President Marsha Gebhardt kicked off the 2016 monthly gatherings.
February 3, 2016
Our first monthly gathering of 2016 attracted 32 members and 23 guests at The Heights community center of Richmond Heights.
President Marsha Gebhardt welcomed all, including members of the Richmond Heights Garden Club and other attendees.
Marsha introduced our new officers, the 2016-2017 Board of Directors:
- President – Marsha Gebhardt
- Vice-President – Wes Boshart
- Secretary / Membership Chair – Fran Glass
- Treasurer – Penny Holtzmann
- Members-at-Large:
- Marilyn Chryst – SNR Liaison / Plant Sale Coordinator
- Dawn Weber, Technology Communications Committee Chair
Program
Kim Riess, a manager at Sugar Creek Gardens which is a business member of St. Louis Wild Ones, gave the presentation “Landscaping ideas for the intrepid homeowner.” She covered the topics of resources, challenges, and design guidelines.
Kim Riess talked about landscaping with native plants.
Kim emphasized identification of:
- wet or dry spots
- sunny or shady spots
- designing in layers or starting with foundation/anchor plants
- repetition of plants to provide continuity and simplify the plant palette
- consideration of bloom times for early, mid, and late-season color
Additionally, Kim shared her top picks of Missouri native plants for sun and for shade. Also, she discussed planting natives in containers.
Technology Communications Committee
Dawn Weber, chair of the Technology Communications Committee, gave an overview of this newly-created oversight committee, which functions to maintain our chapter’s online presence via our website and on the blog, Facebook, and Twitter. We hope to expand our mission by attracting a larger audience.
Marcia Myers is our webmaster, blog editor, and social media coordinator. In order to attract a younger audience to expand our mission, Marcia obtained approval from the board and created a St. Louis Chapter Twitter account named @STLWildOnes which she manages. Marcia gave a presentation on how members and guests can use Twitter.
Three other members of the Technology Communications Committee are:
- Amy Redfield and Besa Schweitzer as Facebook administrators, and
- Fran Glass, who as membership chair, sends out monthly reminders and maintains e-mail subscriber lists.
The fifty-five attendees included 32 Wild Ones members and Richmond Heights Garden Club members.
Volunteer Opportunity: Bloggers for our website
Marcia Myers is seeking volunteer bloggers for the website. A short blog can be something as simple as a few sentence observation of one’s yard with a photo or two. Marcia, as webmaster and blog editor, will help by editing and making suggestions. Start by emailing Marcia your idea and photo and she will work with you from there. From our website’s Contact Us page, click on the “Person to Contact” drop-down menu, and click on her name to send an email.
Volunteer Opportunity: Staffers for Wild Ones information tabling events
Our chapter is invited to host Wild Ones information tables at various nature-related events throughout the year. This is a way for us to spread our mission and attract new members.
Display board with other information and Fran Glass
To make it easy for members to be involved, our new display board demonstrates in self-explanatory terms and photos what we do, why we do it, and how we raise and spend our funds. This display plus demonstration materials and handouts make it easy for any member to help staff tabling events once or twice a year. New volunteers will be paired with veteran volunteers.
Wes Boshart is our Volunteer and Tabling Coordinator. He recruited volunteers to staff tables for February and March events. This is an ongoing volunteer opportunity.
To contact Wes, from our website’s Contact Us page, click on the “Person to Contact” drop-down menu, and click on his name to send an email.
Spring Wildflower Market at Shaw Nature Reserve – May 6 and 7
Marilyn Chryst, Plant Sale Coordinator, circulated a sign-up sheet for volunteers to help set-up, staff, and take down our native plant sale booth at the Shaw Nature Reserve’s Spring Wildflower Market.
Honeysuckle Sweep for Healthy Habitats Week – March 5-13
Marsha announced this new event that is sponsored by BiodiverseCity St. Louis, a community initiative of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Conservation organizations in our region are hosting honeysuckle removal days. Wild Ones members are encouraged to join in the effort to improve habitat for our native plants and animals. A list of events
Missouri Department of Conservation Seedling Order
This is a members-only benefit. In November we placed a group order for seedlings from the Missouri Department of Conservation. Ana Grace Schactman will recruit a few volunteers to sort and wrap the seedlings prior to our April 6, 2016 gathering, at which time the seedlings will be distributed to members who placed orders.
Day of Monthly Gatherings
Several of our active members are unable to attend Wednesday evening gatherings. Marsha asked for a show of hands of members who are available to attend on first Tuesdays or first Thursdays, should we decide to change our gathering day. Results were 18 for first Tuesdays and 11 for first Thursdays.
Next Gathering
March 2, 2016, 7:00 p.m. at The Heights community center of Richmond Heights
Earth’s Solar Energy Engine, a photographic PowerPoint presentation of photosynthesis by research professor Chris Kirmaier. Chris is also a Master Gardener and a habitat advisor for St. Louis Audubon’s Bring Conservation Home program. For directions
Recorded by: Fran Glass, Secretary
It was a great meeting! I especially loved Kim’s lists and her expansion of “top #” lists because there are too many great plants 🙂