For more information about developing a 12 K or 12,000 year garden exhibit and about the history behind the plants in this list, see www.prairienet.org/prairienations/12Knotes.htm.
| Plant | 1000 years ago | Comments |
| Tundra plants | 12 | Icelandic poppies (Papaver nudicale) from the nursery or garden center. These are probably not native to this area, but are representative of tundra poppies in that they are similar to the arctic poppies (Papaver radicatum) that grew here.. The commercially available Yezo Dwarf Willow (Salix yezoalpina) is a good choice to represent tundra willows since it is similar to the native arctic willow (Salix arctica). |
| Spruce and then fir forests | 10 | Small spruce and fir seedlings |
| Deciduous trees and prairie plants | 8 | Hickory or oak tree seedlings. Prairie grasses and forbes: see the note below. |
| 'Ovifera' or egg gourd.*
(Cucurbita pepo var. ovifera) |
6.5 | I have seed. |
| Sumpweed *
AKA Marsh Elder, Iva (Iva Annua) |
4 | Native only in the southwestern quadrant of the state, but cultivated well outside its native area. If you can't get it locally, I have seed. |
| Sunflower*
(Helianthus tuberosus) |
3.5 | Wild, not the commercial ornamental. |
| Maygrass*
(Phalaris caroliniana) |
3 | Not native north of Cape Girardeau, but cultivated in this area. It is really not very appropriate for most prairie demonstration plots because the seed is gone and the plant is pretty well withered by middle or late summer, when these plots come into their own. |
| Knotweed*
Polygonum |
3.0 | If you know of any erect knotweed (P. erectum), please let me know. Otherwise, just use the common knotweed (P. aviculare) that grows up in the cracks of sidewalks. It is less archaelogically significant, but a good compromise. |
| Goosefoot*
Chenopodium |
3.0 | I have C. berlandieri seed, which is the goosefoot often used in archaeological demonstrations of this type. Be careful with this one; it is very closely related to the very invasive pest, lamb's quarter. It may be prudent to forgo this plant if you think growing it is going to cause problems with environmentalists, farmers or gardeners. |
| Little Barley*
(Hordeum pusillum) |
2.0 | Find it in driveways of farm lots in early spring. Like Maygrass, there is not much left of this plant by middle or late summer, when these plots are usually featured. |
| Corn*
(Zea mays) |
1 | Try growing the three sisters: 1) hills of corn about 4' apart (four kernals of Tom Thumb popcorn per hill is a good choice) with 2) climbing pole beans to climb up the corn and 3) gourds or squash to provide ground cover |
| * These plants were cultigens. |
| Horsetail
Equisetum arvense |
This is a very interesting plant to include someplace in the plot, although it is much older than 12,000 years. Indeed, before there were trees or land animals on earth, there was horsetail. |
Prairie plants and forbes: This topic offers a good opportunity to enlist the support and expertise of others in your community such the local prairie restoration or conservation groups or Pheasants Forever. It may also make your demonstration plot more attractive to the public to the extent is includes popular, well known prairie wildflowers. The challenge, of course, is to include a good sampling of prairie grasses and flowers without letting the archaeobotanically significant plants get lost in the shuffle.In this regard, large grasses such as Big Bluestem and Indian Grass are particularly problematic. They are the quintessential prairie grasses, but are so hardy and invasive they tend to crowd out everything else. Three or four clumps of Bluestem and/or Indian Grass should be manageable, however. Just keep an eye on them, and don't let them wander. Once the large grasses are well established (after a couple of years or so) they can be innoculated with a parasitic plant species to curb their dominance. This happens naturally in the wild but not usually in restored prairies unless it is purposefully done.
Fiber/cordage plants and foraged food plants to be included in the plot. They can come anywhere after 8K. All should be findable locally. See your local prairie group for help with location and identification. Fiber/cordage plants to be included are:
Foraged food plants are:Indian Hemp or Dogbane. (Apocynum cannabinum) Rattlesnake Master. (Eryngium yuccifolium) Common Milkweed. (Asclepias syriaca) Butterfly Milkweed. (Asclepias tuberosa) Some final comments. In practice, a 12 K plot is almost always a product of many compromises. Placement and choice of plants often boils down to issues of spacing and sun/shade and local interest as much as details of archaeobotanical chronology.Pokeweed. (Phytolacca americana) All parts of this plant are poisonous, but the leaves can be eaten after being boiled repeatedly and the water discarded after each boiling. Nevertheless, no part of this plant should be eaten. Having said that, the plant appears to have been eaten --and/or smoked, used medicinally or as a dye -- since archaic times. A magnificent and interesting plant. Jerusalem artichoke. (Helianthus tuberosus) Foraged for the edible tubers. In no way related to Jerusalem or artichokes. Go easy on the fertilizer. Fertilizing these plants may cause them to over-develop in uncharacteristic ways. For example, fertilizing the ovifera gourd may produce fruit that, instead of being egg sized, is more the size of cantelope -- not a particularly good illustration of the gourds being grown in antiquity.
A personal preference--go easy on the herbicide. There is probably something to be said for a plot that retains a more or less natural look. Obviously, it is counterproductive to let things become so scruffy that the various plants are lost in the clutter or do not effectively illustrate what we are trying to show. But some effectiveness may also be lost if plot takes on the appearance of a Round-Up demonstration or a promotion for the use of decorative mulch.
And finally, I would like very much to answer any questions you might have and to hear about your experiences growing a 12,000 year garden. Email me at the address given below.
DOCUMENT INFORMATION
This document: http://www.prairienet.org/prairienations/12klist.htm
Prairie Nations homepage: http://www.prairienet.org/prairienations
Author: Jim Fay, Ph.D.
Email: jfay@prairienet.org
Posted: 5/3/04