this way until we were able to purchase an old 2B Clipper Fanning Mill.
Hand Operated Fanning Mill
Hand Screens
Take a look at a short video of one of our fanning mills.
For All Your Native Wildflowers & Seeds Visit Our Website at Native Wildflowers & Seeds from Ion Exchange, Inc.
Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema Triphyllum) – Very distinctive spathe (hooded floral leaf) being green or purple brown and often striped, it folds over and shelters the spadix. The flowers are very tiny and actually appear at the base of the spadix. The fruit of this species is every bit as striking as the “flower”; it is a cluster of scarlet berries visible above the woodland floor from a long way off. Jack-in-the-pulpits have both male and female parts, but if the plant is young or weak, only the male parts will be fertile. The female parts are fertile only on older, stronger plants.
The plant resembles a minister in an old fashioned pulpit. Reaches 1 to 3 feet and prefers richly-soiled woods and swamps; found throughout the entire central US and into the east to the Appalachians. It is becoming increasingly rare in some areas. Deer Resistent.
Araceae Family – “Jack-in-the-pulpit, Northern Jack-in-the-pulpit, Small Jack-in-the-pulpit, Swamp Jack-in-the-pulpit, Woodland Jack-in-the-pulpit, Indian Turnip, Green Dragon, Brown Dragon, Dragon Root, Dragonroot, Dragon Plant, Dragon Turnip, March Turnip, Meadow Turnip, Indian Turnip, Wild Turnip, Swamp Turnip, Pepper Turnip, Wild pepper, Starch Plant, Starchwort, Memory Root, American Arum, Thrice-leaved Arum, Devil’s Ear, Priest’s Pintle, Wake-robin, Bog Onion, Cuckoo Plant, Lords and Ladies”.
Arisaema from the Greek aris, a kind of arum and haema, meaning “blood”. Triphyllum is Latin meaning “three leaves”.
Another species that provided a multitude of uses to Native Americans and early settlers, Arisaema triphyllum is probably best remembered as a youthful dare. My first Boy Scout camping trip was highlighted by a challenge to taste the root juice and see if it was sweet or sour. It was, flat out, the hottest, stinging sensation my mouth has ever experienced. In fact, to this day, I still await my revenge on the perpetrator of this “hazing”. (The sensation was caused by the high concentration of calcium oxalate present in the root.)
Some Native Americans used this species to treat sore eyes, others to treat headache with an external application of the powdered root to the temples. It was also used broadly to treat snakebite, ringworm, stomach gas, rheumatism, asthma and many other disorders.
One central Iowa tribe (the Meskwaki) even used it in a form of “guerilla” warfare. Meat would be cooked with the root of Jack-in-the-pulpit, then left along a trail in hopes that their enemies would partake of it. If they did, the high concentration of calcium oxalate would sicken them, with death occasionally resulting.
Edible Uses:
Tuber – it must be thoroughly dried or cooked before being eaten. The roots can be cut into very thin slices and allowed to dry for several months, after which they are eaten like potato chips, crumbled to make a cereal or ground into a cocoa-flavoured powder for making biscuits, cakes etc. They can also be pounded into a powder, this is thern left to dry for several weeks when it becomes safe to use. The root is up to 5cm long and 2cm wide. Caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.
Other Uses:
“A starch obtained from the roots is used as a stiffener for clothes. It is very harsh to the hands, causing blisters and swellings. The seeds have been used in rattles.”
To Purchase This Native Wildflower Visit Us At
Native Wildflowers & Seeds from
Ion Exchange, Inc.
“helping you create your own natural beauty”
Hbright@IonXchange.com
Posted in Live Plant Plugs, Native Plant and Seed Nursery, Native Plants, native wildflowers, Perennial Plants, Wildflowers and Native Grasses
Tagged Araceae Family, Arisaema Triphyllum, Edible Plants, Jack in the Pulpit, Native American Plants, native seeds, native wildflowers, Plant, Root Plants, wildflowers
OENOTHERA PILOSELLA | Prairie Sundrops
Product Description: Prairie Sundrops are bushy plants that have flower clusters or hairy buds atop hairy stems. Flowers are bright yellow, 2″ wide and have four large petals, large showy stamens, and fine white or transparent lines that radiate outward from the center of the flower.
Sun Exposure: Prairie, Savanna; Soil Moisture: Wet Mesic, Dry Mesic; Bloom Time: Summer, Fall; Bloom Color: Yellow; Max Height: 2 Feet.
To Purchase OENOTHERA PILOSELLA | Prairie Sundrops Please Visit Our Website At Native Wildflowers & Seeds from Ion Exchange, Inc.
Posted in Native Grasses, Native Plant and Seed Nursery, Native Plants, Native Prairies, native wildflowers, Perennial Plants, Prairie Plants, Wildflowers and Native Grasses
Tagged Bushy Plants, Large Plants, native seeds, native wildflowers, Oenothera Pilosella, Plant, Prairie Plants, Prairie Sundrops, Yellow Flowers, Yellow Wildflowers
Royal catchfly can reach 4 feet tall and with brilliant scarlet flowers blooming from June to September it can be spotted from a long way off. Stems are usually unbranched below the flowers and feels hairy and slightly clammy to the touch. Becoming less frequent but locally abundant in some mesic prairies and oak savannas. Very scattered in the southern ranges of the Tallgrass prairie region.
Sun Exposure: Prairie, Savanna
Soil Moisture: Mesic, Dry Mesic
Bloom Time: Summer (July, August)
Bloom Color: Red
Max Height: 4 Feet
Wetland Code: UPL
Germ Code: C(60)
Seeds Per Ounce: 23,000
To Purchase This Native Wildflower Please Visit Our Website At Native Wildflowers & Seeds from Ion Exchange, Inc.
Posted in Flower Pictures, Native Plant and Seed Nursery, Native Plants, native wildflowers, Perennial Garden, Perennial Plants, Wildflower Garden, Wildflower Photography, Wildflowers and Native Grasses
Tagged Flowers, native, native seeds, native wildflowers, Red Flowers, Royal Catchfly, Seeds, Silene regia, Summer Blooming Flowers, Tall Flowers, wildflowers
Earthyman shows Ohio Spiderwort – Tradescantia ohioensis blooming at Ion Exchange native seed and plant nursery. Spiderwort blooms in June and may bloom again in the fall.
Slender, erect stems, often with a purple tinge. Flowers are blue to purple, occasionally white and appear in dense clusters at the tops of the stems. Leaves are long and quite like those of an Iris. Found in dry to mesic praires and savannas and along roadsides and railroads. Relatively common to all but the northwest portions of the Tallgrass biome.
Seeds and plants and be purchased our Website Native Wildflowers & Seeds
Posted in Gardening, Live Plant Plugs, Native Grasses, Native Plant and Seed Nursery, Native Plants, Native Prairies, native wildflowers, Perennial Plants, Prairie Plants
Tagged Earthyman, Native Seed, native seeds, native wildflowers, Nursery, Ohio Spiderwort, Plant Nursery, Purple Flowers, Spiderwort, Tallgrass, Tradescantia Ohioensis
Enhanced Bird Feeding Station Video Using Dormant Native Plant Material
Earthyman explains about how to build an enhanced bird feeding station using dormant native plant material. Here he’s used White Wild Indigo (Baptisia leucantha) from Native Wildflowers and Seeds. http://www.nativewildflowersandseeds.com
ANEMONE PATENS | Pasque Flower
Pasque Flower (Anemone patens) – Found in all prairie regions from the Arctic Circle to the Southern United States. It is the earliest of all prairie flowers blooming in March and April. Grows from 2 inches to 16 inches and sports a single blue, purple or white flower on a long, thin stem. Pasque flowers do not have true petals; instead it is the sepals that give the flower color.
Ranunculaceae Family – From the Greek term anemone, meaning “wind” which probably refers to seed distribution or perhaps because the delicate stems and leaves sometimes appear to tremble in the wind and patens, meaning “spreading”.
Medicinal Uses:
Pasque Flower was one of the native prairie species that was included on the official United States pharmacopoeia catalog from 1882 to 1918 because of its diuretic, expectorant and menstrual-inducing qualities. Native Americans used this species for treating the pain of rheumatism and other painful conditions. It was used as a diaphoretic, a diuretic and as a salve or wash to treat boils, burns and sore eyes. Healing of wounds was often accelerated using the entire plant, dried and ground, applied to the wound. Great caution was used when using this species as a medicine because it contains alkaloids that can cause depression, nervousness and intestinal distress
WARNING:
It should be noted that Pasque flower is poisonous. It is extremely irritating both internally and externally and use of this plant should be avoided.
To Purchase This Spring Blooming Plant Please Visit Our Website at Native Wildflowers & Seeds from Ion Exchange, Inc.
Posted in Flower Photography, Flower Pictures, Gardening, Native Plant and Seed Nursery, Native Prairies, native wildflowers, Perennial Garden, Perennial Plants, Wildflower Garden, Wildflower Photography, Wildflowers and Native Grasses
Tagged Anemone Patens, Medicinal Flowers, native seeds, native wildflowers, Pasque Flower, Plants, Prairie Flowers, Spring Flowers, wildflowers
AMORPHA FRUTICOSA | False Indigo
Product Description
False Indigo (Amorpha Fruiticosa) is common in moist prairie thickets and along streams and rivers in prairies throughout the Tallgrass Region. Not as common east of Illinois. Large, bushy shrubs can reach 10 feet, generally 5 to 6 feet. Blooms from late spring to midsummer. Also known as Desert False Indigo, Indigobush, and Indigo Bush.
Amorpha from the Greek amorphos meaning “without shape” which refers to the flower having only one petal. Legume.
Plant Family: Fabaceae
Sun Exposure Savanna, Prairie
Soil Moisture Mesic, Wet Mesic, Dry Mesic
Bloom Time Late Spring, Summer
June, July, August
Bloom Color Purple
Max. Height 10 Feet
Wetland Code FACW+
Germ Code C(10), I
Seeds Per Packet 100
Seeds Per Ounce 3,700
Edible Uses: The crushed fruit is used as a condiment.
Medicinal Uses: No known medicinal uses reported.
To Purchase This Spring Blooming Wildflower Visit Us At Our Website Native Wildflowers & Seeds from Ion Exchange, Inc.
Posted in Gardening, Native Grasses, Native Plant and Seed Nursery, Native Prairies, native wildflowers, Perennial Garden, Perennial Plants, Wildflowers and Native Grasses
Tagged Amorpha fruticosa, Blooming Flowers, False Indigo, Flower, Flowers, Illinois, Ion Exchange, Ion Exchange Inc, Mesic habitat, native seeds, native wildflower, Plant, prairie, Purple Flowers, Seed, Silphium integrifolium, Spring Blooming Flowers, wildflower