The Gateway Gardener May 2017

Gateway Gardener

MAY 2017

THE

®

Your Guide to Enjoyable Gardening and Easy-Care Landscapes

Hydrangeas

Not Your Grandmother’s

Function is the New Fashion Herbs and Their Uses Garden Tour Preview FREE Courtesy of:

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Gateway Gardener THE

®

Your Guide to Enjoyable Gardening and Easy-Care Landscapes

MAY 2017

Volume 13, Number 4

Founded in 2005 by Joyce Bruno & Robert Weaver Publisher and Editor Robert Weaver Columnists

Barbara Perry Lawton Garden Book Author and Garden Writer Diane Brueckman Rosarian Joyce Driemeyer Master Gardener Matt Even Gateway Greening Steffie Littlefield Nursery Professional Abby Elliott Nursery Professional Jennifer Schamber Nursery Professional Scott Woodbury Native Plant Specialist

Printing: Breese Publishing, Breese, IL The Gateway Gardener® is published 9 times/year by Double Dig Communications, Inc. to promote enjoyable, successful gardening and livable landscapes in the St. Louis greater metropolitan area. The magazine is distributed free to the public at designated garden centers, nurseries, garden gift shops, lawn equipment rental, repair and sales establishments, and other locations supporting sound gardening, lawn and landscaping practices.

Please send letters-to-the-editor, questions, event announcements, editorial suggestions and contributions, photos, advertising inquiries and materials, and any other correspondence to: The Gateway Gardener Magazine® PO Box 220853 St. Louis, MO 63122 Phone: (314) 968-3740

info@gatewaygardener.com www.gatewaygardener.com The Gateway Gardener® is printed on recycled newsprint using environmentally friendly soy-based ink, and is a member of the PurePower® renewable energy resources network.

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From the Editor

may have shared this information in this spot previously—it’s the curse of the aged—but I wasn’t always a hydrangea fan. They just seemed kind of old fashioned, and there were so many more new and interesting things to fit into my limited landscape space. Then, one by one, owing to my position as the editor of a gardening publication, companies started sending me new varieties to trial. Once bitten, I bought a few more on my own, and now, as I count, I have probably 20 plants representing around 10 or so different varieties. I have big leaf cultivars, smooth hydrangea cultivars (as well as the native H. arborescens), oak leaf, even the climbing hydrangea (pictured at right), which I’m proud to report, for the first time in its decade or more existence in my garden, actually will have a few blooms on it this spring! There is so much to love about these plants. They’re relatively trouble free, bloom for long periods of the season, and even continue to provide interest in the winter months. And now, as Steffie Littlefield writes on page 4, they come in so many varieties of color, shape and size, they’ll solve just about any landscaping dilemma you might have. Definitely not your grandmother’s hydrangeas, but maybe you could give her one

friendly gardening “fashionable”.

You can read a report from our Jennifer Schamber on page 6.

Just as we are growing more plants for insects to eat, we’re always growing plants for us to eat! Matt Even catches us up to speed on herbs and their uses on page 14, and Scott Woodbury takes us on a foraging tour of the native garden, identifying what “weeds” we can safely eat, and those we might want to avoid or take care in proper preparation, on page 18.

for Mother’s Day! Lots of changes have taken place in the horticultural world since Grandma’s days. One current trend we’re very happy to see is the growing regard shown by gardeners and plantspeople for the importance of tending to the needs of pollinators and other beneficial insects in our gardens.

We’re starting to grow plants not because they’re insect-free, but indeed because they attract insects as either host food species or serve as nectar sources. Tammy Behm recently was one of three American garden center representatives to attend a worldwide think tank in Paris on the plight of bees and other pollinators, and how garden centers can help to make pollinator-

On the Cover...

Hydrangeas come in all colors, shapes and sizes for just about every use in the garden, including in containers, like this planter featuring Endless Summer® Bloomstruck® Read more on page 4. (Photo courtesy Bailey Nurseries.)

Finally, readers may notice Barbara Perry Lawton’s absence in this issue. Her fans will be happy to note this is just a short (we’re confident) leave, and Barbara will soon return to her regular welcomed place on our opening pages. For this month we wish Barbara a Happy Mother’s Day, as we do all of our family, friends, and readers for whom the salutation applies!

Good Gardening!

IN THIS ISSUE 4 Not Your Grandmother’s Hydrangeas 6 Function is the New Fashion 8 Soil Testing 10 Green Homes Festival 12 Garden Tour Preview 14 Herbs and Their Uses 15 JT’s Fresh Ideas 16 Troubleshooting Winter Rose Problems 18 Native Plants for Eating 20 Dig This!

22 Upcoming Events

Not Your Grandmother's Hydrangeas

M

y grandmother actually wasn’t that fond of the traditional hydrangea because of its less than stellar performance in the St Louis area.

She admired the hydrangeas in the north and northeast with their vibrant blue flowers. The only hydrangeas she felt were worth planting here were the old fashioned paniculatas, with their big floppy white flowers and the new (in her time) oakleaf hydrangeas like ‘Snow Flake’ or ‘Snow Queen’ as seen on the back cover of Wayside Gardens catalogue in 1985. My first hydrangea was that “new” variety, as she bought one for me when we moved into our new house over 30 years ago, and it is still magnificent, all 8’ x 10’ of it.

Thus began my love affair with hydrangeas. My next encounter was on a trip to Athens, Georgia, where I had the privilege to visit Michael Dirr’s garden and he gave me a stem of his ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea, originally discovered in Anna, Illinois, and on its way to becoming a garden staple.

As I became more and more addicted to garden shrubs, hydrangeas became an obsession.

I attempted to try every new

by Steffie Littlefield

1-3’ and have amazing flowers in a range of colors. And hot off the breeders’ benches for 2017 is another pink beauty I’ve yet to try, Seaside Serenade® Hamptons, another diminutive ball of blooms perfect for courtyards or containers.

Pistachio variety to discover the one that really would be a reliable rebloomer with the blue flowers I coveted so much. Then I planted Endless Summer®, a big leaf selection (H. macrophylla) with its delicate light blue flowers (in acidic soil). I was hooked; it came back, it rebloomed, it was blue….

Soon after, the breeders seemed to go crazy with new introductions. I couldn’t keep up and I ran out of room. Some are H. macrophylla selections, including Endless Summer Bloomstruck®, with its rose-pink, violet or blue flowers depending on soil pH. Others are bred from our native smooth hydrangea H. arborescens such as the white Lil’ Annie™ dwarf hydrangea. Stepping away from

the Endless Summers, I still love others in the ‘Annabelle’ H. arborescens improved lineage, including Incrediball® and Invincibelle® Spirit II. As for some of the other newer H. macrophylla hydrangeas with the colorful flowers, they aren’t just blue anymore either.

I’ve loved ‘Pistachio’ with its amazing blue pink and green flowers that rebloom all summer on a shrub that reaches up to 4’ tall and 5’ wide. Another newer favorite is ‘Glowing Embers’ with its fluorescent pink blooms that grows only 3’ x 3’. And then for the smallest locations or containers look for the ‘Cityline’ series, which only grow 1-3’ x

The newer H. paniculatas that love the sun include ‘Bombshell’ that is perfect for small yards only growing 3-4’ tall and wide and covered in rounded white flowers or ‘Bobo’ that boasts a pink color late in the season. It’s great that most of these newer plants work well in smaller locations and residential settings. For a big impact try ‘Great Star’ hydrangea that will fill a 8-10’ space and grow 8-ft. tall covered in huge flowers.

This is a real showstopper.

If these hydrangeas had been available in my grandmother’s time, she certainly would have included them in her garden as (many of them) I have in mine. photo credits Pistachio and Lil’ Annie courtesy Garden Debut.

Incrediball, Invincibelle Spirit II, Cityline Vienna and Bobo courtesy Proven Winners.

Bloomstruck and Great Star, courtesy Bailey Nurseries, Inc.

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Steffie Littlefield is a St Louis area horticulturist and garden designer. She has degrees from St. Louis Community College at Meramec and Southeast Missouri State and is a member of Gateway Professional Horticultural Association, Missouri Botanical Garden Members Board and past president of the Horticulture Coop of Metropolitan St. Louis. She is part-owner of Edg-Clif Winery, Potosi, MO. www.Edg-Clif.com.

MAY 2017

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Function is the New Fashion

by Jennifer Schamber

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his January, Greenscape Gardens was proud to be one of three garden centers from the United States invited to participate in an international think tank of some of the most innovative garden centers from around the world in Paris, France. Representing Greenscape was Tammy Behm.

During her visit, Tammy was excited to learn that Paris has been referred to as the ‘Beekeeping Capital of The World’. Coming from St. Louis, with our strong community of partners interested in pollinator initiatives, this revelation lead to an interesting adventure to learn more about how Paris, which is well-known for being fashionforward, is translating this to the function and health of their

Elegantly Parisian beehives in the Jardin du Luxembourg environment. years. As more and more hives The adventure began when are being installed on roof volunteers met at The Société tops across Paris, including Centrale d’Apiculture. Notre-Dame and the General Established in 1856, members Assembly, as well as private have been teaching beekeeping residences and commercial classes at the Jardin du businesses, the wait list to attend Luxembourg for over 160 classes has grown, and they are currently taking reservations for 2019. In addition to teaching classes to adults, they host field trips for school children, during which they learn not only about all aspects of beekeeping and honey, but also about how bumblebees and other pollinators play a crucial role in the health of agriculture and the environment—and also, very importantly, what choices and actions they can make personally that will have a positive impact on their world.

This lead to a visit to the National Horticulture Society, where staff members were happy and quite proud to talk about the forward-

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thinking policies and initiatives recently enacted in the past few years to encourage positive impact choices that contribute to environmental health. Two of the most progressive policies center around the elimination of certain pesticides in cities and the encouragement of planting in urban centers. The pesticide ban has triggered the resurgence of not only education in organic methods of pest control, but also practices that make the plants healthy and strong from the start, thereby being more resistant to disease and pests.

Another exciting component to these initiatives is the

Tammy and Stefan, a volunteer with Societe Centrale d’Apiculture encouragement of planting to help reduce pollution, increase habitat and food sources for pollinators, reduce storm water runoff and increase the general

Jennifer Schamber is the General Manager of Greenscape Gardens, and plays leaderships roles in the Western Nursery & Landscape Association, GrowNative!, the Landscape & Nursery Association of Greater St. Louis and the Horticulture Co-op of Metro St. Louis. She has earned Green Profit Magazine’s Young Retailer Award, and Greenscape Gardens was named the National Winner of the 2015 “Revolutionary 100” Garden Centers by Today’s Garden Center Magazine.

The Gateway Gardener™ MAY 2017

and actions. They are finding positive, measurable results of beneficial insect diversity in the cities with pesticide restrictions, in contrast to agricultural regions without these restrictions.

“It will be very interesting to see if a strategy of encouraging the health and wellness of individuals in the urban centers

Vertical gardening in the Marais shopping district health of all inhabitants. This is where the creativity of the Parisians is truly showcased.

Even in wintertime, there are beautiful vertical plantings on walls and in containers, courtyards and rooftops around Paris.

The new legislation will encourage containers at entrances on the sidewalks, plantings on bus stop roofs, around trees in the sidewalks and boulevards and everywhere their imagination takes them.

In many of the public parks and

MAY 2017

Hotel d’Insectes in Jardin du Luxembourg squares, there are installations of très chic Hôtels d’Insectes that artfully create various habitats for pollinators.

These are only a few examples of the inspiring initiatives that the French are proudly embracing to make a difference in their environment and our world. As recently as March of 2017, French delegates of the EU have begun to encourage other members to adapt similar policies in order to spread the reach and impact of these choices

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can drive the demand and commerce to influence choices in the agricultural industry,” says Tammy, “Creating change from the bottom up instead of legislating from the top down.

It’s truly a novel and noteworthy approach… function has become the new fashion!”

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Soil Testing Why and How

consider a soil test before doing any of the following:

on the counter overnight. Extension needs a pint (two cups) of soil to do a test.

You do not want to mix samples from different areas of the yard. Front yards and

By Nathan Brandt back yards should be tested separately from each other. A vegetable garden will have Soil test results reveal unseen qualities like different qualities than a lawn or flower pH and nutrient levels that determine which bed. The top of a slope is often different plants will thrive and which will starve. They from the bottom of the slope. will also tell you what to add for optimal Soil samples can be dropped off at the growth, yield and disease resistance. Your Extension office in Kirkwood. We have job is to collect a good sample, bring it to recently extended our hours to 5:30pm on an MU Extension drop-off location and tell Mondays and Thursdays. The rest of the us what you want to grow. We will get the week (Tue., Wed. or Fri.) you can bring sample to the lab and make sure the results samples by between 8am and 4:30pm. The address is 132 E. Monroe Ave, 63122. If you are back to you in 10 to 14 days.

Collecting a good sample is the most are in the city, you can drop off your sample important part of the process. The goal is at Brightside St. Louis, 4646 Shenandoah allace H. Fuller wrote, “A to get a sample that represents the soil your Ave, 63110. Regular soil tests cost $25. cloak of loose, soft material, plants are or will be growing in. Select Any questions? Call 314-400-2115. held to the Earth’s hard eight to ten randomly spaced locations in surface by gravity, is all that lies between the lawn or garden area of interest. Using a Nathan Brandt is the horticulture specialist life and lifelessness.” shovel, garden trowel or auger, collect soil for the University of Missouri Extension Office in St. Louis County.

Understanding soil properties and how cores from the top four inches for a lawn to adjust them is essential to a healthy and the top six inches for everything else. landscape. Soil health has a greater effect on Place these in a plastic bucket and mix them plant health than any other factor. Whether together, removing any leaves, roots or you do your own work or hire a service, chunks of mulch. Let this mixture dry out • Designing a new garden • Replanting a problem area • Signing up for a lawn care program • Deciding which fertilizer to buy

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Green Homes Festival Spotlights Plant-Based Green Living Ideas

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Missouri Botanical Garden • June 3rd, 9am-4pm

A roster of fast-paced “Presentations to the People” from 10am to 3:30pm will cover useful topics from local experts such as keeping backyard chickens; solar electricity and solar technology; home energy efficiency; sustainability of natural gas; upcycling in your garden; NatureScaping resources, and composting at home.

he Green Homes Festival showcases affordable, practical options for sustainable living combined with positive ways geared to help make your home healthier and more comfortable, protect the environment and save you money.

The annual event returns to the William T. Kemper Center for Home Gardening, Cohen Amphitheater, and its surrounding gardens and grounds. Blending this popular event into the Garden’s blooming walkways will highlight the connections between plant-based green-living ideas and solutions to energy, water and waste issues. Festival attendees completing an event “passport” will get a free gift! This event is hosted by the EarthWays Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Presented by Ameren Missouri and sponsored by many local partners, including The Gateway Gardener, this year’s festival features more than 40 exhibits, plus demonstrations by the region’s leading sustainability focused businesses and organizations. Attendees can talk one-onone with a wide range of experts about their specific interests and project ideas, and learn more about green living, home improvement and healthy homes in the beautiful environment of the Kemper Center, itself a living display of nature’s sustainable processes in action.

Experts will connect people to what they can do to protect and restore air, water, and soil so that plants and people can thrive.

Learn about solar, wind, and other renewable energy systems; energy efficient lighting and appliances; financing for energy efficiency

projects; backyard chicken keeping; efficient windows, insulation and weatherization.

Explore ways to protect your budget and the planet with experts in heating and cooling systems; green home building materials and methods; home energy auditing; reducing waste by recycling, composting and creatively “Upcycling.”

Visit the NatureScaping area to learn ways to grow a livelier, healthier environment in your own backyard using native plants. Exhibits in this area will feature water-saving RainScaping options; living wall systems and tree care services; backyard biodiversity resources to restore wildlife habitat, and more. Tour the demonstration gardens of the Center for Home Gardening to see the sustainability components such as the compost area, bee yard, and rain barrels.

The Green Homes Festival is a family event!

Children and families can have fun building a sun-powered miniature roadster, sample treats cooked in solar ovens, snap photos with costumed characters, and join in the fun recycled art activities like decorating a tile.

Enjoy a free, all-levels yoga class for adults and kids from 9 to 10 am, hosted by STL non-profit Yoga Buzz. Bring your own yoga mat or towel.

Enjoy local food vendors, featuring delicious bites and beverages from Urban Eats Café and more! Bring your reusable bottle and get free water refills. Recycling and composting will reduce the festival’s “waste-line.”

The Green Homes Festival is included with Missouri Botanical Garden admission of $12 for adults and free for children ages 12 and under. St. Louis City and County residents enjoy free admission on Saturday before noon and are $6 thereafter. Garden members are free.

For general information, visit www.mobot.org/ greenhomesfest, or call (314) 577-5100 (tollfree, 1-800-642-8842).

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INSTANT DRAMA AND BEAUTY FOR YOUR YARD

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The Gateway Gardener™ MAY 2017

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Garden Tours to Enjoy, Inspire and Educate This is the season when gardens shine in our region, and you’ll find many garden tours scheduled for May and June, and again in the fall. Many feature the beautiful flower gardens of garden club groups and communities; but three tours in particular are uniquely themed and feature gardens for other reasons than beautiful ornamental flower beds. Touring these gardens is not only enjoyable visually, it might help inspire you to garden in a whole new way!

Kress Farm Garden Preserve Jefferson County Garden Tour June 3rd 9am-5pm

St. Louis Garden Tour June 11th 9:30am-4:30pm

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ress Farm Garden Preserve includes 139 acres of woods, fields, a lake, wildlife habitat and garden surrounding the original farmhouse of Dr. Jacob Kress. It became part of the Ozark Regional Land Trust in 2005. The garden includes beds of giant hostas, perennials, annuals, a large organic vegetable garden, a large native plant area and other features.

Trails lead to waterfalls and cliffs. The Preserve is the host and one of the sites on the Jefferson County tour. Other stops on the tour include an 80-acre working farm, a glade, woodland gardens, a specialty collector, an organic vegetable garden, a neighborhood garden with chickens, and a garden dedicated to veterans and their families. Tickets can be purchased at the Jefferson County Extension office in Hillsboro during regular hours, at Kress Farm, and at tour sites the day of the his once-every-3-year tour is an opportunity for Missouri garden tour. Visit KressFarm.org for details and directions to the Botanical Garden members and their guests to enjoy seven Preserve. spectacular gardens across the St. Louis community. Each garden also features a unique “tablescape” designed to evoke garden elements through distinctive place settings. Visit an elegant estate with expansive vistas paired with charming cutting gardens, espaliered fruit trees, a chicken coop and more. Stroll through a picture-perfect cottage garden replete with a vine-entwined pergola, stone paths, and an inviting patio with water feature. Go back in Great Selection of time to a garden with historical perspective, including a larch tree from the 1904 World’s Fair, pathways lined with antique millstones Annuals • Perennials • Hanging Baskets • Vegetable Plants Fountains • Pottery • And so much more! and more. The other gardens are described as “Urban Surprise”, Plus, check out our upcoming events and workshops, including “Sophisticated Drama”, “After the Honeysuckle” and “One of Fairy Gardening, Plant ‘n’ Sip, Open House (May 6-7) a Kind”. Tickets are $50/person. RSVP by May 28th. Forms are at LaBellaFiori.com being made available to members, or call (314) 577-5118 or email Fun Activities for All Ages! membership@mobot.org for information. The Gateway Gardener Follow us on Facebook. is proud to be a media sponsor of the St. Louis Garden Tour.

Located between Staunton and Benld off Rte. 4 at (217) 313-1001

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18540 White City Rd., Staunton, IL 62088

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7th Annual Sustainable Backyard Tour June 11th 11am-4pm

throughout the year. This year’s tour features 39 gardens over the two days, 14 new to the tour and 15 returning from previous years.

All are SLWGS members who have opened their private gardens he Sustainable to the public for this tour. Each location will be on the tour only Backyard Tour one of the two days, and the $15 ticket covers both days. The is more than a garden ticket booklet has maps and driving directions for the self-guided tour, and in fact, more tour. For more information about the tour, a list of ticket-selling than a backyard tour, locations or to order tickets call (314) 995-2988 or visit the website since many of the host of the St. Louis Water Gardening Society, www.slwgs.org. sites have features in Here are a few other upcoming tours we’ve been their front yards, side informed of as of our deadline. Check them out and yards, rooftops and elsewhere. Included look for complete details in this or a future issue’s are not only sustainable gardens, but a range of green living Upcoming Events calendar section! practices including rainwater harvesting, composting, keeping chickens, bees or goats, renewable energy systems, permeable May 20th-21st, Ste. Genevieve Garden Walk, (800) surfaces, recycled art and hardscapes, and more! The tour will 373-7007 inspire and educate visitors, showing how to integrate functional, June 3rd, The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days, practical and environmentally responsible design and application OpenDaysProgram.org, 1-888-842-2442 in a traditional household outdoor setting. Register and learn more at SustainableBackyardTour.com June 3rd-4th, Hermann Garden Tour and Plant Sale,

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17th Annual Pond-O-Rama Pond and Garden Tour June 24th-25th

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t. Louis Water Gardening Society members and those who attend the annual Pond-O-Rama tour know they always can count on seeing something new.

However, for PondO-Rama veterans, the annual pond and water garden tour is a chance for them to spread the word about water gardening and the St Louis Water Gardening Society, to share their own talents and hard work, and to help raise funds for the Society’s community service project, the lily pools at Forest Park’s Jewel Box. The tour also helps support other programs for the Society

info@hermanngardentours.com

June 10th, Franklin County Master Gardeners Garden Tour, (573) 459-2454 June 10th, Maryland Heights 2017 Garden Tour, GardenTour@MarylandHeights.com June 11th, New Town Garden Tour, terristeffes1117@ gmail.com June 25th, Bittersweet Garden Club Garden Tour, Jefferson City, MO, (573) 295-6435 or BittersweetGardenClub.com Sept. 16th, St. Louis Native Plant Garden Tour, StLouisAudubon.org/NPT2017 Sept. 24th, U City in Bloom Garden Tour, UCityInBloom.org

Mother’s Day is Coming Sunday May 14th!

10% OFF items in the Gift Shop thru May 14th!

MAY 2017

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The Cornucopia Corner

Herbs and Their Uses in the Garden

By Matt Even

H

erbs have been used for thousands of years by cultures on every habitable continent. With many gardeners wanting to diversify what can be grown and used in their backyard, herbs are often overlooked. Pulling double-duty, they typically can BALLWIN be used by humans for their NURSERY flavors and healing properties, & LANDSCAPE CO. while also being great garden Family-owned since 1958 pollinators.

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Personally, I am a lazy Herbs have active metabolites that are largely responsible for Trees & Evergreens gardener. The less I need to their aromas, flavors, colors, and medicinal actions. These Sod • Perennials properties are also correlated with many natural defenses YOUR TREES DESERVE THE BEST CARE Bedding Plants & Baskets that herbs possess. The floral, pine scent of rosemary may Fertilizers • Mulch sound delicious to us with roasted potatoes, but to a pest, it’s Jaguar Grass Seed a warning scent of powerful compounds found in the herb.

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he has lived in St. Louis working as an Outreach Manager and Educator for Gateway Greening, helping to start urban agriculture projects across the region.

You can reach Matt at (314) 588-9600.

bellefontaine after hours Explore beautiful gardens and rich history at Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum. Horticulturists and Master Guides will be on hand to introduce you to the cemetery's Mulberry Hill area.

Light refreshments will be provided.

dates: April 20th, May 18th , June 1st time: 5:30 pm -7:30 pm tickets: $15 per person $10 for Friends of Bellefontaine online: bellefontainecemetery.org/calendar by phone: 314-381-0750

bellefontaine cemetery and arboretum ◆ 4947 w. florissant ave. ◆ saint louis mo 63115

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The Gateway Gardener™ MAY 2017

Tips for Growing, Buying and Cooking Fresh, Locally Sourced Food for Your Table bittering agent for many fermented drinks. If you don’t feel like experimenting with the medicinal properties of yarrow, Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is one of those herbs that it’s a great butterfly attractor and its long-lasting blooms are can serve well for gardeners. With a very limited shelf life great for showy flowerbeds. and loss-of-flavor when dried, there is no way to get better As with all herbs, do your homework before experimenting. tarragon than to grow it yourself. This aromatic herb has been The active properties in herbs do interact with our bodies used traditionally in French cooking to add a “mint-anise” (hence the whole medicinal thing). So, make sure to flavor to dishes, vinegars, butter and sauces. Plant tarragon understand their history and if they may contribute to any in full sun in a well-drained area, and begin harvesting the adverse reactions. However, if the herbs you grow are not aromatic leaves 6-8 weeks later. Medicinally, this herb was culinary or medicinal, they will add diversity and resiliency used for its anti-bacterial properties on minor wounds and to your garden. I encourage you to experiment and check stomach bugs. This is one I keep around because of its out local growers who can help you identify native and other species that will make you and our pollinator partners-inunique taste.

Another favorite of mine is the common plant yarrow (Achillea crime happy.

How many times have you lost rosemary to pests? Probably not often.

millefolium). This herb’s association with humans goes back at least 60,000 years, as it has been found in Neanderthal burial caves. The yarrow leaf contains a complex mixture of chemical compounds that encourages blood coagulation and the healing of wounds. Commonly found throughout North America, this yellow, white or pink, flat-topped flower likes sunny, open spaces and adapt well to temperate environments. Before hops were introduced as the mainstay in beer flavoring and preserving, yarrow was a favorite

Directions

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Recipe courtesy of:

Combine the fruit in a large bowl. Pour in the Limoncello and toss with a wooden spoon to coat the fruit pieces.

Let sit at least fifteen minutes to soak up the booze. Fold in the fresh herbs just before serving.

MAY 2017

Sunday, May 14th

Potted Roses

Best ever Boozy Fruit salad

1 small cantaloupe melon, peeled and diced small 1 lb. strawberries, sliced 1 pint blueberries 2 cups diced fresh pineapple 3 kiwi, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced 1/4 cup Limoncello liqueur 4 Tbsp. minced fresh mint or basil

Mother’s Day

Now in bud & bloom! Choose from Hybrid teas, floribundas, shrub varieties, climbers & miniatures.

Jt’s Fresh Ideas Ingredients

We’re Blooming for

http://thewanderlustkitchen.com/best-ever-boozy-fruit-salad/

Please share some of your favorite recipes with us.

You can e-mail us at: info@gatewaygardener.com

Who doesn’t like a nice Fruit Salad!

Enjoy...

The Gateway Gardener™

Jt

Uncommon Annuals & Tropicals • Succulents Local Ecotype Native Perennials • Shade Perennials Hummingbird Plants • Container and Display Garden

Visit our Facebook page for popular lunch and shopping stops near our nursery.

Just 20 minutes North of Alton, IL Mon - Sat 9-5 pm Bill & Chris Kelley & Sun 10-5 pm

15

F

w

Troubleshooting Winter Rose Damage

by Diane Brueckman

T

his winter was strange even for St. Louis. The early cold snap hit the roses before they were ready. In January and February, we had almost spring-like temperatures.

I received many calls asking if

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the roses should be uncovered – the answer was NO. Winter did return by the time I wrote this article. Many of the shrub roses and the climbers had started to leaf out but as long as the temperatures didn’t dip below the mid 20s they were fine. The big danger with uncovering too soon is the tender new shoots under the mulch have no chance to harden off and will not survive the frost.

This past winter is the main reason we winter protect our roses. The freeze/thaw episodes all winter long with no snow cover to insulate our roses is more deadly than a constantly cold winter. Another problem we had was a lack of moisture.

If your roses died down to the cover do not panic. The roses may look weak when first uncovered but give them a little time and they should put out some new growth from the bud union.

If the rose is on its own roots it may put out some new canes if it has not already. The own root rose will come back as the rose you planted. A budded rose whose graft has died may put out suckers that will not bloom true to the rose you planted. Watch for leaves that are different than the leaves on the rose you planted. Give your rose until the middle of May to start to fully recover. If you do not have a few new basal shoots you may want to replace the bush.

A basal shoot is a new shoot that

comes from the bud-union. A sucker is a new shoot that comes from below the bud-union. Most of the time the sucker will be longer and thinner than a basal shoot. The foliage is also different than the foliage on most modern roses. The leaves will have seven leaflets instead of the usual five.

To add to the confusion some of the new roses have seven leaflets but you should be able to tell the difference between the sucker and your original bush. If in doubt let it grow for a while and look for a bloom. If it does not bloom you can be sure it’s the rootstock. Sometimes a bush will send up a sucker and the bloom will be a lovely red. That is Dr. Huey rootstock. The canes are almost thornless. I have seen many lovely ‘Dr. Huey’ roses

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The Gateway Gardener™ MAY 2017

trained as climbers.

As I mentioned earlier, an ownroot rose will always come back true to the original. A rose on its own roots may die down to the ground but if it comes back it will be the rose you bought albeit smaller. I had an Easy Elegance® rose that I moved last year and left some root in the ground. It started to grow and I had a new ‘Yellow Submarine’ rose. Surviving winter dieback is a big advantage with own-root roses. For years it was hard to find any roses on their own roots but that is changing. It used to be assumed that all roses would be stronger if grafted onto a rootstock and often that is the case. The big growers are now doing trials of their new roses as

own-root and grafted. Whichever method produces the best end product is the method used for a particular rose. Although some are offered both ways. I think some people prefer budded over own-root. Personally, I prefer own-root even though the plants are often smaller to start with.

They catch-up quickly.

You will need to start a spray program as soon as your roses are up and growing especially if you have the older hybrid teas and floribundas. The mild winter may have left a lot of pathogens around to infect weakened plants.

So get the fungus before it gets your plants. Fertilize and water regularly to reduce stress on your plants.

2017

Presented by:

Saturday, June 3 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Diane Brueckman is a retired rosarian with Missouri Botanical Garden, and currently owns Rosey Acres in Baldwin, Illinois. You can reach her at (618) 785-3011 or droseyacres@ egyptian.net.

www.mobot.org/greenhomesfest Included with Garden admission FREE for members!

40+ sustainable living exhibitors and experts Energy-efficient products and services Plant-based ideas for healthier living Renewable energy alternatives Green living skills, presentations, and demos Local foods and beverages Fun activities for kids

4 3 4 4 S h aw B l vd. • S t . L o u i s , M O 6 3110 ( 314) 57 7- 510 0 • w w w. m o b o t .o r g

MAY 2017

The Gateway Gardener™

17

Naturally Natives Native plants fresh, dried, steamed and preserved

by Scott Woodbury

O

ne of my favorite books and titles is Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons. In it, he says that a halfcup of chopped violet leaves, Viola spp., has the vitamin C content of four oranges. Not bad for a weedy native plant. This is the time of year to harvest violet leaves because they get tough in summer. Small tender leaves are delicious added to salads or wilted in a stir fry. This alone is a good reason to stop killing the weeds in your lawn. That, and you will attract more bee pollinators to your garden. Violet flowers are also edible and really dress up salad in spring as do redbud

Native Violets blossoms, Cercis canadensis.

Another yummy spring green for fresh salads is spiderwort, Tradescantia spp. Again gather leaves in spring when they are

bring it back to what matters

Proud contributor to the Parkway Southwest Middle/Circle of Concern Community Garden.

river bottoms. I can imagine the excitement in spring of eating something other than preserved and salted food all winter. Plants like golden glow, Rudbeckia laciniata, fiddlehead ferns (ostrich, Matteuccia struthiopteris and cinnamon, Osmunda cinnamomea) and common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, (when stalks are less than 8 inches high) were harvested, steamed and eaten. Keep in mind that golden glow is a mild tender and tasty. The flavor laxative. I’ve tried them all and is similar to Romaine lettuce. like milkweed stems the best Once upon a time, early settlers steamed and served with butter. gathered spring greens growing A favorite spring pastime for wild in prairies, woodlands and me is gathering wild strawberry leaves, Fragaria virginiana, and sassafras roots, Sassafras albidum, for tea. Both are steeped in 180-degree water (not boiling). The strawberry leaves are best dried before steeping.

The color of the tea is yellow and Native Plants delicately flavored. Although Bring Nature Home! there are warnings against Plant Sales in Your Area drinking too much sassafras Choose from our great selection at the sale tea, I drink a cup or two a year. or give us your order by Tuesday prior to the event, and we’ll bring your order Roots about a half-inch thick are to the sale. dug up, washed and cut into thin Town Square Pavilion - Sierra Club IL Saturday, April 29 th slices. At this point they can be 9am-4pm steeped to make a wintergreenUS 51N & Main (Hwy. 13) Carbondale, IL like tea.

Shaw Nature Reserve Saturday, May 13 th 9am-4pm Friday night members only, 4-7:30pm Washington in Bloom Native Plant Sale Saturday, May 6 th 10am-1pm Main & Elm, Washington, MO Nursery Hours at Brazito, MO Weekdays 9am-5pm Year Round Weekends Now-July 3rd, Aug. 27th-Oct. 15th Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. Noon-5pm

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18

573-496-3492, fax: 573-496-3003 www.mowildflowers.net mowldflrs@socket.net 9814 Pleasant Hill Rd. Jefferson City MO 65109

1674 N. Bluff Rd Collinsville, IL 62234

(618)344-8841

The Gateway Gardener™ MAY 2017

Tips and Resources for Growing and Landscaping with Sustainable Native Plants Fields of Greens cookbook by Annie Somerville. We harvest persimmons in late September or October and purée them in a Foley’s food mill. This makes the work of separating seeds from pulp much easier. At this point the pulp may be frozen in one cup measurements. Every November I make a persimmon pudding on my wife’s birthday to take on a hike or inhale after

Black Chokeberry Later in the spring linden trees bloom and if you can reach them, the flowers dried make an aromatic tea that reminds me of Jasmine blossoms.

Over the years I have enjoyed mayapple and violet jelly, black chokeberry, blackberry and black raspberry jams (all delicious), but wild plum preserve always ranks number one in my book. I can’t keep enough. It can be made

from any of the American plum species but the big fruit plum, Prunus mexicana, is the easiest because the fruits are bigger than other wild plums. I use three quarters the sugar in whatever recipe I use or add fresh quince because I like extra tartness.

There is one food that my family cannot do without.

That is steamed persimmon pudding from a recipe in the

A Grow Native! Top 10 List FEATURED CATEGORY:

TOP 10 NATIVE PLANTS FOR THE KITCHEN Edible Native Plants • Easy to Grow • Excellent and Overlooked Food

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

NATIVE PLANT NAME

HEIGHT

LIGHT

Big-fruit plum (Prunus mexicana) Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris; nursery propagated) Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea) Redbud (Cercis canadensis) Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) Spiderworts (Tradescantia spp.)

Violets (Viola spp.)

Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)

10-15''

Sun/ Pt. Shade

3-4'

Sun

Young stems in spring steamed.

2-3'

Shade

Leaves picked 1-2 inches tall and steamed.

25-30'

Sun/ Pt. Shade

Fruits ripe when fallen to ground.

10-12'

Shade

10-15'

Sun/ Pt. Shade Sun/ Pt. Shade Sun/ Pt. Shade Sun/ Shade Sun/ Pt. Shade

25-30' 1-2' 6-8" 8-10"

UNIQUE QUALITY Preserves. Large tart fruits.

dinner with whipped cream. It is our favorite dessert. Yum! Shaw Nature Reserve is planning a new wild food garden and is seeking financial support to make it happen. If you would like to help make this dream a reality please contact us. We would enjoy speaking with you about this exciting opportunity.

Horticulturist Scott Woodbury is the Curator of the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit, MO, where he has worked with native plant propagation, design, and education for more than 20 years. He is also an advisor to the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s GrowNative! program.

If you plant them, they will come!

Butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and songbirds that is!

Let Forrest Keeling partner with you to bring natural beauty to your home habitat!

Berries best eaten fresh in late spring.

Spring flowers fresh in salads.

Tea from roots. Drink sparingly.

Fresh leaves in spring in salads.

Fresh leaves in spring in salads.

Dried leaves for tea. Fruits in early summer.

This Top Ten list was compiled by horticulturist Scott Woodbury, based on his many years of experience.

The Grow Native! program emphasizes that proper identification of any native plant is critical before consuming it. This list is for information purposes only; Grow Native! makes no warranties as to the safety of consuming any wild foods and accepts no liability or responsibility for any consequences resulting from the use of or reliance upon the information in this list.

The plants listed above may be purchased by Grow Native! professional members—see www.grownative.org, Resource Guide.

This list is not in ranked order.

Grow Native! is a native plant education and marketing program of the

MAY 2017

The Gateway Gardener™

Visit Forrest Keeling’s all-new Habitat Headquarters in Elsberry.

Forrest Keeling Nursery forrestkeeling.com

in the back yard to the back forty!

19

Dig This!

Gateway Gardeners and Businesses in the News New Park Promotes Pollinators

also scheduled on May 21, June 25, July 16, Aug. 13, Sept. 17 and Oct. 15. Regular Museum admission applies. Call 314-289-3508 x1 to schedule garden group tours, or for other questions. The MOT is at 2933 Barrett Station Road, St. Louis, MO. Visit their website at MuseumStLouis.org for more information.

Popular Hydrangea Helps Research

Staff and volunteers who helped with the Pollinator Junction Park.

MaryAnn Fink, longtime pollinator preservationist and landscape steward, has joined the Museum of Transportation’s eco-sustainable task force team as Curator of the Pollinator Pantry. MaryAnn will oversee this “Life” exhibit, its care and maintenance, and manage the plant collection. MaryAnn previously served on the staff at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where she managed several areas in the Home Gardening Center, taught adult programs, led monthly garden walks and was the founding ambassador/coordinator for Missouri Botanical Garden’s Plants of Merit Program. More recently she has served as a “pollinator ambassador” with the St. Louis County Park’s pollinator initiatives.

In her new role at the MOT, MaryAnn recently hosted an “Open the Park” event at the Museum of Transportation to thank and honor the financial and volunteer contributions of the many who helped make the Pollinator Junction park happen.

The Pollinator Junction is the St. Louis County Park’s first pollinary park, featuring a customized habitat and a full season of food plant attractions for Missouri’s major pollinators.This educational display park now under the stewardship of the Transportation Museum Association hopes to continue to grow and educate the public about how to make a beautiful place for pollinators, preserve wildlife habitat and enjoy life in the landscape!

MaryAnn will be in the garden on Wednesdays from 9:30-1pm to answer all your pollinator or general gardening questions. Family Days in the Garden are 20

The Proven Winners plant marketing company recently announced that its Invincibelle® Spirit Campaign has tallied over $973,000 for breast cancer Invincibelle® research, and will Spirit II surpass the $1 million benchmark this year!

Since 2009, the campaign has supported the Breast Cancer Research Foundation by donating one dollar for every Invincibelle Spirit hyrdrangea sold and through Pink Day fundraisers hosted by independent garden centers.

In 2015, Invincibelle® Spirit II hydrangea was added to the Proven Winners® ColorChoice® shrub line.

This new introduction improves upon the original Invincibelle® Spirit while continuing the legacy of donating one dollar from each plant sold to BCRF. From the continued H. arborescens breeding of Tom Ranney, this new hydrangea improves upon the original with brighter flower color, stronger stems, and superior container presentation. Like its predecessor, Invincibelle® Spirit II hydrangea is a reliable rebloomer that performs well in the St. Louis region.

Teaching Nature to Tots

At Sacred Heart Villa (SHV) preschool in The Hill area of St. Louis, children are learning to value and explore nature at an early age, thanks to collaborations with Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), and Litzinger Road Ecology Center (LREC). Those groups have provided professional development to the Sacred Heart staff and parents, which they then shape into a number of curriculum programs teaching the 2-5-yearThe Gateway Gardener™ MAY 2017

old children about the wonder of their natural surroundings in their outdoor classroom.

The LREC has also welcomed students on several field trips.

The 4-year-old program earned the school certification in the Arbor Day Foundation’s Nature Explore program last fall, and the schoolyard grounds are certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a “Schoolyard Habitats Site”. SHV is currently moving its vegetable and fruit gardens closer to its greenhouse for more efficient use. The goals of that initiative, according to Director Kris Doder, to “to allow for easier facilitation and instruction of the gardening education component, and to teach the children to respect the earth and the earth’s resources.” Teachers at Sacred Heart Villa who have participated in the professional

enrichment program at LREC include Peggy Knock, Sister Bridget Smith, Stacey Hulsey and Ellen Cibulka.

Healing the Earth One Yard at a Time!

Joi nU rin at th s gW e Sh aw Mar ildflo we N k r Ma ature et y1 2-1 Rese r 3th ve Sp

ST. LOUIS CHAPTER StLWildOnes.org

Come Grow with Us! Got Hummingbirds? photo by Larry Master, www.masterimages.org

We have Feeders, Tropicals Native Plants and More for Attracting Hummingbirds!

Celebrating 58 Years of Growing with You!

60 North Gore • Webster Groves (314) 962-3311 www.rollingridgenursery.com

SUNDAY, JUNE 11 9:30 a.m.– 4:30 p.m.

advance tickets required

www.mobot.org/gardentour | (314) 577- 5118

MAY 2017

The Gateway Gardener™

21

Upcoming Events Children’s Garden Club is designed to educate and bring delight in gardening to children with projects they do themselves.

Compliments Wiethops Greenhouses, held at Jefferson Barracks Victory Garden at Ordnance Building.

Plant Shows, Sales and Tours

Meetings, Classes, Entertainment and More Updates to this information are often posted on our online events calendar at www.GatewayGardener.com, so check there for the latest details.

Give us the details of your upcoming gardening, lawn or landscaping event and we’ll add it to our website and include it in our next issue. Deadline for printing in the July/August issue is June 1st.

How to reach us: Mail: PO Box 220853, St. Louis, MO 63122 Email: info@gatewaygardener.com

Fun for Kids

May 6th 9am—Children’s Garden Club-Annuals and Vegetables. FREE, no reservations required, everyone welcome.

The

May 6th 7am-noon—Central Missouri Master Gardeners 20th Annual Plant Sale. Indoors at the Jaycee Fairgrounds, Jefferson City, MO. Wide variety of tomatoes, vegetables, peppers, herbs, perennials, annuals, trees, shrubs, natives, and succulents. Follow us on facebook. Questions contact psalmons318@gmailcom.

8am-noon—Jardin du Lac Garden Club Plant Sale. Come early at the Lake St. Louis Community Association Clubhouse at 100 Cognac Court in Lake St. Louis.

Rain date will be May 7th from 1 pm to 4 pm.

8am to 2pm – Kress Farm Preserves 18th Annual Plant Sale. Featuring native shrubs, trees an plants from Forrest Keeling.

Also perennials, annuals, vegetable plants, daylilies, succulents, cacti and many other plants. Raffle. Lunch available. 5137 Glade Chapel Road, Hillsboro, MO. Call Jo at 636-296-9306 for additional information.

8am-1pm— Huge Plant Sale Event.

Webster Groves Women’s Garden Association will offer great prices and

Master Gardener advice on truckloads of donated perennials from local gardens plus nursery grown annuals & herbs. Also featured: Member-designed container gardens. Bake Sale, Silent Auction and a Gardener’s Dream supplies gift certificate raffle. First Congregational Church of Webster Groves, 10 W. Lockwood (corner of Elm and Lockwood).

9am-1pm—Plant Sale. 10th Anniversary!

Annuals, perennials, houseplants, veggies, small trees and shrubs, garden décor and more. Great prices and friendly advice. Bethel United Methodist Church, 17500 Manchester Road in Wildwood MO. 636-458-2255.

9am-noon—Four Winds Farm Garden Club Plant Sale. Member raised perennials and herbs that are tried and true for this region. Parking Lot at the Dog Museum, Queeny Park,1721 South Mason Road.

May 6th-7th 9am-5pm—African Violet Show and Sale. Metropolitan St. Louis African Violet Council presents “Sporting Violet”, its 62nd Annual Show and Sale. HorticultureDesign exhibits, educational culture info, supplies, African violets, Streptocarpus and other gesneriads for sale. Missouri Botanical Garden, Orthwein Hall. Included with Garden admission.

9am-5pm—St. Louis Horticultural Society Show and Sale. New cultivars and old favorites are shown and sold by the area’s top growers, who are on hand to give plant care advice and share information about their organization. Missouri Botanical Garden, Ridgway Visitor Center.

Included with Garden admission.

9am-5pm—St. Louis Hosta Society Show and Sale. New cultivars and old favorites are shown and sold by the area’s top growers, who are on hand to give plant care advice and share information about their organization. Missouri Botanical Garden, Ridgway Visitor Center, Orthwein Floral Display Hall. Included with Garden admission.

May 13th 8am-noon—Lakeview Garden Club Plant Sale. Large selection of reasonably priced plants and baked items. Proceeds benefit schools, senior centers, parks and Habitat for Humanity homes. 244 Lakeview Acres Dr. in Collinsville, IL (Intersection of Hwys. 55 and 259).

9am-4pm—Spring Wildflower Sale.

Native wildflowers, ferns, trees and shrubs for home landscapes brought to you by Shaw Nature Reserve and local native plant nurseries. Shaw Nature Reserve, Gray Summit, MO, at I-44 and Hwy 100. (636) 451-3512. Admission Free for members, $5 ($3 Seniors) non-members. Members only preview, May 12th , 4-7:30pm.

9am-noon—Mason Ridge Garden Club Annual Plant Sale. Longview Farm Park, 13525 Clayton Road in Town & Country, MO. Cash or checks, only please. Arrive

22

early for best selection! Contact Claire Chosid at 314-479-3156 or claire@chosid. us.

Noon-4pm—Mid-Illinois Iris Society Show and Competition. Entries accepted from 8-10am, judging 10am-noon. Open to public 1-4pm. For entry information, call (618) 822-6584. Caseyville Township Hall, 20002 Bunkum Rd., Fairview Heights. Il. 8am-4pm—Gateway Greening’s Spring Festival and Plant Sale. This event builds on the annual Great Perennial Divide, expanding it to provide more value and fun for all! Includes Workshops beginning at 8am. The Plant Sale is from noon-3. Bell Garden and Carriage House, 3841 and 3815 Bell Ave., St. Louis, MO. 9am-5pm—West County Daylily Club Sale. New cultivars and old favorites are shown and sold by the area’s top growers, who are on hand to give plant care advice and share information about their organization. Missouri Botanical Garden, Ridgway Visitor Center. Included with Garden admission.

9am-5pm—MBG Greater St. Louis Iris Society Show. Some of the top iris growers in the area display a wide array of new cultivars and old favorites.

Experts from the Greater St. Louis Iris Society will be on hand to give plant care advice and share information about their organization. Missouri Botanical Garden Ridgway Center, Beaumont Room.

9am-5pm—North American Rock Garden Society Sale. New cultivars and old favorites are shown and sold by the area’s top growers, who are on hand to give plant care advice and share information about their organization. Missouri Botanical Garden, Ridgway Visitor Center.

Included with Garden admission.

May 13th and 20th 8am—Perryville Garden Club 25th Annual Plant Sale. Club members provide plants from their garden and will be available to help answer questions. Large selection of tomatoes, pepper, herbs, hosta, iris, lilies, berries, milkweed, water lilies, houseplants and more. Faherty House, 11 S. Sprint St., Perryville, MO. May 20th 20am-2pm—Webster Groves Herb Society Display. The Society welcomes all Garden visitors to stop by their display.

Missouri Botanical Garden, Ridgway Visitor Center. Free with Garden admission.

May 20th-21st 10am-4pm Sat., & Sun.—The Ste. Genevieve Master Gardeners Garden Walk and Plant Sale. $7 per person or $6 for groups of five or more. No reservations required. Tour public and private gardens in historic Ste. Genevieve. Plant Sale begins at 9am Sat. 10am Sun. Farmers Market (Sat. 7am-noon), garden merchandise, specials at area shops and restaurants, and other activities. Purchase tickets at Ste Genevieve Welcome Center, 66 South

The Gateway Gardener™ MAY 2017

Main St. 800-373-7007.

May 27th-28th 9am-5pm—Greater St. Louis Dahlia Society Sale. New cultivars and old favorites are shown and sold by the area’s top growers, who are on hand to give plant care advice and share information about their organization. Missouri Botanical Garden, Ridgway Visitor Center. Included with Garden admission.

June 3rd 10am-4pm—The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days. America’s only national private garden-visiting program, made possibly of the work of hundreds of volunteers nationwide. Featuring 4 gardens. Admission is $7 at each garde. Children 12 and under free. No reservations required. Rain or Shine.

For locations, visit OpenDaysProgram.org or call 1-888-842-2442.

June 7th-8th 2-7pm Wed., 9am-3pm Thurs.—“Summer Time” Standard Flower Show. Hosted by the Mid Central District of the FGCM. It is free & open to the public. Featuring both a design & a horticulture division using the theme of summer activities. Participate are garden club members from the Mid Central District. Immanuel Lutheran Fellowship Hall 632 East Highway N in Wentzville, MO 63385.

Classes, Lectures and Events May 2nd 6-8pm—How to Kill a Tree. Common mistakes made with good intentions that can be hazardous to a tree’s health. Meredith Perkins, Urban Forestry Consortium Manager for Davey Resource Group. U of MO Extension, 132 E. Monroe Ave., Kirkwood, MO. Free, but $5-$10 donation appreciated. RSVP to brandtn@missouri. edu.

May 2nd 10-11am—Dazzling Containers for Entrance Way, Patios and Gardens. Learn creative combinations of plants, colors and textures to amaze your family and friends.

Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. May 3rd 5:30pm—Plants That June Loves Best.

June Hutson, retired Supervisor of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Kemper Center Home Demonstration Gardens, will share with you the plants she loves best.

Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. May 3rd-4th 5:30-7:30 Wed., 11am-1:30pm Thurs.— Flower Power 2017 at Tower Grove Park. Cocktail party Wednesday evening at the Director’s Residence will get the exclusive opportunity to view a unique floral installation at the Piper Palm House

by Sara Ward of Wildflowers featuring materials donated by Baisch and Skinner.

Tickes $300/$175. Thursday’s Lunch and Presentation features guest speaker Christopher Strand, Director of Garden & Estate at Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library in Delaware. Also enjoy dozens of inspired centerpieces by the area’s most creative florists and garden clubs. Tickets $125. Proceeds benefit Tower Grove Park’s

MAY 2017

annual operations. Visit TowerGrovePark. org or call (314) 771-4484, or email blynn@ towergrovepark.org.

share with you her best gardening tips.

Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE.

May 4th 1-4pm—Native Plant School: Rain Gardening. Class will cover how to plan, install and maintain a rain garden and bioswale. $17 ($14 Garden members).

Classroom behind Joseph H. Bascom House at Shaw Nature Reserve. For reservations or more information, call (636) 451-3512 x6007 or visit ShawNature.org.

May 18th 5:30-6:30pm—The Ultimate Hydrangea Guide. Kim Reiss, President of the St. Louis Hydrangea Society, discusses the top choices for sun and shade. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

10-11am—Dazzling Containers for Entrance Way, Patios and Gardens. Learn creative combinations of plants, colors and textures to amaze your family and friends.

Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. May 6th 10am-2pm—O’Fallon Garden Expo— Enjoy 2 festivals on the same day as the Garden Expo coincides with O’Fallon’s Founders’ Day. Live entertainment, an Arbor Day ceremony, free demonstrations, games and activities for the kids and more. Fort Zumwalt Park, O’Fallon, MO. 10am—Salsa Saturday. Join in the fun and festivities with Cinco de Mayo! Salsa gardens ready to go as well as many other edible container gardens. Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636-239-6729, www. hillermann.com.

11am–3pm—Frisella Nursery Gardenfest . The Spring Open House is blooming with activity in both the garden and Caffè. The St. Louis Herb Society will be here for a luncheon, Custom Planter Design, Honey Tasting with Sooty Bee, Olea Estates Olives and Oil Tasting, A Taste of Local Craft Chocolate with Rick Jordan Chocolatier and live music by the Childbloom Guitar Ensemble. For more information visit frisellanursery.com/events, or call: 636.798.2555.

10am-noon—Bark for Life and Safe Paws Event. There are many fun activities for your dogs and you to participate in and vendor booths for everyone to enjoy.

Honoring the life-long contribution of our Canine Caregivers and an opportunity to contribute to the American Cancer Society.

Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636-2396729, www.hillermann.com.

May 6 -7 Open House. Fun activities for all ages. La Bella Fiori, 18450 White City Rd., Staunton, IL. (217) 313-1001. LaBellaFiori.com. th

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May 9th 10-11am—Gardening Under Trees. Learn how to garden under trees without damaging them. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

May 11th 6pm—Plant n Sip Workshop. Have some snacks, drink some wine. Plant up a gorgeous ceramic pot with fabulous arrangement of flowers. Register in advance. La Bella Fiori, 18450 White City Rd., Staunton, IL. (217) 313-1001. LaBellaFiori.com.

5:30-7:30pm—Bellefontaine After Hours.

Explore beautiful gardens and rich history at Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum.

Horticulturists and Master Guides will be on hand to introduce you to the cemetery’s Mulberry Hill area. Light refreshments provided. $15/person, $10 for Friends of Bellefontaine. Tickets available at www. bellefontainecemetery.org/calendar or (314) 381-0750.

May 20th 10am—What’s That Invading the Forest? Join Webster Groves Nature Study Society vice-president Rich Thoma for a field trip to identify invasive species, talk about their impact and way to deal with them. Emmenegger Nature Park, 11991 Stoneywood Dr., Kirkwood, MO. Meet at the trailhead kiosk by the creek. Free for all ages. For more info, contact thalk@ kirkwoodmo.org.

May 23rd 101-11am—Superb Small Shrubs and Evergreen Perennials. Learn about small shrubs that provide exceptional impact with little or no pruning, plus evergreen perennials that will reward with little or no care. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

May 24th 1-2pm—Pollinator Pantry, Gardening for Pollinators. St. Louis County Parks Ambassador MaryAnn Fink discusses the St. Louis County Parks Pollinator Pantry program, and how you can attract pollinators to your home. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

6pm—Plant n Sip Workshop. Have some snacks, drink some wine. Plant up a gorgeous ceramic pot with fabulous arrangement of flowers. Register in advance. La Bella Fiori, 18450 White City Rd., Staunton, IL. (217) 313-1001. LaBellaFiori.com.

May 27th 10am—Garden Stroll with Ann Million.

Class takes place at Ann’s extraordinary garden in Crestwood. Sugar Creek Gardens.

FREE. Call (314) 965-3070 for reservations and directions.

May 27th-28th Strawberry Festival. Visit La Bella Fiori’s booth at the Macoupin County Historic Society in Carlinville, IL. May 28th 10-11am—Ditch Those Annuals. Learn how to use perennial plants in containers and planting beds for summer-long color and interest. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

June 1st 5:30-7:30pm—Bellefontaine After Hours.

Explore beautiful gardens and rich history at Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum.

Horticulturists and Master Guides will be on hand to introduce you to the cemetery’s Mulberry Hill area. Light refreshments provided. $15/person, $10 for Friends of Bellefontaine. Tickets available at www. bellefontainecemetery.org/calendar or (314) 381-0750.

June 3rd 8:30-Noon—St. Louis Urban Gardening Symposium. Featuring a series of workshops led by experts in their respective fields to help gardeners learn how to plan, plant and care for a neighborhood or home garden.

Registration/check-in from 8:30-9. $15/ person (fee waived for qualifying Neighbors Naturescaping participants. Register online at BrighsideStL.org or call (314) 400-2115.

Brightside Demonstration Gardens, 4646 Shenandoah Ave., St. Louis.

May 25th

NEED A SPEAKER for your Garden Club or Group?

Master Gardener Speakers Bureau volunteers are available to speak to garden clubs, church, civic and other groups.

Choose from over 50 different programs, from Aromatherapy to Winter Damage, Birds in the Garden, to Soil Preparation, Daylilies to Orchids.

Explore the complete list of topics at www. stlmg.org. Look for the Speakers Bureau tab in the top margin.

(A $50 fee funds Master Gardener programming in our community.)

5:30pm—June’s Best Gardening Tips.

June Hutson, retired Supervisor of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Kemper Center Home Demonstration Gardens, will

The Gateway Gardener™

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Get inspired this Spring to grow something DELICIOUS

Special thanks to Hunters Ridge Berry Farm and Cheryl Hughey for the use of their photos of plants grown in our compost.

Visit St. Louis Composting’s six area locations for the largest selection of STA-certified compost, mulch products and soil blends.

BELLEVILLE, IL

5841 Mine Haul Road 618.233.2007

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO Schaefer Road Visit11294 us online at www.stlcompost.com 314.423.9035

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ST. LOUIS, MO

39 Old Elam Avenue 636.861.3344

560 Terminal Road 314.868.1612

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18900 Franklin Road 636.271.3352

13060 County Park Road 314.355.0052

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ENRICHING THE SOIL NATURALLY SINCE 1992