E F R O Y M S O N C O N S E R V AT I O N C E N T E R
Landscaping with Native Plants
State Headquarters for the Indiana Chapter
of The Nature Conservancy
The landscaping for the Efroymson Conservation Center showcases the diversity and beauty of
native plants, and it beautifully represents our work in Indiana.
Through the Bracken Family
Gardens, the Efroymson Conservation Center features one of the
largest and most innovative native
landscape designs in Indiana, if not
the Midwest. On our one-acre lot,
we are able to devote over 14,000
square feet to native landscaping and
the creation of a bioswale for storm
water run-off.
All the trees, shrubs, grasses, and
wildflowers are species native to
Indiana except for the plants on the
extensive green roof and the event
lawn. We have chosen plant species
for their availability, hardiness, and
aesthetics.
The native landscaping has been used
in some traditional ways – to screen
parking lots, soften edges, and add
color to the site. Because of the large
lot size, however, we are able to use it
to tell the story of our conservation
work in Indiana.
Throughout the Bracken Family
Gardens, plants are organized into
groupings representative of our
best-loved preserves. For instance,
one area along Ohio Street has a
grouping of red cedar, pale purple
coneflower, woodland sunflower, and
little bluestem to represent Teeple
Glade in Harrison County.
The entrance to the building from
the parking lot features an oak savanna planting to represent Prairie
Border Preserve in Jasper County.
sweet, winterberry and red twigged
dogwood.
Another landscape grouping along
the north side of the building has
black walnut, redbud, and Virginia
bluebells, reminiscent of Big Walnut
Natural Area in Putnam County.
This bioswale is both visually appealing and functional. It was built
for water collection, principally from
waters running off the parking lot.
It allows water to puddle and then
slowly filter down through the soils
and back into the water table.
The bioswale retention area between
the parking area and the building has
been planted with many different
native plants that are accustomed to
living in a periodically wet environment. These plants include blueflag
iris and tussock sedge, and attractive
wetland shrubs such as meadow-
The Dr. Charles E. and Sarah D. Test
Garden Wall, a 16’ retaining wall of
concrete blocks with plants, uses species such as wintergreen, stonecrop,
and columbine to mimic a cliffside
plant community, such as those found
in the cliffs region of Crawford and
Perry Counties in southern Indiana.
Efroymson
Conservation
Center
Native Family
Landscaping
Efroymson
Conservation
Center’s
Bracken
Gardens
North Strip—a variety of prairie
flowers and short grasses
Oak barrens (Prairie Border) scattered oak trees with prairie
wildflower understory
Mesic forest (Big Walnut Natural
Area)—black walnut, redbud,
flowering dogwood, wild ginger,
bluebells
Dry mesic forest (Brown Co.
Hills)—yellowwood tree with
golden ragwort, wild hydrangea, sedges
Limestone glade (Teeple Nature
Preserve)— cedars, butterflyweed, pale purple coneflower,
woodland sunflower, and little
bluestem
Bioswale (Ivanhoe Dune and
Swale)—a variety of wet prairie flowers, switch grass, and
tussock sedge
Short grass prairie (Kankakee
Sands) —a mix of little bluestem,
sideoats grama, and prairie dropseed, surrounded by mixed prairie
wildflowers outside the path
East Strip— aromatic sumac and bottlebrush grass
Mesic Prairie (Spinn Prairie) mix of prairie wildflowers and
short grasses
Dr. Charles E. and Sarah D. Test Garden Wall
CAMPAIGN for a
SUSTAINABLE
INDIANA
The Nature Conservancy
Efroymson Conservation Center
620 East Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3811
(317) 951-8818
www.nature.org/indiana
Landscaping Plants
Trees
White oak (Quercus alba)
Red oak (Quercus rubra)
Black oak (Quercus velutina)
Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)
Black walnut (Juglans nigra)
Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra)
Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
Red maple (Acer rubrum)
American basswood (Tilia americana)
Yellowwood (Cladrastis lutea)
Shrubs
Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)
Red-twigged dogwood (Cornus stolonifera)
Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea)
Fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica)
New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americana)
Common winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)
Dwarf bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
Ferns
Wildflowers
Wild ginger (Asarum canadense)
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus)
Pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida)
Yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
Beard tongue (Penstemon digitalis)
Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Prairie coreopsis (Coreopsis palmata)
Obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana)
Blazing star (Liatris aspera)
Dense blazing star (Liatris spicata)
Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
Prairie alumroot (Heuchera richardsonii)
Prairie cinquefoil (Potentilla arguta)
Compass plant (Silphium laciniatum)
Prairie dock (Silphium terebinthenaceum)
Prairie phlox (Phlox pilosa)
Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
Western sunflower (Helianthus occidentalis)
White wild indigo (Baptisia alba)
Blue flag iris (Iris virginica)
Dwarf crested iris (Iris cristata)
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium reptans)
New England aster (Symphyotrichum novaeangliae)
Solomon’s-seal (Polygonatum bifforum)
Wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium)
Marginal shield fern (Dryopteris marginalis)
Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)
Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)
Maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum)
Live Wall Plants
Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes
Bottlebrush grass (Elymus histrix)
Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparius)
Prairie drop seed (Sporobolus heterolepsis)
Side oats gramma (Bouteloua gracilis)
Switch grass (Panicum virgatum)
Tussock sedge (Carex stricta)
Soft rush (Juncus effusus)
Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)
Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)
Wild stonecrop (Sedum ternatum)
Maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum)
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)