February 2013 meeting minutes

Vice-President Bill Hoss welcomed 22 guests and 26 Wild Ones members at The Heights community center of Richmond Heights. Membership chair Betty Struckhoff discussed benefits of membership.

Announcements

Bill announced the upcoming “Partners for Native Landscaping Workshop for Homeowners” to be held February 23 at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center.

The St. Louis chapter of Wild Ones now has a DVD of “Urban & Suburban Meadows,” produced by Catherine Zimmerman. It begins by showing the drawbacks of traditional lawns. Members are welcome to view it and show it to other groups such as Master Naturalists.

Volunteer coordinator Amy Redfield described upcoming volunteer opportunities:

  • Native Landscaping Workshop on February 23
  • St. Louis Earth Day Festival in Forest Park on April 21
  • Native Plant Sale at Shaw Nature Reserve, May 10 and 11

Sign-up sheets were circulated for the first two events.

Newspaper plastic sleeves are needed to wrap 400 Missouri Department of Conservation seedlings that we will give away at Earth Day. Please bring them to the March or April meeting.

Program

Deer Creek Watershed Alliance coordinator Karla Wilson presented the program RainScape Your Yard. Landowners in participating municipalities are eligible to take part in a RainScape Rebates program, a voluntary program that financially assists landowners in the Deer Creek Watershed and the participating municipalities who wish to landscape their yards to improve storm water management.

Nellie Brown gave a brief update on the status of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and other invasive pests. She also gave away T-shirts and literature.

Next meeting: March 13, 7 p.m. (note this is the second Wednesday) – The Heights community center in Richmond Heights.  Tom Krauska, aka Tom Terrific will give a presentation on Butterfly gardening.

For directions see our 2013 calendar.

 

Recorded by: Fran Glass, Secretary

2 Comments

  1. A friend and I attended last Sat. workshop at Powder Valley and came away wishing all the snow was gone, the earth was warming, the sun stayed out ALL day, so new plants could be added to mother Earth!
    Last fall I moved into a home with only a lonely maple tree in the back yard–which was good! Now there is an empty pallet to “paint with plants”!
    Looking forward to attending your next meeting–LOVE butterflies!

  2. Betty Struckhoff

    Don’t let the gray skies hold you back. I planted 4 shrub seedlings yesterday that I collected at a St. Louis County Parks event. The ground is not frozen. Maybe the snow insulated it!

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