Wildlife Rescue Center’s native plant grant

By Tessa Wasserman
Member, St. Louis Wild Ones

On January 24, 2018 several Wild Ones members visited the Wildlife Rescue Center on their 12-acre property located within the Kiefer Creek watershed. A grant request had been made by Jessie Dockins, Community Outreach and Education Manager. The project proposal was titled: Go Wild Garden: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Native and Non-native Flower Gardens.

Jessie discussed the details of the project which included two pre-existing raised flower beds that would be used to highlight the differences between native plants and non-native plants commonly found in suburban yards.

Native plants for bed #1 were selected to support native butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Visitors to the two beds, which are visible from the classroom, would be able to compare variables such as insect diversity and abundance, drought tolerance, and maintenance levels. 

Members were impressed with the Wildlife Rescue Center’s efforts to eradicate invasives and restore native habitat on their property which they have been doing for the past eight years. They receive help from The Nature Conservancy, Missouri Coalition for the Environment, and Missouri Master Naturalists.

Through this support, they have restored a wet prairie and become instrumental in protecting the imperiled and ecologically significant Kiefer Creek watershed. This along with educational efforts such as promoting native habitat to more than 2,000 projected visitors, off-site programming, camps, and community events convinced the Wild Ones members that it was a big YES to grant them funding.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Jessie gave a wonderful tour of the facilities and surrounding area. Since it was winter, not many animals were being treated which was a good thing. During the spring and summer there can be 300+ animals needing help.

Jessie recently wrote to thank our organization again and to provide an update on the GoWild Garden. Here is the letter:

Greetings and I hope this email finds you well!  We would like to extend a big thank you to St. Louis Wild Ones for providing funding to help establish our GoWild Garden. We have installed plants in both the native and non-native flower beds and are excited to compare the beds over the course of this summer and in the seasons and years to come. Some of the observations we have made in the short time since installation include:

– The non-native flowers (pansies, zinnias, marigolds, gerber daisies, etc.) are currently flowering and as such, are presently attracting more insects when compared to the native bed. We have noted non-native honeybees and one jumping spider in the non-native bed.

– The phlox and coreopsis have and are currently flowering. While the other natives are not yet blooming, their vegetative growth is robust, especially when compared to the non-native plants.

– Prior to the rain we had last week, the non-native plants were becoming increasingly wilted and droopy, while the native plants appeared strong and tall. 

We are excited to track these and future differences we observe between the native and non-native garden beds. In fact, I created an INaturalist project to catalog the insects we observe as well as other differences we note between the two beds. If you would like to follow along, here is the link to our project: The Wildlife Rescue Center’s GoWild Garden Project. Please note, I just created the project and as such, there are not many observations yet!

I am especially excited to begin showcasing the GoWild Garden during our education programs.  I am currently working to incorporate the garden beds into our education programming as well as develop interpretive signage and other literature to educate our guests about the GoWild Garden Project. I believe the GoWild Project will be the catalyst for many educational and thought-provoking conversations about the beauty and significance of native plants.

I’ve attached a photo of our newly established GoWild Garden. I would like to invite you and fellow St. Louis Wild Ones members to come out for a visit to the Wildlife Rescue Center. We would love to share our GoWild Garden with you as well as our other native habitat restoration projects. Please let me know if this is something you would be interested in and if so, we can figure out a date and time.

Thank you again!

Kind regards,

Jessie Dockins
Community Outreach and Education Manager