post and photos by Donna Short, Chapter member and volunteer
Seed Exchange & Annual Meeting
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Seeds were the focus as 78 members gathered to close out the 2022 season and celebrate a great year for Wild Ones St. Louis while sharing and collecting seeds to expand their garden or introduce new varieties.
A large variety of seed packets labeled with plant information were available for members to make their selections. Advice was readily available from a team of experts: Kathy Bildner, Susan Burk, and Kevin Mowery. Also, Kathy created the poster illustrating the beauty of seeds. And Kevin shared techniques for using things like recycled plastic milk jugs and soda bottles to make outdoor stratification/propagation containers which also protect the seeds from birds.
For information on collecting seeds for future seed exchanges or to trade with friends refer to: Stlwildones.org/collecting-advice-for-our-seed-exchange/ which includes these specifications provided by Dawn Weber for packaging: “paper envelopes are best, labeled with your name, the common name of the plant, and the scientific name of the plant if you know it.”
The Seed Head Id game provided a fun way to test everyone’s recognition of seed heads.
The room was surrounded with a variety of displays.
Plant id tags were available for purchase. Look for information about purchasing id tags in future monthly communications from Wild Ones St. Louis. You can find the list of id tags available at https://stlwildones.org/plant-tags/.
Yard Signs were also available.
April Anderson displayed and sold a few of her books.
Copies of Besa Schweitzer’s The Wildflower Garden Planner were also available for purchase. If you missed this opportunity, visit www.besagrows.com for information on where you can purchase her book for entertainment, gardening ideas and maintenance tips during the upcoming months!
A variety of snacks and drinks were available!
Attendance prizes were awarded, including glass yard art handmade by Ginny Johnson, retiring chapter Secretary.
Since 1998, our chapter has actively pursued the mission of encouraging landscaping with native plants in residential, business and public landscapes. Next year marks the chapter’s 25th Anniversary –look forward to celebrations as we continue our mission!
Annual Meeting
President Marsha Gebhardt addressed the group, acknowledging that the November Gathering is also the Chapter’s required Annual Membership Meeting.
She first announced that Ginny Johnson is stepping down from her position as Board Secretary, which she held for four years. She thanked Ginny, who not only kept minutes but hosted many board meetings, donated pieces of her glass yard art on behalf of the chapter, and welcomed and encouraged many members and potential members through the years. She will still be involved, just not in an official role.
The membership was introduced to Laura Yates as the nominee to replace Ginny as Secretary. The vote to elect her was immediately unanimous. Laura has been active in native landscaping in the St. Louis region for years, and most recently coordinated volunteers for the Annual St. Louis Native Plant Garden Tour.
Brenda Adams was also introduced to the membership as a new Board Member-at-Large. Brenda has been active with Wild Ones St. Louis Chapter’s outreach for several years. More about Laura and Brenda will be posted on the Chapter Leaders tab of our website in January.
