From Weeds to Native Plants …
“As a gardener my entire adult life, I have always wanted to help attract wildlife. Herbal bee (attracting) plants were favorites from my time in the St. Louis Herb Society. Garden club membership included many talks on wildflowers and tours of Shaw Nature Reserve to see them – but, for many years, no one advocated planting them in one’s garden. Because they were not readily available, flower shows forbid showing native plants because it was wrong to dig and replant wildflowers in your garden found in ‘nature’.”
“A few friends took up the cause. Janet and Joe Williamson, members of Wild Ones at the time and friends in my garden club who lived near me, started to talk about invasive species such as bush honeysuckle and how it was taking over space in our yards and neighborhoods that should be full of wildflowers, especially spring flowering ephemerals. Janet worked with local parks including Longview Farm Park to plant Missouri native trees and plants.”
“Attitudes began to change when Scott Woodbury founded the St. Louis Chapter of Wild Ones. Suddenly it became not only acceptable but important to plant native wildflowers in one’s garden. At 86 I can look back at this transition towards native landscaping as a long process to reach ordinary gardeners like me – but it’s working!”
“I became a member of Wild Ones but was never able to regularly attend local meetings. I remember a wonderful meeting at the Museum of Transportation which featured a plant scavenger hunt. I won a wild indigo blue baptisia plant, the first truly native in my garden, and it continues to occupy a prominent place in one of my many gardens! The Wild Ones Journal and the Missouri Wildflower Nursery catalog became favorite resources. I attended various seminars hosted by Wild Ones and others.”
“When Doug Tallamy was first brought to the Missouri Botanical Garden, I was in a position to request and receive the financial support of the Federated Garden Clubs of Missouri, Inc., part of the National Garden Clubs, Inc. As a volunteer organization, we set up a booth and encouraged planting bird sanctuaries and butterfly gardens. Doug, however, made such a positive impression on me that I became an overnight convert to total native landscaping.”
“As the Bring Conservation Home program was getting started by the St. Louis Audubon Society, I invited Mitch Leachman to visit my garden, a corner villa in the Mari de Villa Retirement Complex, and he awarded me ‘Silver’ status. Soon after, Nate Bleazard, my wonderful gardener, started removing about 100 feet of wild bush honeysuckle and grape vines along the service road beside my property, a huge endeavor which took about 2½ years. As he removed a section, I bought and he planted three to five groupings of native perennials and shrubs and my status jumped to Platinum! I was then invited to be included in the September 2017 St. Louis Native Plant Tour. That was a definite highpoint of my membership with Wild Ones. I appreciated their volunteer support very much as well as the opportunity to share my garden.”
“I have become an enthusiastic spokesman for landscaping with native plants, particularly among local and state garden clubs. I continue to support Wild Ones financially. While I have not been as active a member locally as I would have liked, I certainly am proud to belong to the largest chapter in the country! Mostly it is a case of many commitments as well as advancing age limitations.”
“I am pleased to be considered a Keystone Member but really feel that honor belongs to those hard-working members who have promoted native plants to St. Louis homeowners for these many years. Long Live the St. Louis Chapter of Wild Ones!”
post by Jeanine Arrighi, Chapter member and volunteer
To learn more about our Keystone Member series and other members we are highlighting
visit: https://stlwildones.org/keystone-members/
Sue, thank you for this trip down memory lane. You are the honorary grandmother of so many gardeners in the St. Louis area. This doesn’t begin to cover all your accomplishments. Happy you are a part of my life!