We might be short in stature, but our spring and early summer enthusiasm for blooming makes up for our size, which is less than one foot.  We are the Rue Anemones sprinkling our sparkling-white blooms in lightly shaded, well drained, woodland habitats.  We are now ready to settle into our quiet, unobtrusive summer life.
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     We look forward to seeing you at the Wild Ones plant sale on September 12.  You can even pre-order us and many other native plants by calling Glacial Ridge Growers.  Fall is for planting natives!

​     We Columbines are a very adaptable bunch.  Although we are most comfortable in wooded areas, we surely don’t mind some sun.  We bloom in spring and will linger into June with our delicate red and yellow blooms.  Kids used to call us honey-suckles and sucked our sweet nectar.  There are many selections and hybrids in our family but we true natives feel we are still the loveliest:  the classic Columbine.  Let us become the early summer focal point in your garden!

​     Most other native plants turn red with envy of my brilliant color.  Indeed, I am as bright as the lovely songbird I’m named after.  I will raise my showy spikes to sunny skies, but I also tolerate some shade. Good, rich soil suits me well and I don’t mind getting my feet wet either.  My late-summer crimson spikes can shoot up to four or five feet but we Cardinal Flowers can adapt to the soil we are given and along moist shorelines we tend not to block the view of the lake.  Give us a try, we are a classic native plant. Check out the photos, there are still many of us waiting on the greenhouse benches, ready to be shipped out.

     Glacial Ridge Growers propagates and grows a lot of us.  We are the vibrant, colorful, and hardy native plants.  I will let each of these introduce them selves and tell you about their unique qualities.
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      I have been chosen to be the first native plant to introduce myself.  I must be golden to have received that honor. Well, actually I am golden, Golden Alexander, to be exact.  My Latin name is a bit more formal, Zizia aurea. Right now, me and all my family are blooming our hearts out, holding our multi-headed blooms above the newly-arising bluestem grass. We are truly plants of the rolling prairie as we love the sun, but are versatile enough to tolerate a bit of shade.  It is good that we bloom early, to share our two-foot tall splendor before the taller grasses grow around us.

​     Spring is here with its typical ups and downs in temperature.  Many of us plants in the greenhouse are getting ready to be transported.  Some of our friends have already left and some are even planted into outdoor gardens.  There may still be frost, but lettuces, cole crops, strawberries, and many of the hardier perennials will tolerate light frosts.  We are anxious to go out but hope gardeners will be careful to watch the weather.

​     The time has arrived. We have come through the short days of winter in the greenhouses.  Now the longer spring days have arrived and we are ready to go.  All of us: veggies, annuals, natives, perennials and hanging baskets are preparing for the trip to a garden center, a landscaper, or a fundraiser.  We are colorful, tasty and ready for the outdoors. Sometimes the weather scares us with its spring-like fickleness, but we know that our future is bright.  We are ready to board the ‘Glacial Ridge Express’ and take the long ride that ultimately ends in the warming soil of local gardens. All Aboard!

     Yes, we’ve been here in Minnesota for hundreds of years, populating the grasslands, wetlands, and woods.  We also populate a large portion of the greenhouses at Glacial Ridge Growers.  We are getting ready to be shipped out to garden centers, landscapers, and fund-raising groups. Our diversity is incredible.  There is someplace in Minnesota and surrounding areas where each and every one of us would be happy to thrive and carry on our long tradition of growing and multiplying.  We are the Glacial Ridge natives.  We will soon begin our yearly migration from the protective greenhouses to our native outdoors environment.
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     We are also a hardy bunch, surviving our Minnesota winters and coming through summers that can be hot and dry or wet and cool, or a mixture of both.  Many of us have seed dormancy issues, which is really a survival trick that keeps seed in the ground during years when conditions are not good so we can geminate in a better year which will be more favorable to our needs.  We have many survival tactics to keep us thriving through many varied conditions.  We are tough yet beautiful, bringing indigenous color and texture to American soil.

​     Right now, we can be found hanging out all over the greenhouses.  We are very diverse.  We are beginning to show an array of different colors.  Many of us are still available and excited to come to your local garden center or plant sale.  Some of us like to hang out in shady areas and some in sunny spots.  We come in interesting combinations and also in single colors. We need to be re-homed and certainly every yard has a perfect place for one or more of us.  We are the hanging baskets of Glacial Ridge Growers, just hanging out and waiting for spring to take us to new homes and adventures.

​     We are the crowning glory in the greenhouses.  We are what all our customers have spent the entire Minnesota, black and white winter waiting for.  We are ready to burst forth into spring with a brightness that is craved by most gardeners.  We are the colors of the blossoms in the greenhouse.  We area getting close to being ready to be shipped to gardeners.  We colors adorn the tips of most plants in the greenhouses.  Our forms are endless.  We can be upright spikes of brilliancy, mounding cups of fire or subtle bursts of pastels in the shade.  We usually adorn the flowers but we also can cover leaves and even stems on the plants.  We can thrive in sun, shade, or partial light situations.  We are the colors of spring and summer.  We bring joy to the wonderful season of the gardens.

​     It takes many hands to move young plants into larger pots.  Our dedicated workers do an excellent job of transplanting.  I write about this as one who is quite experienced in transplanting.  I supplement and help the people who transplant, but I am different.  I am a robotic transplanting machine.  My technology is pretty amazing.  My mechanical fingers pull plants from a plug tray and move them to a larger pot.  Being a machine, I can work rapidly and all day without fatigue.  I do have my limitations, in that I need near-perfect germination in the seedling trays, and sturdy plants that have strong root systems.
     With two dedicated workers to oversee my work, we can complete flats of plants very rapidly.  Many of the plants that grow in our greenhouses are beyond my capability, but I can lend speed and accuracy to certain types of plants.  I love my job and I am happy to supplement the great work that our experienced humans complete.  I am happy to be part of the transplanting team.  Together, we work to keep moving those plants up to the next sized pots.