2. Fire Pink By Amy Yu (Nature in the Ozarks, 2008, [Online])

3. Flower  Eye-catching  Bright red  Notched or fringed  Inflated calyx looks like a small bladder (Peterson, 2008, [Online])

4. Leaf  Dark green  Compliment red flowers  Reddish green in winter  Simple (not divided into parts)  Opposite pairs along stem  Smooth along edges (Gardens of the Blue Ridge, 2000, [Online])

5. Fruit  Tan (Redfearn, 2011, [Online])

6. Root  Herb- no woody tissue  Taproot (Prairie Moon Nursery, 2012, [Online])

7. Bloom Time  Perennial  Mid-spring to mid-summer  May to July (Morton Arboretum, 2012, p.1)  First bloom- May-June (p.1)  Last bloom- July (p.1) (Larson, 2010, [Online])

8. Attracts  Nectar source  Birds, butterflies, hummingbirds  Seeds attract juncos, pine siskins, sparrows, water pipits, horned larks (Garden Web, 2012, [Online])

9. Habitat  Native habitat- open, moist, dry woods area, a rocky slope  Rocky slopes  Barren areas (Johnston, 2012, [Online])

10. Found  Found in northeast, central, southern Illinois  Found on eastern side (Easyliving Native Perennial Wildflowers, 2012, [Online])

11. Maintenance  Start few new plants each year (Livingston, 2012, [Online])

12. Light  Part shade  No deep shade  Needs some light (McWort, 2012, [Online])

13. Climate  Cool climate (Harnel, 2012, [Online])

14. Soil  Dry or moist  Poor soil (containing too much of one element)  Well-drained, rocky, acid (Barnes, 2011, [Online])

15. Water  Low or medium (Gardenguides, 2010, [Online])

16. Good in Garden  Rain garden: habitat is slope, rocky  Native habitat: Rocky slope  Rain garden: Silty clay loam  Needs too much of one element in soil to grow well  Rain garden: Cool climate  Needs cool climate to grow well (Smith, 2012, [Online])

17. Bad in Garden  Rain garden: All shade  Doesn’t grow well in deep shade, needs some light  Rain garden: Lots of water  Water use is low or medium (Ram-man, 2008, [Online])

18. Reference List  Armitage, A. (2000). Armitage’s garden perennials. Portland, OR: Timber Press.  Barnes, T. (2011). Southern region viewing area. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/southern/HematiteLake/index.shtml  Easyliving Native Perennial Wildflowers. (2012). Silene virginica fire pink potted plants. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://www.easywildflowers.com/quality/sil.vir. htm  Gardenguides. (2010). Garden community. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http:// my.gardenguides.com/blogs/bsmitch/2008/4  Gardens of the Blue Ridge. (2000). Gardens of the blue ridge. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://www.gardensoftheblueridge.com/  Garden Web. (2012). Cardinal flower and climbing vines. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load /hummingbird /msg041100382835 8.html  Harner, C. (2012). Weedpicker’s journal. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http:// cherylharner.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html  Illinois Wildflowers. (2012). Fire pink. Retrieved February 17, 2012 from http:// www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/firepink.htm  Johnston, D. (2012). Visual photos. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://www. visualphotos.com/image/1x7573883/fire_pink_silene_virginica_in_rocky_habitat  Larson, K. (2010). Plant of the week. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://www. fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the- week/silene_virginica.shtml  Livingston, T. (2012). Wildflowers common to graham county. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://www.main.nc.us/graham/wildflowers%202.html  McWort, P. (2012). My virtual Maryland garden. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://mcwort.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html  Morton Arboretum. (2012). Fire pink. Lisle, IL: Morton Arboretum.  Nature in the Ozarks. (2008). Nature in the ozarks. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://elmostreport.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html  Peterson, J. (2008). Archeofacts. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http:// archaeofacts.com/2008/04/  Prairie Moon Nursery. (2012). Prairie moon nursery. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://www.prairiemoon.com/plants/bare-root/wildflowers-forbs/silene-virginica-fire-pink/?cat=249  Ram-man, I. (2008). File: fire pink. Retrieved March 20, 2012 from http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fire_pink.png  Redfearn, P. (2011). Photographs of flowering plants of the ozarks and the interior highlands of north america. Retrieved March 18, 2012 from http://biology. missouristate.edu/herbarium/plants%20of%20the%20interior%20highlands/plants_of_the_interior_highlands_s.htm  Smith, T. (2012). Archeofacts. Retrieved March 20, 2012 from http://archaeofacts com/2008/04/  Wildflower Center. (2010). Silene virginica. Retrieved February 17, 2012 from http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SIVI4 

19. Acknowledgements  I would like to thank the Morton Arboretum for letting me use the herbarium to collect research.  I would also like to thank Debbi Gayon and Dave Andrusyk for taking the time to come in to talk to us about the rain garden.  Last but not least, I would like to thank Mrs. Garetto and Mrs. Wetta for giving me the opportunity to research and plant a rain garden.

20. Thanks for Listening! Hope you enjoyed it!