Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains

The Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana Drift Plains cover the glacial country around Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, and South Bend. The glaciers left kettle lakes, low moraines, and a patchwork of oak openings and wet prairie, so soil and drainage can change over a short distance. Natives such as prairie dock, prairie milkweed, and Illinois tick trefoil come from those oak-opening remnants and take full sun with very little watering once established.

Conditions: Sandy to loamy glacial till with kettle lakes and wetlands, 32–38 inches of precipitation, cold snowy winters and warm summers.

Cities and areas: Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, South Bend, Elkhart.