Members were joined by three guests at our annual potluck dinner and seed exchange, held at the First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood. Copies of our chapter membership list and the 2013 meeting and event calendar were distributed. Discussion Topic Several members described successes and challenges of the year in their…
By Amy Redfield Wielding bypass loppers, hacksaws, anvil loppers, and Japanese saws, Wild Ones members wreaked havoc amongst the tangle of honeysuckle. Trunks as thick as a foot across (are we really sure honeysuckle is a shrub and not a tree??) gave way under the onslaught, only to have their…
By Amy Redfield Ed’s first native garden went entirely to honeysuckle and Euonymus. Not that he thought that was a problem: he figured since he has a very deep lot, why not let the far end of it go back to nature – sort of a wildlife habitat? Less to…
By Bob Kipfer, Springfield Plateau Chapter of Missouri Master Naturalists Have you ever heard of “frost flowers“? If so, you had to get out early in the morning during the first few hard frosts. Frost flowers, also known as “ice ribbons,” are formed by super-cooled water being extruded through plant stems and freezing the minute they…
By Ed Schmidt One of the more unusual things that has happened during my presidency of the St. Louis chapter occurred in late September. I received an email from Wild Ones executive director Donna VanBuecken asking me to respond to an email she received from one Geoffrey Soyiantet, stating that…
Twenty-five members met at Joan and Larry Hummel’s property for our annual Saturday potluck lunch membership meeting. Joan led a tour of her woodland garden and Larry’s prairie. The Hummels purchased their property in 1995. Larry described experiences they have had in restoring the property to a native ecosystem and…
Join Wild Ones for the annual honeysuckle removal project in Forest Park on Saturday, November 3rd from 9AM to noon. This is the 14th year for the project, and the 2nd year Wild Ones has participated. You can help reclaim Forest Park from its tangle of honeysuckle. So, come join us,…
Even though it’s October, be on the watch for monarch caterpillars on milkweed (including vining milkweed) and chrysalises in your garden. And possibly elsewhere – my neighbor discovered a chrysalis inside a running shoe left out on his porch.
by Betty Struckhoff “I never imagined there was a residential landscape like this in the St. Louis area.” That was one of the comments as Wild Ones members strolled through a buffalo grass lawn, a woodland with a bubbling stream and acres of prairie at the beautiful home of Joan…
By Amy Redfield At last, a follow-up to the Mystery Plant post of May 30, 2012. This photo was taken August 20. Turns out the pollinators love it! It has been identified as Eupatorium altissimum, known as tall thoroughwort, tall boneset or tall joepyeweed. Either way, it’s tall! Many thanks to our…
