I have several species of aster, all but one of which (Silky Aster (Symphyotrichum sericeum)), have proven to be too mobile for their own good. Planting Common Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) was one of the worst gardening mistakes I've ever made.

Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis) proved to be a surprisingly difficult plant to deal with. It's a fairly uncommon plant around here, only see it in well managed native pastures. However, within less than four years of planting it in one flower bed, it had become a dandelion-type weed throughout my lawn. At certain times of the year, the lawn almost turns purple from all the Ruellia blooms. Doesn't bother me much, but it's sort of horrifying to some of the neighbors.

I knew from previous experience that most species of goldenrod were too aggressive for small gardens, but talked myself into trying Elm-leaved Goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia) in a very dry portion of a woodland wildflower garden where I'd had difficulty keeping other plants alive. It was actually quite lovely, until it exploded across the whole bed. Planted Windflower (Anemonastrum canadense) in the same area for the same reason and got similar results, although it appears the goldenrod is going to "fix" that particular problem in the end.

I had successfully grown a couple of species of Eutrochium in prairie gardens over the years and thought I'd try Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum) in the woodland wildflower bed. Turned out to not be the best decision. It's much harder to contain than the prairie species and isn't nearly as pretty, either.

A botanist friend convinced me to grow Prairie Milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii), claiming that it is much better behaved than either Common or Showy Milkweed. It's not.....

Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum) and Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) are somewhat aggressive in terms of seeding themselves around, but the real problem is they are just too big in proportion to the space I have.

Blue Wild Indigo (Baptisia australis var. minor), one of my all time favorite plants, is also surprisingly boisterous at producing seedlings in places I'd rather they not be.

That all probably sounds pretty bad, but the vast majority of native species I've tried have turned out to be wonderful garden plants. The big knock on native plants is that many have very short bloom times compared to traditional garden plants. That's part of the reason I grow so many species, a particular plant may only bloom for a short time, but something is in bloom out there every day from late March through early November

Thank you Kent, I have three or four of the plants you mentioned, but if I get too many I dig them up, pot them and give them to friends.

I agree Kent that restoring a prairie is very different than just using native plants. Restoration is a very specific type of work most often tackled by experts to help preserve a local ecosystem on a grander scale that what most of us are working with at our private residences. In those situations I think they are utilizing the burning not only to hold back invasives, but also to keep the land a proper prairie instead of letting it go through a natural progression like a meadow.

I guess I took it a little off topic from chillybean's original post. My thinking was just that if she wasn't comfortable burning, that is ok. For most of us, just using more native plants is beneficial... and a more attainable goal than full on prairie restoration work.

Where I am now I wouldn't want to tackle that kind of work. For me just adding more and more native plants to my suburban yard has brought in a much bigger variety of insects and birds than I had before. Being a gardener... I do keep it fairly tidy and weeded, which is doable with less than 1/4 acre.

I also gave my brother many of these plants for his house as well. He got real ambitious and dug up 1/4 of his back yard and planted them in grids like a veggie garden with huge mulched paths. It was odd looking! Then he quickly lost interest in it and did nothing for several years. It become overgrown and invaded by some aggressive weeds. But, some natives I hadn't given him also popped up. It was a total mess to a me as a gardener! Yet, it was filled with beautiful blooms and tons of the same insects I was seeing at home. He actually got compliments from a neighbor on his "wildflower garden". His wife wants it gone though and replaced with grass. Her gardening contribution so far consists mainly of some very unusual cutting back. She goes around other areas of the yard and chops things like daylilies, irises, and miscanthus grass in half when they start to get tall and "messy". I call it the military cut.

That is really funny Morgan, some people just don't get the idea of natural gardening.

This is way late... But I worked as a prescribed burner - Western Minnesota, maybe we did some in SD and Iowa, because it was so close. Anyway, burning is great to maintain a prairie. But it's a dangerous operation. Does burning go on in your area - that is, is it a regular practice on any lands already (for whatever purpose). If so, then it might not be that much of a problem. Prescribed burning means just that - it's only done with a prescription - all the conditions must meet certain criteria. Can't be too windy (and for some properties the wind must be from a certain direction, or not from a particular one), temps must be moderate, humidity not too low, etc. Incidentally, we did not work when there was no wind either, because then, you never knew where a wind that started would come from. We worked on the downwind side and set fires to form a burned strip area where the later large fire could not cross. Then we went around and eventually started the up-wind side, and let it go. It would burn to the already-burned areas and that was it, hopefully anyway. We never had an escape. We did have a couple where we ran a lot. The year was unusually hot and dry, and we had to burn many at night. Not what we wanted, but boy did that make the scene spectacular. We did this in late Winter - Early-Mid Spring. That way most non-fire-tolerant species were killed or suppressed and the fire-tolerant species would thrive. I worked for the Nature Conservancy. I think some of the places were private (though maybe they had a conservation easement? or were adjacent to TNC or other protected lands). I think they would be a great place to contact. Dept of Natural Resources or what ever your state calls that would be another place to contact. We worked with them. Doing this on your own would be a huge task.

Then - other ways to establish prairie. It is hard. I've been trying for years with my front yard and really have gotten hardly anywhere, except to eliminate some really troublesome weeds (sweetclover is my bane - and now alfalfa of all things). But I have gravel for soil, and practically no rain all summer! (and alfalfa thrives - probably gets it's roots down to the water table, or at least moisture which is likely about 5 feet down).

However I have found that there are some things to do. Make little sites within the nascent prairie that are perfect for a particular species and plant it there. You can use seed or plants - likely both in different areas and for different species will work best. Then you aren't trying to plant the whole site. Once these areas are thriving, they will supply seed to establish in other sites. You can dig and divide some plants too, once they get going.

The other thing is to control the real problem plants (weeds - or plants you don't want there). This will be difficult on a large acreage, but not impossible. I use herbicides when I have to. Judiciously and with spot treatments. You really have to know your plants! It's been very successful in some areas. If you don't want to use these, then you will need to dig them, cut them, etc. depending on the species. The burning can help too, as long as there are species already there ready to take over. You can sometimes get help with noxious weeds from the County (true in most states) - check to see. Chose your battle, some plants may seem like weeds, but are they 'taking over'? - if not ignore them. The real problems are those that are really taking over and not allowing for prairie species to establish. You can seed with prairie grasses after a fire too (season and species matter). Get seeds from as local a source as possible. Even going to an established prairie and gathering them (with permission of course) would be best.