By James Trager, Ph.D., Restoration Biologist at Shaw Nature Reserve Here’s an amazing testament to the value of native plantings. On Saturday, July 5, 2014, I hosted a National Moth Watch group near the Bascom House, from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. Equipment included two black lights, a mercury vapor light, white sheets to…
By Scott Woodbury Cindy Gilberg grew up in Missouri with a sense of wonder about the natural world. Before the age of electronic devices her family snorkeled in Ozark streams in search of cool waters and underwater critters. They hiked natural areas exploring for plants and ferns and things wild….
PROGRAM Dave and Karen Tylka hosted this month’s yard tour at their 3-acre rural property outside of Imperial, MO. Fifty-plus Wild Ones members and guests attended to learn from the passionate, natural-born teacher. Dave is the author of Native Landscaping for Wildlife and People and teaches a class of the same…
By Marsha Gebhardt I am the lucky caregiver for a seven-month-old Missouri natives garden. As with children, seven-month-olds bring wonder, worry, and a need for much education and effort. It is not easy to walk the Missouri Evening Primrose path, but it is a walk filled with pleasure and purpose….
By Marsha Gebhardt On June 4th, local radio station KWMU’s program St. Louis on the Air had an excellent discussion of the benefits of using native plants. “Using native plants is environmentally friendly because it works within the existing ecosystem,” explained Jean Ponzi, Green Resources Manager at the EarthWays Center of the Missouri Botanical…
Our June meeting was at the home of author and college professor, Dave Tylka and his wife, Karen. Their yard includes shade and prairie gardens, glade habitat, a rain garden, and a water feature. Dave’s book, Native Landscaping for Wildlife and People, is a “must read” for native gardeners in the Midwest. If…
By Mitch Leachman The St. Louis Audubon Society’s Bring Conservation Home program was created in 2012. It gives individual landowners in the St. Louis region specific advice on how to create bird- and pollinator-friendly habitat in their own yards. A number of the program’s volunteer Habitat Advisors are Wild Ones members,…
By Ed Schmidt Squaw weed, also known as round-leaved ragwort, has beautiful yellow flowers in the spring, and the leaves make an attractive ground cover. It thrives in shade, and tolerates fairly dry conditions. On the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Plantfinder, it gets 4 stars. Originally designated as Senecio obovatus, the…
By Nellie Brown It’s not because the tree is in the holiday spirit. The “ornaments” are actually bagworms. The caterpillars eat an extremely wide range of plants (128 species), from arborvitae to maples. They can be devastating on many woody ornamentals, including many plants in your yard. The eggs hatch…
By Marsha Gebhardt I highly recommend attending one or more of the Friday Greener Gardens series at Shaw Nature Reserve. This is a new series for SNR; they call it an “experiment.” I attended the first one on a beautiful April evening. After sharing food and drink and a bit…
