White Prairie Clover

Year-round

White prairie clover is a native tallgrass prairie legume that grows well around Des Moines with a deep taproot, full sun, and well drained soil. It is low maintenance once established and needs no regular fertilizing.

• Give it full sun and well drained soil. It tolerates dry conditions once it has a season or two to grow its deep taproot.
• As a legume, it partners with soil bacteria to make its own nitrogen, so skip the fertilizer.
• Expect white flower spikes from around June into September, opening from the bottom of the spike upward.
• It is native to Iowa and much of the tallgrass prairie region, so it fits naturally into a Des Moines native planting.
• Bees and other pollinators use the flowers for nectar and pollen, and it serves as a host plant for Dogface butterflies.

Fall

Fall is when white prairie clover finishes blooming and sets seed, and it is the best time of year to sow new seed if you want to expand the planting.

• Seed pods form after the flowers fade and can be left in place to feed birds and let the plant reseed itself.
• Late fall, after the ground has had some hard frosts, is the recommended time to direct sow new seed, since it needs a cold moist period before it will sprout in spring.
• Skip fall fertilizing. This legume makes its own nitrogen through soil bacteria.
• If a tidy fall look is wanted for the front yard, cut the plant back to a few inches after it goes dormant instead of leaving it until spring.

Leaving the seed heads up through fall can look intentional rather than messy if the bed has a clean mowed edge around it.

Winter

White prairie clover is fully dormant in winter and dies back to the ground in the Des Moines climate. It needs no active care until spring.

• The plant dies back to the ground each winter and regrows from its crown and taproot the following spring.
• Standing dead stems and seed heads can be left up through winter for visual structure and to feed birds.
• No watering, fertilizing, or pruning is needed while the plant is dormant.
• It is adapted to Iowa's freeze and thaw cycles, so no winter protection or mulching is needed for an established plant.

Cutting stems back in late fall instead of leaving them up gives an HOA-conscious, tidy winter look if bare stalks would otherwise stand out.

Spring

Spring is a waiting game with white prairie clover. It greens up later than many prairie neighbors, and this is also when fall sown seed germinates.

• New growth from the crown often shows up later in spring than other prairie perennials, so do not assume a quiet patch is dead.
• If old stems were left standing over winter, cut them back to a few inches once new growth starts to appear.
• Seed sown the previous late fall should germinate now. Keep seedlings weeded, since young plants compete poorly with grass and weeds.
• No fertilizer is needed in spring. The plant fixes its own nitrogen through soil bacteria.
• Confirm the spot still gets full sun before nearby trees or shrubs leaf out.

Cutting back last year's stems in early spring keeps the bed looking tended before the rest of the yard greens up.

Summer

Summer is peak season for white prairie clover, with white flower spikes blooming from around June into September and pollinators visiting all season.

• Flowers open from the base of the spike upward over several weeks, so blooms are visible most of the summer.
• Once established, the deep taproot makes this plant drought tolerant, and it usually does not need extra watering during a normal Des Moines summer.
• First year plants still benefit from watering during extended dry spells until the taproot develops.
• Avoid spraying insecticides near the plant, since bees and other pollinators rely on it for nectar and pollen through summer.
• The plant is a larval host for Dogface butterflies, so caterpillars on the foliage are a good sign, not a pest problem.