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Gateway Gardeners and Businesses in the News

Native Specialist Plants New Seeds

Over the past 30 years, Scott Woodbury led development of the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve. He has written—including The Gateway Gardener’s popular series on native plants for the last decade or more- lectured, and consulted on many native landscaping subjects, projects and programs. In 2022, Scott began a new chapter in his working life with a new business, Cacalia Design and Wilding. He does residential and commercial consulting and design, and wildlife habitat planning. Scott writes, speaks and also teaches Native Landscaping Practices, a course at St. Louis Community College. Other services include garden coaching and plant identification and inventory. (And we’re happy to report, Scott will continue to provide our readers with helpful information on the world of native plants and their uses in our home landscapes, thanks in part to support from the Wild Ones St. Louis Chapter.) You can reach Scott through his website, cacaliadesign.com.

Flowers and Weeds

Flowers & Weeds is (are?) growing! The garden center, greenhouse and florist in South City, St. Louis opened their retail store at Cherokee & Compton in 2015 after gut rehabbing the site formerly operated as the Southside Garden Stop for many years by Joe Walterman Jessica Douglass took over the location in 2012 after working and apprenticing in the floral and retail greenhouse industry for several years, and coowner Carly Meyer came on board in 2014 with her background in art & design and a passion for plants that Jessica nurtured.

Today Flowers & Weeds offers houseplants, pots, gifts and gardening supplies all year long, with a seasonal garden center offering edibles, annuals, perennials, natives & shrubs. They also grow flowers to use in their fresh cut bouquets as well as wedding and event arrangements. They love all things green and growing, especially the beauty that local flowers and native Missouri plants have to offer. Each season brings something new to Flowers & Weeds!

SBYT is Back!

The Sustainable Backyard Tour is returning on June 11th from 11am-4pm after a pandemic-induced hiatus. SBYT is a free, open-yards tour of eco-friendly gardens throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Charles! Get tips and ideas for living more sustainably on an increasingly challenged Earth. Tour sites showcase a range of green practices, including organic gardening, water conservation, energy production and more. Details at: www.SustainableBackyard.org

Partners for Native Landscaping

The Partners for Native Landscaping are coming together again to present a program to inspire and help individuals to create gardens that are beautiful and functional for people

Dig This!

Gateway Gardeners and Businesses in the News

Visitors will enjoy thousands of pieces of glass in 18 dramatic installations throughout the Garden’s grounds. Chihuly in the Garden 2023 has been curated expressly for the Missouri Botanical Garden. Chihuly’s work is created in dialog with its site environment, enhancing the beauty of nature and amplifying the appreciation of the natural world. Chihuly in the Garden 2023 will be an expansive exhibition, drawing inspiration from the Garden’s landscape and using form and color to ignite joy.

and wildlife. This year’s event will kick off with a string of ten virtual presentations through March and early April, with the St. Louis County Library. Additionally there will be two in-person components. The first, a workshop and plant sale at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center, in Kirkwood on April 15, and then a Native Plant Fair on April 30 at Beyond Housing’s Headquarters in Pine Lawn.

The Partners have indeed been busy, seeking to reach out to new audiences across St. Louis. Presentation topics will include general gardening with native plants, rainscaping, gardening for wildlife, native trees and shrubs, shade gardens, container gardens, invasive plants and deer-resistant native plants. All events are free and require advance registration. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from the experts and every-day homeowners too. Register at www.partnersfornativelandscaping. org.

Partners include: Biodiverse City, GrowNative!, MSD Project Clear, Missouri Department of Conservation, Shaw Nature Reserve, St. Louis Audubon Society, St. Louis Community College, and Wild Ones St. Louis.

Chihuly Glass Returns to MBG in 2023

The work of world-renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly is returning to the Missouri Botanical Garden this May.

The Garden will host Chihuly in the Garden 2023 for daytime viewing May 2 through October 15, 2023. Daytime access to the exhibition will be included with Garden admission.

Chihuly Nights will offer visitors a chance to view Chihuly’s dramatically illuminated works of art and enjoy live music and entertainment. Chihuly Nights will begin with two special Member Previews on May 10 and 11 and continue all summer long. MBG members will enjoy valuable ticket savings (or receive a number of complimentary tickets at the Festival level or higher). Tickets for the general public will be available on March 15.

The Chihuly exhibit comes on the heels of the August 2022 opening of the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center and the upcoming opening of the Bayer Event Center wing and the spring planting of the new north and south gardens, so there will be much new to see at MBG in 2023.