Oklahoma
Plants for Wildlife Habitat & Conservation Landscaping
Do you enjoy observing nature...hearing
the song of the chickadee...watching hummingbirds fill up on nectar
from trumpet vines...listening to the chattering of squirrels...seeing
the beauty and grace of a monarch butterfly perched on a milkweed...
experiencing the antics of a Mockingbird...the cooing of the Mourning
Doves...the swiftness of the Cottontail...and the brilliance of
a Cardinal or Baltimore Oriole?
If the answer is
"yes", you'll probably want to landscape your
property for wildlife so you can experience even
more from Mother Nature by attracting more wildlife
to your property.
Wildlife doesn't
just randomly appear in a given area. It is there
because of favorable habitat. The essential
elements that you must provide in your habitat are
food, water, cover and a place to raise a family.
To attract the most wildlife, you need native
trees, shrubs, groundcover, vines and wildflowers,
many of which will provide food and
shelter.
Native or
indigenous plants naturally occur in the region in
which they evolved. They are adapted to local soil,
rainfall and temperature conditions, and have
developed natural defenses to many insects and
diseases. Because of these traits, native plants
will grow with minimal use of water, fertilizers
and pesticides. Wildlife species evolve with
plants; therefore, they use native plant
communities as their habitat. Using native plants
helps preserve the balance and beauty of natural
ecosystems.
Remember the
function served by plants and structures is more
important than their appearance. In other words,
don't base your planting decisions solely on what a
plant looks like. Following are WindStar Wildlife
Institute's plant recommendations for wildlife
habitats in Oklahoma.
Trees
Box Elder; Pecan; Shagbark, Black and Mockernut
Hickory; Hackberry; Redbud; Parsley Hawthorn;
Persimmon; White and Green Ash; Possum Haw; Texas,
Black, River and Little Walnut; Ashe, red-berry and
Rocky Mountain Juniper; Eastern Red Cedar; Sweet
Gum; Black Gum; Pinyon, Loblolly and Ponderosa
Pine; Quaking Aspen; Chickasaw and Mexican Plum;
Black Cherry; Southern Red, Gambel's, Overcup, Bur,
Blackjack, Chinkapin, Willow, Shumard, Post and
Live Oak; Carolina Buckthorn
Flowers
Sand Verbena; Prairie Dandelion; Prairie Onion;
Thimbleweed; Pussytoes; Spreading Dogbane; White
Prickly Poppy; Jack-in-the-pulpit; Prairie Sage;
Antelope Horns; Swamp and Showy Milkweed;
Butterflyweed; Heath and Sky Blue Aster; Milk
Vetch; Square-bud Primrose; Indian Paintbrush;
Basket Flower; Rocky Mountain Beeplant;
Lance-leaved and Plains Coreopsis; Blue and Prairie
Larkspur; Purple Coneflower; Engelmann Daisy;
Prairie Fleabane; Rattlesnake Master; Joe-pye Weed;
Flowering Spurge; Texas Bluebell; Indian Blanket;
Bluets; Northern Sweetvetch; Common, Maximilian,
Plains and Ox-eye Sunflower; Southern Blue Flag;
Gayfeather; Blazing Star; Blue and Yellow Flax;
Sand, Red, Fendler and Whorled Penstemon; White and
Purple Prairie Clover; Prairie Coneflower;
Black-eyed Susan; Prairie Verbena
Vines
Trumpet Creeper; American Bittersweet; Leather
Flower; Purple Clematis; Woodbine; Arizona,
Riverbank, Muscadine Grape and Canyon Grape;
Kentucky Wisteria
Cactus
Tree Cholla; Common Prickly Pear; Yucca
Grasses
Western Wheatgrass; Ticklegrass; Big, Splitbeard,
Bushy, Little and Sand Bluestem; Sideoats, Black,
Blue and Hairy Grama; Buffalograss; Canada Wild
Rye; Plains Love Grass; Tobosa; Junegrass; Bush
Muhly; Vine Mesquite; Switchgrass; Indiangrass;
Tall and Sand Dropseed; Eastern
Gamagrass
Oklahoma is a land
of flat, fertile plains and low hills. Oklahoma's
plains also host large herds of cattle and vast
wheat fields. The geographical landscape of
Oklahoma is comprised of 10 separate land regions.
The Ozark Plateau is marked by rivers with steep
valley walls separated by broad flat areas. The
Prairie Plains produces most of the state's coal
and a great deal of oil. The Ouachita Mountains are
sandstone ridges, running east to west, to form the
roughest land in Oklahoma. Spring-fed streams run
through narrow valleys between the ridges. The
Sandstone Hills Region are from 250 to 400 feet
high. Some are covered with Blackjack and Post Oak
forests. The Arbuckle Mountains comprise an area of
about 1,000 square miles in south-central Oklahoma.
The low mountains rise about 600 to 700 feet above
the plains. The Wichita Mountains are found in
southwestern Oklahoma. The Red River Valley Region
in southern Oklahoma is characterized by rolling
prairie. Some forested hills can also be found in
the area. To the west are the Red Beds Plains which
is the largest land region in Oklahoma. The Gypsum
Hills are low (150 to 200 feet) hills capped with
15 to 20 foot layers of gypsum which sparkle in the
sunlight because of their gypsum content and,
because of this, are sometimes called the Glass
Hills. The High Plains are level grasslands. The
Oklahoma
Native Plant Society
can
provide lists of plants for a specific
region.
For more
information on improving your wildlife habitat,
visit the WindStar
Wildlife Institute web
site. On
the web site, you can also apply to certify your
property as a wildlife habitat, register for the
"Certified Wildlife Habitat Naturalist e-Learning
course, become a member and sign up for the FREE
WindStar Wildlife Garden Weekly e-mail
newsletter.