Native flowering plant prairie dock adds height to your garden

If you are looking for a tall flowering plant to frame the back of your flower garden, prairie dock may just be the thing.

Prairie dock is a hardy perennial plant native to Michigan and other nearby states that easily survives even our coldest polar vortex winters.

Once established, it blooms reliably year after year with no maintenance. Blooming begins this time of year, mid-July, and goes on until at least September.

The flower stalks can grow up to 10 feet tall in some years. In my garden, I’ve had them range from 4 feet tall some years to more than 8 feet tall in other years.

Even before blooming, prairie dock is an impressive plant with its eye-catching, large leaves. The foliage typically grows to 3 or 4 feet tall, sometimes taller. It provides an easy way to feature large leaves in your garden without having to resort to planting exotic tropical annual plants that need the extra work of lifting and storing for the winter.

Curiously, the leaves orient themselves in a north-south direction giving rise to its other common name: compass plant.

The yellow flowers are around 2 to 3 inches in diameter and resemble a daisy or small sunflower.

Older plants produce many flowers on its tall stalks and will eventually send up multiple flower stalks from each plant.

Bees and pollinators of all kinds are attracted to the flowers. Later, when seeds form, birds will eat their fill of the numerous seeds. Every once in a while, a bird will accidentally drop a seed resulting in a new plant.

The seeds are large and will easily germinate the following spring. During some years, I have had to weed out excessive newly sprouted seedlings from adjacent flower beds. I found that they are easy to pull out at first but will soon send down a tap root that firmly anchors them to the soil.

Speaking of tap roots, prairie dock’s tap root can grow down 10 feet or more, giving it a survival advantage over more shallow rooted plants.

Prairie dock is quite a conversation starter. People who have never come across any of these always ask, “What plant is that?” and then go on to inquire more about it.

When driving back roads in our area, you can sometimes see prairie dock growing near ditches, along roadsides or cemeteries, especially this time of year when their flower stalks are towering over surrounding vegetation.

Prairie dock does not do well when transplanted but they can be started from seeds by planting them in place during the fall. They require stratification, which involves the seeds being exposed to dampness and a certain amount of cold temperature. Sitting in the soil over winter provides the exact stratification conditions they need.

With its impressive size, low maintenance requirements, abundant flowers for pollinators and seeds for wildlife, prairie dock is an extraordinary plant for your garden.