Front Yard Conversations

Naturally Natives

A Good Time for Front Yard Conversations by Scott Woodbury

If there ever was a silver lining had consumed part of my day. to the current health crisis, it is It was the highlight of my days. that people are spending more What a treat from the depressing time outdoors and yearning to new normal of visiting with connect with other people. In coworkers, friends and family the past week, while strolling on a computer screen. the sidewalk, I struck up But it got me thinking about conversations with two people the messages (and potential who were gardening in their messages) we send to our front yards. I was drawn in by the attractive gardens, and then thrilled to have a face-to-face chat over the split-rail fence, over the low-clipped hedge. Margy Terpstra neighbors through the frontyard garden. The scent of the roses and lovely masses of lemon-yellow daylilies (both, non-native plants) briefly These days it is so easy to break Signage at the Kirkwood, MO, home of Dan and Margy Terpstra interrupted my mundane the ice. People are yearning for clearly explains the goals of their bird-friendly habitat. routine. I instantly sensed human connections. I simply beauty with my nose and eyes, said, “Your roses smell so nice” and “Are those ‘Happy Returns’ and then had the unique opportunity to follow up with a question daylilies?” and before I knew it, a few minutes of blissful chit-chat

Missouri Wildflowers Nursery

9814 Pleasant Hill Rd Jefferson City MO 65109 www.mowildflowers.net mowldflrs@socket.net 573-496-3492, fax: 573-496-3003

Meet us at one of these locations in the St. Louis area. Give us your order by Tuesday before a sale, and we will bring it to the location.

Kirkwood Farmer’s Market, 150 East Argonne Dr. Kirkwood MO 63122. Prepaid orders are encouraged, but there will be a selection to pick from. Aug. 29, Sept. 5 and 12; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. St. Louis Monarchs at the Meadows, Lake St. Louis Market, Meadow Cir. Dr., Lake St. Louis, MO 63367. Prepaid orders are encouraged, but there will be a selection to pick from. Sept. 19, 8 a.m. to noon. St. Louis Native Plant Expo & Sale, Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Ave., St. Louis, MO 63143. Details at www.stlouisaudubon.org. Benefitting St. Louis Audubon’s “Bring Conservation Home” program. Prepaid orders are encouraged, but there will be a selection to pick from. Oct. 3, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. St. Louis Best of Missouri Market, Missouri Botanical Garden , Missouri Botanical Garden. 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63110. Oct. 4, 5 & 6, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Now OPEN at our Brazito (Jefferson City) location.

Take a

Shade-cation

Come find your shady spot and inhale the restorative power of nature while supporting our nature restoration work at Shaw Nature Reserve. Gray Summit, MO | Open Daily

shawnature.org/summer2020

17 miles of hiking trails 2,400 acres to explore Countless shady escapes waiting for you

Tips and Resources for Growing and Landscaping with Sustainable Native Plants

or two. Without the gardener standing there, I would have kept walking and the smells and sights would have quickly evaporated from my memory. But, with the gardener’s words, came greater understanding. I found that roses bloom heavily with hard work and a lot of fertilizer and water, and that ‘Happy Returns’ daylily is a nicer color yellow Robert Weaver than ‘Stella de oro’ and available at Lowe’s. And that was it. The message was about flower color and quantity of bloom. OK, Signs posted at the front public that’s fine. That got my attention, sidewalk identify The Gateway for a brief moment. Please don’t Gardener’s home garden as get me wrong, I am so grateful wildlife friendly. for the in-person conversations I have these days, especially with fellow gardeners. But there is so much more that can come from a front yard conversation about plants, and there should be. Native plants are so much more than just beautiful flowers. They feed nectar and pollen to countless bee species, whose populations world-wide are in decline. In return, bees pollinate plants so they can produce fruits like blueberry and watermelon, and seeds eaten by wild birds (Texas green eyes produce seeds all summer for gold finches). Native plants feed moth and butterfly caterpillars’ life-supporting leaf tissue. That’s why there are holes in milkweed and pawpaw leaves. And those caterpillars feed baby birds, whose populations are also in steep decline. White oak tree bark provides a home for bats and overwintering butterflies. Its acorns feed squirrels, chipmunks and red-headed woodpeckers all winter long. And Missouri white oak, flavors the wine and whisky we love to consume. Native plants are so rich, they have depth and are brimming with connections to nature, cuisine, history and folklore. In the book Ozark Magic and Folklore (1947), Vance Randolph writes that many old people think that ironwood trees were planted by the devil’s agents and that sassafras somehow sprout from grub worms. He probably wasn’t aware that ironwood is the best species for tree-climbing (for safety, mulch thickly below the tree). Also,

Horticulturist Scott Woodbury is the Curator of the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit, MO, where he has worked with native plant propagation, design, and education for more than 20 years. He is also an advisor to the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s GrowNative! program. Randolph writes that pawpaw is well-known to be connected with witch-craft and even zebra swallowtail butterflies (who lay their eggs only on pawpaw) are thought of as “strange” because it is so often seen fluttering around pawpaw trees. If this won’t start (or stop) a front-yard conversation, then nothin’ will. Randolph’s books are chock-full of Ozark stories about plants and people that will either keep your neighbors hanging on your every word, or send them running for the hills. Clearly, I’ve had extra time on my hands and need some face time, I mean real face time. But if you don’t take kindly to chatting with passers-bye, but still see the value in messaging, there are a number of garden signs that may be of interest. St. Louis Wild Ones offers a sign that says “This garden is in harmony with Nature”. St. Louis Audubon’s backyard certification program, Bring Conservation Home, provides a sign that says “This landscape provides outstanding wildlife habitat value”. Grow Native!, a program of the Missouri Prairie Foundation, has five different signs, one of which states “These native plants provide food sources for beneficial insects and support songbirds and other cherished wildlife”. If your goal is to support nature, and memories that last, consider adding native plants and perhaps a sign that tells the neighborhood that you support native gardening. Now, more than ever, nature needs us to step up and do our part. Happy Gardening ya’ll.

GOATS, BEES and PAWPAWS Oh My!

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 9 AM–4 PM

Taste pawpaw. Yum!

Stretch yourself

with goat yoga. Bee happy. Tour our native plantings. Save with our G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) sale!

Event is outdoors, social distancing practiced, and masks encouraged. Preorder plants or purchase ticket for goat yoga at https://bit.ly/ShopNatives

Natives and pawpaw event FREE - Yoga requires pre-paid $30 ticket 88 Forrest Keeling Lane | Elsberry, MO 63343 | 800-FKN-2401 | forrestkeeling.com