June 2016 Gathering Highlights

June 1 and 4, 2016
Linda Tatum hosted two yard-tour gatherings in May. Twenty-five members and 11 guests attended on June 1. On June 4, attendance was 12 members and 4 guests.

Linda has lived in her home only 2.5 years, yet has transformed much of the landscape. Her backyard originally consisted of packed clay, poor turf, and large areas of invasive bush honeysuckle with an understory of poison ivy. The front yard included a “sick” silver maple, one large pine, and foundation plantings of exotic sedum.

After Wild Ones members shared information on the application process for a Rainscape grant, Linda applied with the goals of retaining rain water on her property and increasing biodiversity of plants.

The grant was successful for about 60% of the cost of the backyard plan which included a 200-gallon rain barrel, turf replacement for about 40 percent of backyard, and 150 shrubs and perennials including an American holly.

After the grant project was completed, Linda added several front beds and many more plants. A raised stone wall for the vegetable area is in progress.

This month is the second anniversary of the plantings from the grant project. Linda is amazed at how different the yard looks.

Cardinals built a nest in the American holly this spring. In winter Linda enjoys seeing her own landscape “painting” rather than a fence or neighbor’s building. The amount of work done in two short years is amazing.

Upcoming Events

Yard tour – June 15
St. Louis Chapter ‘s Fran Glass will host the Wild Ones – Southwest Illinois Chapter for a yard tour on June 15 at 6:00 p.m. St. Louis Chapter members are welcome to come and meet our sister-chapter members.

St. Louis Native Plant Garden Tour – June 18
Again we are partnering with St. Louis Audubon Society‘s Bring Conservation Home to present the second annual St. Louis Native Plant Garden Tour on Saturday, June 18, 2016. This year’s tour features ten yards in Olivette, Ladue, Clayton, and University City with a lot of variety including age of plantings, size, type of habitat, sun, and moisture conditions.  Ask questions, take pictures, and get ideas for your own landscape.  Invite your family, your friends, and your neighbors to see how native plants can be integrated into their yards.

Film Screening of Jens Jensen The Living Green – June 18
The legendary landscape designer and public parks advocate Jens Jensen was one of the first in his profession to incorporate native plants in landscape design. Jensen recognized both the importance of conserving original ecosystems and the biodiversity they harbor, and the benefits of naturalistic landscape design in cities. Wild Ones is an Educational/Promotional Partner of the film. [Editor’s Note: The film will be shown on Channel 9 on Sunday, June 26 at 5:00 p.m]

Chapter Board of Directors meeting – June 29
Chapter members are welcome to attend or send items for the agenda. For location and time: Check with a board member or the president so the host will have an accurate count of attendees.

To present: Issues to be brought before the board should be discussed with the president beforehand so time can be allotted on the agenda.

Plant sale report
Our chapter volunteers sold 1,800 herbaceous plants and 70 shrubs at the Spring Wildflower Market at Shaw Nature Reserve May 6 & 7. After paying our vendor our profit was $3,500.

• Proceeds support our grant program for native plantings and our co-sponsorship of Shaw Nature Reserve’s Native Plant School.
• The funds allow us to co-sponsor the Landscape Challenge, the St. Louis Native Plant Garden Tour, and the Partners for Native Landscaping workshop.
• In addition, we give away native shrub seedlings at Earth Day and provide information at tabling events.

Wild Ones Website
Please consider writing a blog about your yard to share. A short blog can be something as simple as a few sentence observation of one’s yard with a photo or two. Marcia Myers, 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. To contact Marcia, from the Contact Us page, click on the Person to Contact drop-down menu, and click on her name to send an email.

Plant Give-aways
Several members brought transplants of marsh/swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), stiff goldenrod (Solidago ridiga), golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea), cup plants (Silphium perfoliatum) and other species from their yards to share.

Next Gathering
Yard tour at the home of Tessa Wasserman. Please bring a lawn chair.

Choose Wednesday evening July 6, 6:30 p.m. OR Saturday morning July 9, 9:30 a.m.
For directions

Recorded by: Fran Glass, Secretary