Lunar Hollow/Wholly Rooted UpS Botanical Sanctuary

We have a commitment to this land, to support a breadth of native, local, and medicinal biodiversity, support pollinators and wildlife, and to create an integrative system of plants, systems, gardens, insects, and animals.  

Wholly Rooted Farm is  a Certified Wildlife Habitat and a UpS Botanical Sanctuary. We use permaculture and organic methods to improve the soil, introduce native species at risk, and create interdependent webs of life that are not only sustainable, but regenerative. I also have completed the Pollinator Partnership Pollinator Stewardship Certification!

We have a lot of plants on our grow list that are at risk. Therefore, we are growing them to grow them, not to harvest them. In herbalism, it is important to know what herbs are common in your area and can fulfill your needs without needing to reach for those plants that need help and can be negatively impacted if people overharvest in the wild,  and help them again be prolific residents on our lands. Some foraging teachers tell people not to take more than xx% - but if each person picks only 10% of a stand, and 100 people visit that stand, that plant is eradicated. And food for thought - it is not only about maintaining the plant and leaving enough for it to eke out survival, but many insects and animals may depend on that as a critical source of food, and barely leaving enough for the plant to survive also does not leave enough for the creatures that rely on it. Some plants take years (and years) to develop and some only fruit every other year - and taking too much may take YEARS to replenish. The more you learn about plants and herbs, the more you will realize that you may have plenty of plants in abundance that share the same chemical constituents and properties you were looking for in a more at at-risk plant. I don't forage off of my own road and land. I know it is a privilege to have land and space, so I leave the parks and fields to others. 

LHF Plant Spreadsheet - Current Grow List

Pollinator Stewardship

One of the areas we are working to develop is growing more pollinator plants, developing more pollinator habitat and shelter, and encouraging wild areas for pollinators including birds, bats, insects, bees, arachnids, wildlife, and more.

2023 Pollinator Goals
In our prairie restoration areas we also encourage native pollinator plants to grow and thrive so that we support native bees, birds, wildlife, and protect our topsoil and prevent erosion. We grow over 250 herb species and hundreds of native plants for food and medicinal use, which include many amazing pollinator plants. We maintain fresh water spaces accessible for birds and pollinators, including small rock water sources for the bees and shallow baths in our irrigation/watering areas for birds to bathe. We keep food sources for hummingbirds, monarchs, and native bee and fly species. Our land is adjacent to a bat house and bats come out every night onto our space. We various canopy layers of trees, bushes, shrubs and perennials, planted using permaculture methods, providing shelter for birds and pollinator insects. We maintain areas of natural meadows and prairie including native wildflowers and grasses. We actively work to remove invasive species and maintain our native populations. We plant natives plants, bushes, shrubs, trees, and grasses throughout our two acres that includes pine forest, deciduous trees, prairie, and cultivated gardens. In the past year we have planted additional pollinator plants, restored more prairie area, have planted more bushes, trees, flowering plants, and natives. We have expanded all of our growing areas. 

As an educator and garden consultant, I also present at webinars, conferences, summits, and more. In April I presented at the AromaSummit on how to choose plants for a sustainable garden, which included selecting plants for pollinators and native species to support native habitat.   I include pollinator garden information in my workbooks, writings, and video presentations. In my latest educational materials I have tips on growing a pollinator garden, and in my workbook of how to grow over 100 medicinal plants, it includes which plants are pollinator plants, and lists 50 pollinator plants for your sustainable garden. My free downloadables and handouts when I am a guest webinar presenter also includes tips for a sustainable garden and pollinator plants. I also have posted an article on pollinator plants for your garden to my substack and will be regularly posting sustainable tips and pollinator plants for gardens. 

We also take steps to provide habitat by not clearing gardens in the fall, having stacked wood areas, providing a water source, and not cutting trees during nesting season. We use all organic methods of cultivation with no pesticide application, and have many plants, bushes, perennials, medicinal herb, and food plants in ground. We grow a lot of our own food, so we also have melons, squash, tomato, pepper, eggplant, cucumber, eggplant, beans, peas, onions, garlic. We plant dozens of culinary herbs (basil, thyme, dill, epazote, rosemary, fennel, sage, parsley) and cutting flowers (amaranth, cleome, zinnia, dahlia, peony, dianthus, Snapdragon, Sunflower, marigold, cosmos, lavender, celosia, salvia, etc). To find out more, visit the Pollinator Partnership link to the right, visit my SubStack page for more articles on pollinator friendly gardening, or checkout our upcoming classes which will include planting medicinals, natives, and pollinator plants, and learning how significantly those lists overlap!

Visit Pollinator Partnership Planting Resources page. 

Species At Risk

Growing at Wholly Rooted. United Plant Savers At Risk:
American Ginseng-Panax quinquefolius
Maidenhair Fern - Adiantum pedatum
Goldenseal - Hydrastis canadensis
Ramps - Allium tricoccum
False Unicorn Root - Chamaelirium luteum
White Sage - Salvia apiana
Bloodroot - Sanguinaria canadensis
Trillium - Trillium spp. 
True Unicorn Root - Aletris farinosa
Blue Cohosh - Caulophyllum thalictroides
Echinacea - Echinacea spp
Butterfly Weed - Asclepias tuberosa
Stone Root - Collinsonia canadensis
Wild Yam - Dioscorea villosa
Black Cohosh - Actaea racemosa
Mayapple - Podophyllum peltatum
Lobelia - Lobelia inflata
Arnica - Arnica spp
Yellow Lady's Slipper - Cypripedium spp.
​Gentian - Gentiana spp.

Additional Wisconsin Special Concern Plants;
Wooly milkweed - Asclepias lanuginosa
Green milkweed - Asclepias hirtella
Swamp Agrimony - Agrimonia parviflora
Prairie milkweed - Asclepias sullivantii
Echinacea pallida - Echinacea spp
Maidenhair fern - Adiantum pedatum
Goldenseal - Hydrastis canadensis
Yellow Lady's Slipper - Cypripedium spp.