A Learner and Sharer of All Things Native…
“In 1999, looking forward to retirement, I decided to become a Master Gardener. It was in my DNA. My mother always had a huge vegetable garden when I grew up on a farm near Augusta, Missouri. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of running through the woods full of wild sweet william, mayapples and other spring wildflowers. I had already brought some of these to my yard in Des Peres.”
“Because I appreciated native plants and enjoyed doing research I decided to create a presentation on landscaping with natives for the Master Gardener’s Speakers Bureau. My number one problem – I didn’t have many photos to illustrate my talk. Asking around ‘Master Gardener world’ didn’t get me very far until someone said ‘You should call Scott Woodbury at Shaw Nature Reserve.”
“Scott could not have been more accommodating. He allowed me to go through his slide trays – the year 2000 remember – and note the photos I would like copied for my slides. He only asked me to sign a simple statement saying I would use the slides for educational purposes only. ‘Oh…. and you should join Wild Ones’.”
“Well of course I couldn’t say no, and I was delighted at my very first meeting to meet more interesting people and to discover just the plant I needed for a wet, shady area of my yard. It’s now known as golden ragwort (Packera aurea). Again, Scott was able to steer me to a place to get it. I don’t think natives like that were available at any local nurseries back then.”
“Since then, Wild Ones has been a happy part of my life. My Master Gardener talk was a hit and I added more talks on different aspects of native landscaping. When Wild Ones formed a Speaker’s Bureau, I was happy to put together some new presentations for that. I have served on the Wild Ones Board, helped initiate the annual tree and shrub seedling purchase, volunteered as a Bring Conservation Home consultant, swapped lots of plants and always enjoyed the Wild Ones’ people and activities. ”
“When Shutterbee came on the scene in 2020 it was perfect timing. The first year of Covid found me discovering new things in my yard as I surveyed for bees. Who knew all those critters were out there? I was reminded of visiting an aquarium and marveling at the strange creatures in the sea. There are equally strange creatures in my backyard.”
“Wild Ones meetings are educational of course, but my volunteer activities have really deepened my knowledge. Forcing me to create presentations means I am digging through resources to come up with information. Volunteering at the National Museum of Transportation, as I have for over 15 years, has shown me what survives and what does not in different conditions. My Shutterbee experience led me to do a photo safari of bugs in my yard with the 8 year old budding naturalist across the street.”
“One of the best learning experiences for me came through Bring Conservation Home. I enjoyed doing yard consultations but chose not to have one for my own yard. My landscape was mostly mature and I didn’t plan to make any big changes. But then I participated in the yard consultation for another volunteer, and we sat at her outdoor table for an hour or so talking about the program and our goals. I so enjoyed it that I scheduled my yard just to have that kind of conversation again. But – surprise! – I learned something important. If I wanted to attract more birds to my yard, I needed more small trees and shrubs.”
“A few years later, having implemented the Bring Conservation Home recommendations, I was enjoying a visit with a neighbor on my back porch. She noted an interesting bird call and said ‘I don’t think we have that bird on my side of the street.”
“As for the future, I want to continue to learn and to share what I know about native landscaping. Wild Ones has had tremendous leadership over the years and that makes me want to support the organization. I also hope to continue to improve my own landscape, creating a property that the next owner will want to sustain for the benefit of all the critters out there.”
post by Savannah Furman, Chapter member and volunteer
To learn more about our Keystone Member series and other members we are highlighting
visit: https://stlwildones.org/keystone-members/
