Participation opens Fri Aug 18 for our 2017/2018 MDC seedling order

Wild Ones members wrap seedlings to give away at Earth Day

The seedling wrapping crew

By Dawn Weber
Board Member-at-Large, Wild Ones – St. Louis Chapter

Each year, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) offers Missouri residents a variety of tree and shrub seedlings for reforestation, windbreaks, and erosion control, as well as for wildlife food and cover.

MDC provides mainly one-year-old, bare-root seedlings. A few species are two years old, and they are noted as 2-0 in the pricing chart. The size of the seedlings varies greatly depending on the species, which are available in bundles of 10 and 25.

This year, MDC is opening up the seedling order period on September 1st, quite a bit earlier than in previous years, so we also need to start our process earlier, to have the best chance at getting the species that we want. 

You have two ways of ordering:

  • If you want a large number of seedlings, you can order from MDC directly. Online ordering will open on September 1st.
  • Members of Wild Ones can participate in our group seedling order, which provides the opportunity to order less than the minimum number of seedlings per species.
    • Order via the paper signup sheet at the September 6th gathering. If you plan to order at the gathering, you will want to review the catalog ahead of time. Note that while many of the trees and shrubs in the catalog are native to Missouri, they are not all native. Our Wild Ones group order will be only for the native species, primarily the shrubs and smaller trees.
    • Order through the Wild Ones online signup sheet. If you would like seedlings, just enter your name at the top of a column on the Wild Ones order form and the number you want for each seedling.  If you have problems with the spreadsheet, contact Ana Grace, a.grace@sbcglobal.net or 314-962-2816  or Betty Struckhoff,  etstruckhoff@att.net or 314-966-8404.

You must have an active Wild Ones membership to participate in our group order. If you’ve been thinking about joining and want to get some seedlings, now is the time to follow through! To join, see Fran at the gathering on September 6th or contact her via our website.

The seedlings are sold for $1 each, to cover the cost of shipping and offset the cost of tree donations our chapter makes in the spring.

Also, MDC has seedlings available for larger trees.  If you would like some, and are willing to order in multiples of 10, we can include them in this order.  Contact Ana or Betty to order.

The last date to request seedlings through the group order form is Thursday, September 7 at 11:59 p.m.

Payment is collected when the seedlings are distributed in April, because the nursery is not always able to deliver what we ask for, and adjustments are sometimes made. 

Not sure what you will need to do when the seedlings arrive? See this informative post from Larry Hummel on his methods.

3 Comments

  1. I have three Grey Dogwood, three American Beauty Berry and two Rose Mallow left over from the seedling order in May of 2016. They stand about 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall.

    They spent the winter in large pots kept warm by straw bales, and by some miracle are doing well but would like to be planted in a permanent location.

    If anyone wants to take them to plant I am happy to give them up free.

    • I am interested in the rose mallows! 🙂

      • Great the rose mallows are looking forward to a new home.

        If you want to contact me at 314-520-0102 we can figure out how to get them to you.

        Thanks

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