One might wonder about the need for another guide to prairie plants when so many excellent volumes are in print.  Two of the most notable are from the pen of our own Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s Director of Operations, Alan Branhagen.[1],[2] Yet Diboll and Cox’s, The Gardener’s Guide to Prairie Plants, is unique in its contents and provides a valuable addition to the library of all those interested in and working with native plants of the Midwest.  To be sure, the book contains the indispensable “Prairie Species Field Guide” with a plethora of photographs of each species described, along with a general description and listing of significant characteristics.  For those of us with extensive woodlands nearby, the inclusion of “Deer Palatability” is greatly appreciated.

What makes this volume a uniquely desirable addition to the literature, however, is its copious theoretical and practical information.  Chapters devoted to the history and ecology of the prairie, soil variations and their effect on prairie plants and the prairie food web provide valuable background.  On a more practical level, the book discusses the mechanics of working with prairie plants.  Designing, planting and maintaining prairie gardens is explained.   Establishing a prairie meadow and rejuvenating it through a controlled burn are extensively treated.   A very interesting chapter discusses propagating prairie plants from seed, a subject with many nuances.  Finally, a compendium of valuable tables elaborate plant habitats and characteristics, wildlife attracted, plants for dry, medium and wet soils by bloom time (a valuable resource for our warming Upper Midwest) as well as listings of plants by bloom color and sun/shade preference.

In all, Diboll and Cox have given us a powerful resource for the planning, planting and preservation of an increasingly vital component of our threatened ecology —native plants.

[1] Branhagen, A., Native Plants of the Midwest, Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 2016.

[2] Branhagen, A., The Midwest Native Plant Primer, Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 2020.

Photo credit: book cover