Friends of Oak Mountain

Suggested Guidelines for Wildflower Enhancement at OMSP

Benefits of Native Wildflowers and Grasses:

Alabama is blessed with a wide variety of beautiful native grasses and wildflowers.  Besides their beauty, these plants provide many benefits in natural ecosystems as food for butterflies, bees, and other insects, as well as nectar for hummingbirds and seeds and leafy material for many other species of birds and mammals.  Cover is another benefit provided for small mammals, birds, reptiles and insects.  The annual cycle of spring, summer and fall wildflowers and grasses offers a rich and colorful display for park visitors, while benefiting and enriching the park’s wildlife populations.  Introduction of non-native wildflowers from other parts of the U.S. is not recommended, since Friends of Oak Mountain strongly supports the policy of maintaining the integrity of Oak Mountain State Park as a unique Alabama Natural area.

Recommended Plants for planting:

Deer resistant wildflowers and grasses native to the central Alabama Region.  Seed stocks to obtained from any available suppliers.  (See attached list of deer-resistant native Alabama wildflower and grasses.)

Recommended means of encouraging wildflowers at Oak Mt:

• Planting of native wildflowers and grasses 
• Controlled mowing to encourage the natural spread of native wildflowers and grasses, and
• Protection of existing wildflowers of special concern.

Recommended Locations:

1. Along John Finley Drive and Terrace Drive rights of way
2. Designated open areas adjacent to John Finley Drive and Terrace Drive
3. In locations where plants of special concern have been identified

The Importance of a Mowing Policy at Oak Mountain State Park:

Wildflowers benefit from a single annual mowing to prevent the growth of shade trees and to scatter seeds from mature plants.  This mowing must be done after the seeds have matured, or the existing plants will not be able to reproduce.  The use of mowing or herbicides during the growing season, before the seeds have matured, will suppress most native wildflowers and grasses.  In areas where the mowing is not done during the growing season, a very wide range of native grasses and wildflowers will spread from areas outside the park.  Thus, a careful mowing policy can do as much to promote the spread and survival of wildflowers in the park as can planting of special wildflower areas.

Recommended Mowing Policy:

Along the Road:

1. Routine summer mowing should be restricted to a six to eight foot area along each side of the road, or to the ditch, whichever is closer to the road.
2. One annual mowing of reserved areas after December 1^st.

Protected Wildflower Area:

1. No summer mowing.
2. One annual mowing after December 1^st.

Recommended Herbicide Policy:

1. No routine use of herbicides on roadsides or in Protected Wildflower Areas
2. Controlled use of Ornamec or Poast specifically to control competing grasses in designated wildflower areas.  While summer grasses are attractive additions to the wildflower display, and should be encouraged, winter grasses are competitors and will overwhelm wildflowers.  Such grasses may need to be suppressed for several years until wildflowers become well established in newly planted areas.
3. Invasive Non-native Plants:

The park needs to be monitored to prevent the spread of invasive species such as privet, kudzu, cogon, and Japanese Honeysuckle.  Targeted use of herbicides may be necessary to suppress the spread of these species.

Planting and Cultivation of New Areas:

Wildflower seeds do not require enrichment of the soil or deep planting.  This type of cultivation will favor invasive cultivated species that will directly compete with the wildflowers and may choke them out.

Recommendations for planting of designated Wildflower Areas:

1. If ground is prepared by tilling, maximum depth of soil disturbance should be 1” or less, to prevent the exposure of weed seeds that will compete with wildflower seeds.
2. Newly planted areas may have to be weeded for the first few years after planting to remove invasive competitors such as Johnson grass.  Once the wildflowers are established, they will not need such aggressive weeding.

Wildflowers and Grasses

Native to Northeast Alabama*

Available from Clyde Robin Seed Company:

1.  Deer Resistant (tolerant)

• Allium cernuum, Nodding Onion
• Aquilegia canadensis, Mountain Columbine
• Coreopsis lanceolata, Lance Leaved Coreopsis
• Echinaceae pallida, Pale Coneflower
• Echinaceae purpurea, Purple Coneflower
• Rudbeckia hirta, Black-eyed Susan

2.  Other Available Plants

• Gaillardia pulchella, Indian Blanket (naturalized)
• Ratibida pinnata, Grey-headed Coneflower
• Verbena stricta, Wooly Verbena

Available from other Suppliers:

1.  Deer Resistant Wildflowers

• Eupatorium perfoliatum,  Boneset
• Asclepias tuberosa, Butterflyweed
• Aquilegia canadensis, Columbine
• Eupatorium maculatum, Joe Pye Weed
• Coreopsis lanceolata, Lanceleaf Coreopsis
• Aster novae-angliae, New England Aster
• Eryngium yuccifolium, Rattlesnake Master
• Aster azureum, Sky Blue Aster
• Eupatorium purpureum, Sweet Joe Pye Weed
• Geranium maculatum, Wild Geranium
• Stylophorum diphyllum, Wood Poppy

2.  Grasses

• Andropogon gerardii, Big Bluestem
• Bouteloua curtipendula, Sideoats Grama
• Panicum viratum, Switch Grass
• Schizachyrium scoparium, Little Bluestem
• Sorghastrum nutans, Indiangrass

* Plants listed are from the Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Northeast Alabama and Adjacent Highlands, 5^th Edition, Spaulding, D. D., R. D. Whetstone and J. M. Ballard.  January 5, 1999