From Little Acorns . . .
Marilyn became interested in Wild Ones when she purchased a country property and wanted wildflowers. She began volunteering at Shaw Nature Reserve to learn about growing native plants and planting a prairie. When she heard about Wild Ones she thought, “This is just what I need to steer me in the right direction.” Her prairie started as a 10×10 ft plot of little bluestem plants from Terri Brandt. Now it has grown to 18 acres in native prairie plants.
“At the farm we now have an unbelievable amount of lightning bugs. There are so many it is hard to tell the stars from the lightning bugs. It reminds me of when I was young.”
A few years after Marilyn joined the chapter, they hosted the national meeting at Shaw Nature Reserve at the Fruend center. She was on the team in charge of food and helped to coordinate serving pizza to everyone. “It was a small group, maybe less than 50 people. The speakers were outdoors.” When I asked her if this was something Scott Woodbury arranged, she said, “It was probably Scott’s idea.”
Another fond memory was seeding the Antire Road highway 44 exit. The volunteers distributed trashcans full of seeds and sawdust. Marilyn says, “I think about it every time I see it. A few species still survive.”
I asked Marilyn for some words of advice. She cautioned, “Gardening is for patient people. Know going into it that nothing will be quick, but it is satisfying eventually. Once you get going, you have seeds, and then baby plants. It all multiplies exponentially.”
Marilyn recently added a bioswale to her yard. Now she has toads and dragonflies. She says, “The really fun part is the birds and bugs. It is satisfying to see the wildlife. Last year we had five bird nests with babies at the same time; wrens, cardinal, and finches. The finches like to nest on my front door wreath. One year we had to stop using the front door because of the babies.”
“I’m glad to know that the Wild Ones chapter is attracting so many new members. I’m still surprised about how many people are clueless about native plants.”
post by Besa Schweitzer, Chapter member and volunteer
To learn more about our Keystone Member series and other members we are highlighting
visit: https://stlwildones.org/keystone-members/
I also look for the natives at that Antire road planting. Some are still there. Compass plants are blooming today 8/2/23.