Wednesday, February 9, 2019
Our February gathering featured the presentation “Grasses, Sedges and Rushes”, by guest speaker Victoria Hatfield, principal owner of Wallflower Design, located in Webster Groves, as well as professional horticulturist, garden designer & educator. The gathering was attended by 79 members and 46 guests at our (somewhat) new indoor location home, the Brentwood Community Center.
After a warm welcome to our members and guests by our president, Marsha Gebhardt, she asked Kathy Bildner and Kevin Mowery from our Grant committee to explain our new Grant Mentor Program. We currently have 46 active sites that have received grants since 2007. Some are thriving, but others seem to be in limbo. The purpose of this program is to conduct follow–up visits to these sites to see how they are doing and provide any assistance that may be needed.
The mentor will visit the site 1-2 times per year, take pictures and do a quick evaluation of the plantings. There are no forms to fill out. A sheet was passed around to allow members to sign up to mentor one of 28 sites that aren’t assigned yet. Because the sheet only made it halfway through the audience, about a dozen sites remain unassigned. There will be another opportunity during the March 13th Gathering.
Victoria began her presentation by addressing the symbiotic relationship of her designs and their impact on how her clients live, work and play each day. She spoke about the mission of perennials: their aesthetic value, ecological function, pollinator support, community health and Green infrastructure support. (water run-off management)
Wonder what the differences are between grasses, sedges and rushes? Sedges have edges and rushes are round, but grasses have nodes from their tips to the ground. She discussed shade and sun loving plants and how their function fits into our native landscaping.
Because the list was long with so much interest being shown by the audience, Victoria generously provided Wild Ones St. Louis Chapter with the slides of plants from her talk. Also, Victoria informed us that the horticulture program at St. Louis Community College at Meramec has planted a sedge trial garden where we can see these plants in action.
Members are encouraged to go to the Dig In! page for tabling opportunities at these events.
Submitted by
Ginny Johnson, Secretary
