The Gateway Gardener April 2017

Gateway Gardener

APRIL 2017

THE

®

Your Guide to Enjoyable Gardening and Easy-Care Landscapes

r o f k Loo inator l e Pol Guid

EE R F e h t ry t n Pa ide!

Ins

Lovely Liatris!

And Tasty Too!

Coral Bells and Foam Flowers Hardy New Shrubs 2017 Eco-Product Guide FREE Courtesy of:

© 2017, The Scotts Company, LLC. All rights reserved

Better feeding. Better eating.

Osmocote® Smart-Release® Plant Food Flower & Vegetable. feeds continuously and consistently for up to 4 full months.

If you grow your own, grow with Osmocote®.

Gateway Gardener THE

®

Your Guide to Enjoyable Gardening and Easy-Care Landscapes

APRIL 2017

Volume 13, Number 3

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

’ve always admired the beautiful purple spires of prairie blazing stars, and have often imagined and tried to replicate scenes like you see on our cover in my own garden. Unfortunately, I’ve been disappointed in varying ways.

First, admittedly, it’s hard to reproduce that image when you only plant a handful of plants.

But being a patient and optimistic gardener, I expected them to go forth and multiply. They didn’t.

Instead the same few plants came back for a few years, then disappeared. And when they did grow, they often took on a contorted, screwy habit instead of the classic Roman candle. In his paean to blazing stars (Liatris spp.) on page 24, Scott Woodbury addresses ways in which I may have failed. Now better informed, I’ll try again.

I’ve had better success with coral bells, so much so that they’ve become one of my favorites for the many shady areas of my landscape. Barbara Perry Lawton introduces us to heucheras and their cousins, tiarellas and heucherellas, on page 4. One of my favorite spring vignettes is my Tiarella ‘Iron Butterfly’ (love

H. parviflora var. puberella— little flower alum root.

the name!) and Japanese painted ferns with my neighbor’s grape

hyacinth. Not mentioned in the article is the fact that there are quite a few native heucheras.

Three that I’m growing in my garden are H. richardsonii, H. villosa var. macrorhiza—a parent of many popular cultivars—and

On the Cover...

If you can keep the critters away, blazing stars reward with unmatched beauty and butterfly magnetism!

Read more about Liatris and how to grow them on page 24. (Photo courtesy Scott Woodbury.)

IN THIS ISSUE 4 Coral Bells and Foam Flowers 6 Beautiful Gardens and Plants

Native plants are often used by hybridizers as a parent to introduce greater hardiness in their showier creations. On page 12, Steffie Littlefield explores some new shrubs with native heritage you may want to consider for your garden. And when looking for other ideas for your landscape, there’s no better source of inspiration than our own great Missouri Botanical Garden. Abby Lapides Elliott shares some favorites from her explorations there and at other great botanical gardens across the U.S. on page 6.

It’s spring, and that means we have much, much more! Enjoy, and please stop by and say hello if you’re visiting one of the several Earth Day or other events we’re attending this spring (see page 10). Happy Earth Day. Happy Arbor Day. Happy Easter. Happy Passover. Happy Spring!

Good Gardening!

7 Know the Pros 8 Where Has All The Phosphorus Gone?

10 Earth Day Events 12 Hardy New Shrubs 14 Perfect Picks 15 JT’s Fresh Ideas 16 New Roses and Events 18 Recycle Plastic Pots!

20 Wild Ones 22 Eco-Products Guide 24 Beautiful Blazing Stars 26 Mulch...But Not TOO Much 28 Dig This 30 Upcoming Events

Coral Bells and Foam Flowers byBarbara Perry Lawton

C

onsider growing a whole new group of perennials— the heucherellas. These evergreen perennial flowering plants are the result of a cross between two distinct genera, the native American Heuchera (coral bells) and Tiarella (foam flower).

This kind of a cross is rare and the resulting plants from the cross breeding first took place in France in 1912.

The heucherellas get their leaf patterns, both the shape and the patterns, from their Tiarella parents and the bright foliage color from the Heuchera parents. How well the plants grow depends upon where their breeding lines originated.

Those from shade-loving sources require some shade while those from sunny parentage need to have sunnier environments. Avoid hot

Heuchera FOREVER ‘Purple’ afternoon sun.

Dan Heims of Terra Nova in Oregon, the leading breeder of these plants, warns that they do very poorly on clay, which is rife in our Midwest. He supplements existing soil and grows a lot of the heuchera, tiarella and heucherella in raised beds and containers. He says that the major requirement is to keep soil well-drained and mulched. Pests are few. The worst

Heucherella ‘Dayglow Pink’ are deer. You may have good luck in controlling them with applications of garlic powder. The next worst are black vine weevils. These may be controlled by pouring hot water (over 100 degrees) over the damaged plant.

Maintenance is easy. In the spring, trim away old leaves, feed and cut back a few of the long necks. The plants will resprout and branch in the coming weeks. Plants do not need much fertilizer—a teaspoon of time-released fertilizer, like Osmocote, is plenty.

Barry Ritter, of Ritter Perennials in St. Louis, notes that these three groups of perennials, heuchera, tierella and heucherella, are bringing a whole rainbow of color to shade gardens. They do very well in containers placed in bright shade or morning sun. If

Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’ the container is approximately 20 inches or larger in diameter, the plants will over winter very well.

A bonus is that the flowers attract hummingbirds and friendly bees.

Companion plants for these plant groups include silver-toned or green-gray plants like lambs’ ears or Lamium, which will provide handsome contrast to the bright colors of the modern heucherella varieties. Other top companion plants are either semi- or fullshade plants, including astilbe, iris, bleeding-heart, phlox, ferns, hostas and caladium. Since the plants may have a fairly wide variety of requirements, be sure to check the label or ask the grower for the specifics for the plants you choose.

All photos courtesy Terra Nova Nurseries.

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Barry’s Pick 6

Barry Ritter, owner of Ritter Perennials, a local perennial plant grower, has long been an admirer of heucheras and their kin. We asked him to give us a list of his 6 favorites, and though it challenged him to limit it to a half dozen, here they are--all heucheras except for Heucherella ‘Autumn Cascade’:

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‘Red Lightning’. Dark red veins over huge gold leaves. Excellent for mixed containers.

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(314) 843-4700 or www.sappingtongardenshop.com OPEN 7 DAYS ‘Blondie’. Caramel colored foliage w. mellow creamy flower spikes. A blooming machine!

‘Sweet Tart’.Very tangy lime-colored foliage in a tight mound with cerise and hot pink flowers.

‘Fire Alarm’. Planting with a Purpose! For every plant Barry sells $1 goes to St. Louis-area First Responders.

‘Autumn Cascade’. A trailing heucherella, great for hanging baskets, mixed containers or as a ground cover.

Barbara Perry Lawton is a writer, author, speaker and photographer. She has served as manager of publications for Missouri Botanical Garden and as weekly garden columnist for the Post-Dispatch. The author of a number of gardening and natural history books, and contributor to many periodicals, she has earned regional and national honors for her writing and photography. Barbara is also a Master Gardener and volunteers at MBG.

APRIL 2017

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BORN TO ENCHANT YOUR GARDEN

From the outstanding Elizabeth MacGregor Nursery in Scotland comes the Swan Anemones. Like their magnificent namesake, Swan Anemones stand out above all others. Their spectacular blossoms and prolific flowering bring exceptional grace and beauty to the garden. Exquisite nodding flowers with icy white faces and violet blue undersides adorn the plants from June to October. Shade loving, long-lived perennials.

Over 2,000 varieties of plants

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Beautiful Gardens, Beautiful Plants text and photos by Abby Lapides Elliott

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very summer I’m able to visit test gardens and botanical gardens across the country. These stunning gardens create masterful displays of the newest, most interesting, toughest, best blooming plants, making it easy to inspire any gardener. Here are some of my favorite gardens as well as favorite plants I’ve found in my travels.

Known for being “one of the most delightful gardens in the world,” Chanticleer Gardens, near Philadelphia, contains some of the most interesting displays of tropical plants in their gardens and containers. It wasn’t just the tropicals that had my head turning, but also the display of hardy lotus blooming in the far corner pond of this large estate. The jumboflowered water lovers bloom high over giant round leaves. They

by the unexpected combination of large, buttery yellow flowers of ‘Full Moon’ contrasting with the periwinkle blue of floss flower and the bright plum of the purple smoke bush. ‘Full Moon,’ a long time favorite, deserves a place in any sunny garden. Like all tickseeds, it has a large root system; once established it is very drought tolerant, but that makes them sensitive to being moved.

The author with the spectacular water lilies at Chanticleer Gardens.

closely resemble water lilies, but where water lilies lay serenely right on top of the water, these lotus look like they’re about to jump out of the pond. Not all lotus are hardy, and if you get the

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hardy type, be careful—they are known to take over whole ponds.

I recommend growing them in a rubber container that can be sunk into a pond, but will keep their roots from spreading, or enjoying them in a small container pond.

If you decide to visit Chanticleer, you must visit Longwood Gardens, also just outside of Philadelphia.

Longwood was once a country estate for the du Ponts, and you can still enjoy the massive glass greenhouses and formal gardens that the du Ponts used for entertaining. One of their formal gardens known as the Flower Garden Walk is an array of color organized by hue. In one such section, the blue-purple section, I came across a patch of ‘Full Moon’ tickseed. I was enchanted

Keeping with color-themed plantings, Gibbs Gardens, located about an hour outside of Atlanta, used three white plants to make a striking show. White perennial kalimeris, wax begonias, and green and white variegated carex lined garden walkways, creating a tough, heat-loving display that delighted everyone who walked by. All three

Kalimeris at Gibbs Garden.

Check out our website for upcoming events and workshops on Fairy Gardening • Terrariums • Succulent Ball Plus, our New Plant-n-Sip workshops planned for May are a great opportunity to make a gorgeous combination planter that will last all summer. This is a fun activity to do with a friend or as a group.

Register quickly, space is limited!

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Located between Staunton and Benld off Rte. 4 at 18540 White City Rd., Staunton, IL 62088

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are almost effortless to grow, and the kalimeris and begonias bloom nonstop until frost. The strappy foliage of the carex will give you year-round color.

Ohio State University’s Steven M. Still Perennial Garden is one of the most spectacular. You can see fully mature masses of classic plants like ‘Rozanne’ geranium and the absolutely massive large coneflower, Rudbeckia maxima.

OSU also has extensive test gardens and while there I discovered a new Giant petunia ‘Queen of petunia unlike anything I’ve seen before. Each giant yellow flower on Hearts’ at OSU’s Steven M. ‘Queen of Hearts’ petunia has five Stills Perennial Garden. perfectly formed, Valentine-red hearts. A vigorous and healthy plant, this petunia received rave reviews at test gardens across the country.

Though difficult for me in spring, I try to get to our Missouri Botanical Garden at least once a month to see what’s going on. I could write a whole book about all my favorite plants at MoBot, but I am only going to stick with one—hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears.’ What a great plant! The tiny, rounded bluegreen leaves form an excellent, dense shady groundcover. Their leaf thickness prevents slugs from bothering them too much. To top it off, perfectly proportional lavender Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ at flowers bloom over the powdered- Missouri Botanical Garden. looking leaves in midsummer.

Another local jewel, Shaw Nature Reserve shows the many different ways our Missouri native plants can be used: for naturalizing, erosion control, and ornamental low maintenance plantings. I particularly love the Whitmire Wildflower Garden. There you will find examples of gardens that can easily be planted at anyone’s home. If you’re thinking about planting a native garden be sure to visit Shaw Nature Reserve. One of my favorite Missouri native displays at Shaw Nature is the blazing star, Liatris (ed. Note: see Scott Woodbury’s article on Liatris in this issue.). There are at least EIGHT different varieties of Liatris native to Missouri. They all have lavender-purple flowers that, from a distance, look like fireworks shooting up into the sky before they explode. Liatris are a must-have for any butterfly garden; they are considered some of the best nectar suppliers for butterflies. You’ll want to have a few different varieties in your garden to have a Liatris in bloom all summer into fall.

Bringing home inspiration from these world-class gardens will help you create an Eden of your own.

Abby Lapides Elliott is owner and a speaker at Sugar Creek Gardens Nursery.

She has degrees from the University of Missouri, and is a member of the Landscape and Nursery Association of Greater St. Louis. You can reach her at (314) 965-3070.

APRIL 2017

The Gateway Gardener™

Know The Pros!

Green-Industry Experts You Should Meet!

Each month, we are introducing readers to one of our area’s green-industry professional individuals or businesses. In this issue, we invite you to get to know...

The Bee Garden Center 749 S. Duchesne Dr Saint Charles, MO 63301 www.thebeegardencenter.com

A Little History…

Though 2017 will be the first year for The Bee Garden Center, owned by Nichole Torpea & Greg Stinson, it builds on the proud history of the longstanding & popular seasonal pop-up in the same location, Busy Bee Plantland.

Nichole previously had 10 years of experience with Busy Bee Plantland and is ready to bring even more fun & energy to many local gardeners’ favorite spot to shop. Greg has 10 years of marketing experience with Nestle Purina Petcare. Nichole & Greg are married and living in Saint Charles. They have had a longtime passion for gardening, and love spending time in their yard with their new dog, Taquito.

You’ve GOT to see…

… one the region’s largest seasonal garden centers, carrying an incredibly diverse array of spring & summer favorites, new seasonal varieties, as well as many hidden gems. You’ll find hundreds of sun & shade annuals & perennials, Missouri natives, pollinator-friendlies, vegetables, herbs, grasses, groundcover, flower & fruit bearing shrubs, hanging baskets, tropical selections, holiday specialties, and a unique & limited collection of decorations, tools, and gifts.

What’s New for 2017?

The Bee Garden Center will have a refreshed look while maintaining and expanding the incredibly popular varieties for which the location has come to be known. New in 2017, the business allows for credit card purchases for added shopping convenience to loyal customers. But they’re only open from late March until late June, so swing by early & often!

Proud Member of...

Looking for professional help for your garden, lawn and landscape?

StLouisLandscape.org

Search our website’s membership directory or look for the LNAGSL logo in members’ ads in The Gateway Gardener.

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M

Where Has All The Phosphorus Gone?!

By Robert Weaver

y neighbor Joanne called me the other day nationwide. and asked if I had noticed the absence of phosphorus in most lawn products this spring. So what does that mean for our lawns and gardens?

It’s true! Look in the lawn fertilizer section of your favorite Phosphorus is, after all, one of the three major nutrients— NPK— plants required to thrive. As we garden center and you’ll notice the learned in Intro to Botany, Nitrogen— middle number of the NPK formulation is the first number—is important for green now almost universally a big goose egg! growth, particularly leaves and stems, What’s happened? but also seed and fruit. Phosphorus— Phosphates have long been seen as a the middle number— encourages root key cause of eutrophication (extreme growth and promotes blooming, and nutrient richness in lakes and other Potassium—the third number—assists bodies of water encouraging excessive in photosynthesis, fruit quality, and green algae and plant growth and death of disease resistance. All three do more, animal life). Originally laundry detergents but that’s the Cliffs Notes version. were targeted as the prime source for phosphates in waters, but subsequently excessive runoff Nitrogen is highly volatile, and is used up, leached out or from fertilizers was fingered as well. In 2002, Minnesota— lost to the atmosphere and requires frequent replacement.

Land of 10,000 (increasingly green) Lakes—enacted strict But, according to Nathan Brandt, Horticulture Specialist controls of phosphorus use in home and agricultultural for the University of Missouri Extension Office in St. Louis fertilizers. As other states followed, major brands eventually County, “Many homeowners don’t realize that, while cut out the “P” altogether from their blended products nitrogen is constantly being lost from the soil, phosphorus and potassium are lost very slowly. Applying 12-12-12

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fertilizer several times a year for multiple years will drive the phosphorus and potassium up to excess levels. These excess fertilizer levels can limit a plant’s uptake of other essential nutrients.” And lead to runoff.

Nathan says he studied Extension’s first 100 soil samples in 2016. “87% of vegetable gardens, 68% of lawns and 81% of “other” beds had higher than adequate levels of phosphorus. 82% of vegetable gardens, 62% of lawns and 80% of “other” beds had higher than adequate levels of potassium. In other words, roughly ¾ of the soil samples we received had higher than adequate levels of phosphorus and potassium. 18% of the samples we received had excess levels of phosphorus, meaning the level of phosphorus is detrimental to plant health. 11% of the soils we test also had excess levels of potassium. I think it’s safe to assume the first 100 samples are representative of others received during the year.”

Phosphorus-free fertilizers have been trending for a decade or more, but it seems to be almost an industry wide phenomenon now on the fertilizer shelves. Nathan recommends homeowners test their soil before making any decisions about what product to use. If a soil test indicates the need, phosphorus can still be purchased as a standalone amendment. But once phosphorus and potassium are adequate in the soil, says Nathan, homeowners should use nitrogen only for every application except one per year.

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APRIL 2017

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Join Us For Earth Day Festivals And Other Events Around Town!

This spring, The Gateway Gardener will be joining in Earth Day celebrations and other events all across the region. Come visit us for free plant food samples, great information on sustainable gardening practices and that special back issue of The Gateway Gardener you may have misplaced! Here’s a quick look at our spring calendar:

St. Louis Earth Day Festival

April 22nd-23rd 11am-5pm both days Forest Park, St. Louis, MO The Gateway Gardener is once again proud to be a media sponsor of one of the largest Earth Day celebrations in the country, and for the first time, it’s even larger, stretching out over the two-day weekend! Learn about sustainable products, services and practices, meet area non-profits that share Earth Day values, and enjoy local music and performances, hands-on educational activities, great food and more. Visit StLouisEarthDay.org for more information.

Riverbend Earth Day Festival

April 29th Noon-6pm Piasa Harbor on the Great River Road Godfrey, IL Unfortunately, our previous commitment at Kirkwood prevents us from having a booth this year at this great event, but The Gateway Gardener is proud to once again be a media sponsor, and you can pick up copies of the magazine there.

This is the 6th annual Festival hosted by The Nature Institute, and it’s always a fun day, featuring live music, food and the arts, plus organized hiking and clean ups, fresh and local foods, artists and informational booths.

Kirkwood Earth Day

April 29th 10am-3pm Downtown Kirkwood’s Farmer’s Market Greenway Kirkwood, MO This year’s theme for Kirkwood’s Earth Day celebration is “The Unsung Heroes of Our Landscape and Wildlife.” Come learn about the importance of bees, butterflies and other pollinators, how to attract songbirds and other wildlife to your garden, and other visitors to our gardens. Visit with vendors there just for Earth Day as well as the Market regulars—especially our friends from Missouri Wildflower Nursery!

O’Fallon Garden Expo

May 6th 10am-2pm Fort Zumwalt Park O’Fallon, MO Enjoy two festivals on the same day as the Garden Expo coincides with O’Fallon’s Founders’ Day! Live entertainment, an Arbor Day ceremony with the Mayor, St. Charles Model Railroad Club open house, tours of historic Heald Home, and free demonstrations, games and activities for the kids! Vendors will have folk arts and crafts, garden décor and plants, and plenty of food for sale!

Shaw Spring Wildflower Market

May 13th 9am-4pm Members Only May 12th 4-7:30pm Shaw Nature Reserve Gray Summit, MO Visit us for plenty of information about growing with natives while taking advantage of the largest selection of native plants available in the St. Louis area!

Shaw Nature Reserve and several nurseries throughout the area offer hundreds of varieties of Missouri native annual and perennial wildflowers, ferns, trees and shrubs. Favorites like milkweed for monarchs and beautiful coneflowers, plus many plants essential for attracting pollinators and wildlife to your garden. Plus live music, food and crafts.

Central Paper Stock is now running the Missouri Botanical Garden flower pot recycling program.

Please help support your favorite participating garden center by dropping off your flower pots for recycling at their locations. Visit the websites below for information and drop-off locations. mobot.org

paperrecycler.com

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11

Hardy New Shrubs of Native Heritage

by Steffie Littlefield

I

s it Spring? Spring has had some false starts and stops this year, making it hard to focus on planning and creating an urgency to get moving with gardening tasks. But finally it’s time to get excited about another planting season and check out “what’s new” in the world of plants.

In researching and reviewing these materials a recurring theme of hardiness, low maintenance, deer resistance and native parentage is definitely common attributes of the most interesting new plants.

I am thrilled to see really amazing new shrub selections that are cousins of some of my favorite plants. Low Scape® Mound is a native black chokeberry selection.

This new Aronia is a low-growing ,tough, tolerant, tidy little mound of glossy green foliage. With hundreds of early dainty white flowers and purple black fruit

For our pollinator friends I have found a new Caryopteris Sunshine Blue® II. This vivid gold shrub with cool blue blooms late in the season is much more tolerant of cold climates as well as heat and drought tolerant. An excellent plant for attracting bees and other pollinators!

Hydrangea Mini Mauvette highlighted by brilliant red foliage in fall, it provides beauty from spring through frost. Best of all, it thrives almost anywhere: cold climates and hot ones, wet soils and dry ones, sun and part shade.

This native shrub will gracefully handle just about any landscape challenge you can throw at it!

Many of our fall winery visitors are fascinated by one of my pet plants

a beautiful beautyberry shrub.

New this year is Pearl Glam®, an improved Beautyberry that is showy starting in spring, with dark purple foliage from the get-go.

Late summer brings white flowers that yield violet-purple berries by the hundreds. Its upright habit makes this a space-saver compared to more conventional beautyberry varieties, too.

Here are two really exciting finds, dwarf Annabelle-style hydrangeas.

Related to our native arborescens hydrangea, Invincibelle Mini Mauvette™ and Invincibelle Wee White are both reliable coldclimate hydrangeas. Mini Mauvette has deep pink-mauve flowers held up on strong, sturdy stems that don’t flop. The show begins in early summer and because Invincibelle Mini Mauvette is a rebloomer, it continues clear through frost for an endless supply of flowers for the landscape or vase (both fresh and dried!). Invincibelle Wee White™

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The Gateway Gardener™ APRIL 2017

Garden Debut

Caryopteris Sunshine Blue II

Hydrangea Wee White

Ninebark Ginger Wine

Ninebark Cinnamon Stick

Ninebark Lemon Candy

Coralberry Proud Berry

Garden Debut

Chokeberry Low Scape Mound

Beautyberry Pearl Glam

hydrangea is positively groundbreaking: it’s the first true dwarf ‘Annabelle’ type hydrangea! This cute little landscape plant ensures that any landscape can enjoy the reliability, low-maintenance, and season-long beauty of hydrangeas.

It reaches just 1-2.5’ (.3-.7 m) tall and naturally grows as a tidy, rounded mound. Each pure-white flower is held up on a strong, supportive stem for a display that looks more like a bouquet of flowers than a landscape plant.

Blooming begins in early summer and continues through frost, with new flowers appearing the whole time.

Ginger Wine™ ninebark expands the color palette for easy care, native flowering shrubs. The spring foliage emerges a sunny orange color and matures to sparkling burgundy. Clusters of white flowers cover the plant in late spring, and these produce attractive red seed heads. This disease-resistant shrub does well in part- to full-sun locations. A couple other newer ninebarks to

search out are Cinnamon Stick™ ninebark with bright yellowgreen new growth maturing into burgundy, and Lemon Candy ninebark, with yellow-green foliage throughout the season.

Proud Berry™ coralberry is a really pretty cultivar of the North American native that is also amazingly tough. It effortlessly fends off deer, cold weather, and problem soils, making it unbelievably easy to fill your landscape with these unique pink berries, guaranteed to turn heads. The shrub starts with cute, rounded, bluish-green leaves, then, in late summer, bell-shaped flowers appear. As the season changes to autumn, the flowers develop into large dark pink berries, the color intensifying with cold weather.

The fruit is not edible, but may be eaten by birds in mid-late winter.

This plant makes an excellent cut flower for fall arrangements.

Photos courtesy of Proven Winners Color Choice, except as noted.

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 Co-op of Metropolitan St. Louis. She is part-owner of Edg-Clif Winery, Potosi, MO. www.Edg-Clif.com.

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Uncommon Annuals & Tropicals • Native 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

APRIL 2017

The Gateway Gardener™

W is P the d s c l a n Y Ti m e o to We ape M ur Ca a k n H eov elp er. !

Lan

6967 Route 111 Piasa, IL 62079 Phone (618) 729-4324

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15 Impressive Greenhouses Over10,000 Hanging Baskets!

100s of Varieties of Perennials Over100,000 Annuals Over 70 Varieties of Roses Great Selection of Beautiful Planted Containers

$5.00 OFF any purchase of $50 or More

See Us a Come the coupon per customer per visit. Hurry offer expires April 30, 2017! this Farmet One For Spri rs M Fergus www more ng & arket on S .ferg inf uson orm umme farm atio r ersm n, v !!

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FARM AND GREENHOUSES

Rd. St. Peters, MO 63376 (636)441-5048 M-Sat 9-5, Sun 10-5 13

The Cornucopia Corner

The Perfect Picks for your Cool-Season Garden

By Matt Even

I

t’s that time of year again. Ordering seeds, creating new plans for garden experiments, and anxiously anticipating when the first venture in the soil will be safe from frost. On average, it’s roughly April 7th for t h e & LANDSCAPE CO. St.

BALLWIN NURSERY

Family-owned since 1958

$10 OFF!

Louis metro, May not be combined with any other coupon or offer. Expires 5/15/17 if you c a n One-Stop Shopping b e l i e v e & Over 3 acres of that given Nursery Quality Shrubs, the past month or so!

Trees & Evergreens $100 or more Plant Purchase w/coupon

Of course this also means planning the garden. To seasoned gardeners, this can be something to look forward to all winter, but NEED PROFESSIONAL for others, it’s one of the unsexiest aspects of gardening.

LANDSCAPING...

CALL FOR A Luckily, Gateway Greening and FREE ESTIMATE! Crown Valley Organics have you covered, no matter your opinion. Since 2015, we have BALLWIN NURSERY partnered to provide Gateway 112 OLD BALLWIN RD. Greening’s Perfect Picks.

Mon-Fri 8-6 Essentially, we do the work Sat 8-6 • Sun 9-5 for you by choosing organic located behind Elco Chevrolet vegetable and herb seedling

Sod • Perennials Bedding Plants & Baskets Fertilizers • Mulch Jaguar Grass Seed

636-394-7776

wwwballwinnurseryandlandscape.com

varieties that are meant to flourish in the St. Louis region. Thanks Crown Valley Organics, a organic grower, 18 cents of every plant unit sold also goes back Greening, providing funding community gardens in St.

t o local to Gateway to create more Louis.

The spring selections for Perfect Picks are carefully selected for their ability to withstand warm, humid springs and biting cold weather. Vegetables need stable temperatures to germinate and mature, and some of the fastest growing vegetables require 30-45 days to fully mature. So, attributes of resiliency to climate, disease, and certain pests are what make these cool season vegetables trusted over time.

Staff at the Gateway Greening Urban Farm plant many varieties from the Perfect Picks collection. They know that given their specific growing challenges in an urban environment, these selections will provide a strong foundation for a full harvest.

Take the Cabbage variety ‘Caraflex’, for example. This “arrowhead” variety is more of a teardrop shape than your traditional round cabbage heads, and is bred to tolerate early summer heat.

‘Caraflex’ cabbage is also harvested in the United Kingdom early in the season, before maturity, as a “spring green”.

Harvesting throughout the growing process will yield a great tasting cabbage with sweet, m i l d leaves.

Organic seedling offerings at nursery for the spring include: Chard, Collards, multiple varieties

your local Cabbage, Swiss of Kale, Romaine

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

14

The Gateway Gardener™ APRIL 2017

Tips for Growing, Buying and Cooking Fresh, Locally Sourced Food for Your Table Lettuce, Butterhead Lettuce, Asparagus and many more. See the list of vendors below to purchase seedlings in your area.

Finally, Gateway Greening wouldn’t endorse anything that doesn’t provide education. Find us this Summer and Fall speaking about seasonal Perfect Picks and gardening techniques at the St. Louis Science Center’s GROW Exhibit (5050 Oakland Ave. St. Louis, MO 63110). These classes are open to the public, and teach attendees how grow Perfect Picks varieties. After the classes, make sure to see Perfect Picks selections in action, as they are planted throughout the GROW exhibit on an annual basis! Check out www.gatewaygreening. org or www.slsc.org for more information.

Local vendors offering Gateway Greening’s Perfect Picks with Crown Valley Organics: Flowers & Weeds – 3201 Cherokee St., St. Louis, MO Garden Heights Nursery – 1605 S Big Bend Blvd., St. Louis, MO Rolling Ridge Nursery – 60 N Gore Ave., Webster Groves, MO Greenscape Gardens & Gifts – 2832 Barrett Station Rd., Ballwin, MO Webster Groves Herb Society Plant Sale Sugar Creek Gardens – 1011 N Woodlawn Ave., St. Louis,

Matt has worked on organic farms from Northern Minnesota to Austin, TX, and has been growing food since he decided to put his Sociology degree to good use. The past 6 years, 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.

Your Source for Practical Education on your Lawn and Garden

Upcoming Workshops and Classes:  Wed, April 12 from 5:30 to 7pm - Cure Your Lawn Weed Headaches. Learn to ID weeds from every season and the best ways to control them. ($15)  Fri, April 28 from 9am to 3pm - Mushroom Cultivation. Grow three types of tasty mushrooms in your shady yard or woodlot. Lunch included. ($30)

Jt’s Fresh Ideas

 Sat, April 29 from 9 to 11am - Container Gardener Class. Learn the ins and outs of container gardening with Wallflower Design's Victoria Hatfield. ($20)

Homemade Caesar salad dressing

Soil Testing drop-off available as well as plant diagnostics.

St. Louis County

Ingredients

132 E. Monroe Ave | St. Louis, MO 63122 314-400-2115 | StLouisCo@missouri.edu

2 small garlic cloves, minced 1 t. anchovy paste 2 T. fresh lemon juice, 1 lemon 1 t. Dijon mustard 1 t. Worcestershire sauce 1 cup mayonnaise ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano ¼ t. salt ¼ t. freshly ground black pepper 2 heads romaine lettuce washed and torn into bite-sized pieces

Courtesy: www.-onceuponachef.com

extension.missouri.edu/stlouis

Preparation Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, anchovy paste, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Add the mayonnaise, ParmigianoReggiano, salt and pepper and whisk until well combined.

Taste and adjust to your liking.

The dressing will keep well in the fridge for about a week.

APRIL 2017

MO Whole Foods Market – 1601 S. Brentwood Blvd, St. Louis, MO Whole Foods Market – 1160 Town and Country Crossing Dr., Town and Country, MO Frisella Nursery – 550 Hwy F, Defiance, MO Local Harvest Grocery – 3108 Morganford Rd., St. Louis, MO Hillermann’s Nursery – 2601 E Fifth St., Washington, MO

Recipe courtesy of :

http://www.onceuponachef.com

Please share some of your favorite recipes with us.

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

Bring on Spring!

Enjoy...

The Gateway Gardener™

Jt 15

New Roses, New Events for 2017

by Diane Brueckman

Last year, I wrote about the Kordes roses from Germany. Newflora® in Oregon is the United States distributor for Kordes roses.

Many more varieties of Kordes roses are available this year. All of the Kordes roses are trialed in the United States without the use of fungicides and only after they prove to be disease resistant are they offered for the US market.

The roses are grouped into collections for every garden application.

They have an Arborose® collection, which has roses ranging from 8ft to 12ft that are suitable for a trellis or fence without being overwhelming.

NewFlora LLC

R

oses are improving by leaps and bounds. The Knock Out® Series of roses offers almost carefree season-long color but the good news does not stop there. Many of you are familiar with the Easy Elegance® series of roses. The Easy Elegance roses offer a greater selection of colors and plant habits to fit into more garden situations. They are very disease resistant and winter hardy.

Kolorscape® Fire Opal™ The Eleganza® collection consists of Hybrid Teas and floribundas with magnificent blooms often very fragrant. The Kolorscape® collection has shrub roses in a variety of colors for mixed borders. The Parfuma® collection has old-fashioned blooms with strong fragrances.

I could go on further about the new disease-resistant roses from other hybridizers. Weeks has been doing the ‘Easy to Love’ series for several years and this year’s addition is a lovely floribunda called ‘Easy to Please’. I trialed it in my garden last year and it was disease free and bloomed

constantly with sprays of fuchsia pink flowers with a white reverse.

There are two active Rose Societies in the area. One is the Greater St. Louis Rose Society.

Saturday, April 22 at 10am the Society has scheduled a pruning demo/work day at the Florissant (MO) Civic Center Rose Garden.

This is an excellent opportunity to see and practice spring pruning under the watchful eyes of Consulting Rosarians.

Another event scheduled for September is a combined Central and Illinois-Indiana ARS District Meeting and Rose Show to be

held at the Missouri Botanical Garden. This event is open to the public and will feature guest speaker Tom Carruth, retired hybridizer for Weeks Roses. Tom is now the Curator of Huntington Gardens in California and consultant for Certified Roses.

He was also instrumental in creating the new rose evaluating system, American Garden Rose Selections.

The second speaker will be Chris Pellett of Newflora LLC, exclusive agent for Kordes Roses in the United States. Chris either will be skyping or in person.

Chris trials all the roses Kordes sends to the US and either gives them a heads up to enter the US market or deems them unworthy for US gardens. As we all know the diseases are often a different strain here than in Europe and some roses might not like our climate.

The second rose society is The Belleville Area Rose Society.

This year they are undertaking a major project. For many years the Belleville Society has maintained

Davidsan’s Japanese Maples 20% OFF 1 GALLON SIZE

SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE NOTICE!!

STL area readers of The Gateway Gardener!

A BIG SPRING SALE JUST FOR YOU! BRING THIS AD to Davidsan’s (pick-ups only, not shipped)

April 1 through Sunday, April 9

Need your trees shipped to you? Mention this and receive 15% off your order.

919 S Farmingdale Rd, New Berlin, IL - Just 5 miles west of Springfield, IL, 90 minutes from St Louis on I-55 www.davidsansjapanesemaples.com 217-303-2641 davidsans919@gmail.com OPEN Mon-Sat 10-5, Sun 12-4

16

25% OFF 2 and 3 Gal

30% OFF 5 and 7 Gal

35% OFF 10 and 15 Gal

40% OFF 20 and 25 Gal

45% OFF OVER 25 Gal!!

Not all trees are included in this sale. Sale discounts can’t be combined with any other promotion. Our granite and other non-tree items are not discounted during this sale.

INSTANT DRAMA FOR YOUR YARD! Thousands of trees: Japanese maples, ginkgo trees, rare conifers, oaks, beech, extra hardy acers and more. Current availability list link is on the website.

The Gateway Gardener™ APRIL 2017

Easy to Please™

a public rose garden on Main Street in Belleville. The West End Garden has declined due to shade and tree roots from a large oak tree. With the help of the city of Belleville and donations from local business people and rose suppliers, plus hard work by the Society members, the garden will be completely redone. It

Weeks Roses

NewFlora LLC

Arborose® Quicksilver™

will feature many of the new easy-to-grow roses I have written about. The West End Garden will be a go-to destination to see for yourself how these new roses and some of the older roses that are recommended for the St. Louis area actually perform.

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.

A Natural Gem. Baby Gem Boxwood PP21159

www.gardendebut.com

Enjoy a Crabgrass-Free Lawn!

Crabgrass Preventer Plus Lawn Food • Contains Dimension® for control of crabgrass and control or suppression of other annual grass and broadleaf weeds.

• Slow-release lawn food for green, vigorous growth.

• Treats up to 10,000 sq. ft.

Look for these and other ferti-lome products at your favorite independent nurseries and garden centers.

For plant care and information on over 8,000 plants, visit www.fertilome.com

APRIL 2017

The Gateway Gardener™

17

RECYCLE Your Plastic Pots!

To Grow a Better Garden, Shop Where You See The

Willow Landscaping

Ted Bergman

Longfellow’s Garden Ctr.

Staci Hentges

Kim Lovelace-Young

Mark Brakhane

Sandra Hillermann McDonald

Henry McCormick

Pleasantview Landscaping

Bob Call

Longfellow’s Garden Ctr.

Jeff Coffey

Jeff Coffey’s Landscaping

Cynthia Collins

TimberWinds Nursery

Steve Dorrell

Aaron Jung

Rain Miljan

Hillside Landscaping

Glenn Kristek

Nikki Pettit

Wickman Garden Village

James Prinster

Baxter Gardens West

A. Waldbart & Sons Nursery

Gregg Larsen

Gregg Larsen Landscaping

Carson’s Nursery

Don Sherman

Hillermann Nursery & Florist

Roland Lenzenhuber

Janet Dueber

Longfellow’s Garden Ctr.

Susan Ehlenbeck

MO Dept. of Agriculture

Doug English

Kristopher Fuller

Full Features Nursery & Landscape Center

Matt Hagemann

Anne McKinstry

McKinstry Plant Sales

Horticultural Impressions

Joe Krygiel

Mike Curran

Carson’s Nursery

Hillermann Nursery & Florist

Wickman Garden Village

Hartke Nursery

Forrest Keeling Nursery

Forest Lawn Nursery

John Logan

Jim Van Valkenburg

Logan Landscape Design

Alice Longfellow

Longfellow’s Garden Center

Eric Lovelace

Forrest Keeling Nursery

Sherwood’s Forest

Donald Walls Hartke Nursery

David Wehmeyer

Hillermann Nursery & Florist

Dowco Enterprises

Missouri Certified Green Industry Stars are professionals tested and proven to excel in a specialized green industry field.

You can trust them to help you grow a better garden!

The Missouri Certified Green Industry Star program: • Raises standards for Green Industry Professionals • Helps consumers identify Certified Green Industry Horticulture Professionals • Encourages professional development in the industry

D

id you know the black plastic pots and trays that come with most plants purchased at garden centers are not recyclable with your other household plastic. If you’ve been including those pots in your household recycling, chances are they’ve ended up in a landfill. According to the Missouri Botanical Garden website, over 350,000 pounds of horticultural plastic waste contributes to the waste stream every year. For a number of years, Missouri Botanical Garden has orchestrated a plastic pot recycling program, and the result has been over one million pounds of horticultural waste has been diverted from landfills, and recycled into plastic landscaping timbers. Due to several circumstances, including the inability to find a consistent partner to turn the reclaimed plastic into a useful product, the program was in danger of abandonment. Thanks to a new partner, however, we can still recycle our plastic pots in 2017 and beyond.

Central Paper Stock, a recycler of paper, plastics, and metals for over 70 years, has stepped in and taken over the task of maintaining the fleet of recycling trailers, processing the plastic, and selling it to manufacturers who will turn the plastic into new products. The trailers will still be at many of the garden center sites gardeners have found them in the past, as well as some new locations. A list of these locations can be found at https://tinyurl.com/o4vwe4y. There is also a list of locations on Central Paper’s website at www. paperrecycler.com.

People can also still bring their pots to the Missouri Botanical Garden Monsanto Center at 4500 Shaw Boulevard. Professional landscapers are encouraged to bring bulk quantities of horticultural plastic directly to Central Paper Stock by first calling (314) 521-8686 to PLACE ORDER BY APRIL 30TH

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To locate and shop with a Missouri Certified Green Industry Star, consult our Membership Directory at:

www.MoGIA.org 18

(636) 978-2120 www.emeraldviewturffarms.com 1722 Hwy. 79 • O’Fallon, MO 63366

The Gateway Gardener™ APRIL 2017

schedule a delivery time.

To recycle your pots, you don’t need to wash them, but do empty loose soil, rocks and plant debris, and remove metal hangers. Drop them into the containers. Cell packs, hanging baskets, trays and pots of all sizes are accepted. You do not have to separate the various grades of plastic flower pots.

Please, no other household plastic or any pots other than plastic.

In addition to Central Paper Stock, the Missouri Botanical Garden and partnering garden centers, the plastic pot recycling program is further supported by St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Wasted Management District and Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Please remember that the garden centers are spending money in fuel and labor to provide the flower pot trailers for recycling. Please try to purchase something from them when dropping off your plastic flower pots.

Four Generations of Organic Gardening Expertise.

For over 88 years Espoma Organic® has defined the naturally beautiful garden. While much has changed, our philosophy has remained the same: develop the finest, most effective natural & organic gardening products.

From plant foods to potting mixes, our products work in harmony with nature to grow beautiful lawns & gardens.

Espoma. A natural in the garden since 1929.

Available at these and other fine Garden Centers Ballwin Sherwood’s Forest Home & Garden Defiance Frisella Nursery Washington Hillermann’s St. Louis Garden Heights Nursery Bowood Farms Sugar Creek Gardens

www.espoma.com APRIL 2017

The Gateway Gardener™

19

Healing the earth one yard at a time Submitted By Sue Leahy

“We do not inherit the earth from summarize her life and legacy. held at members’ homes where our ancestors, but rather borrow She was an environmentalist, there is an opportunity to tour widely acknowledged as the it from our descendants.” heart and soul of the natural Lorrie Otto’s words aptly landscaping movement, which, in the last decade, has taken root and spread from coast to coast.

Meet us at Kirkwood Market 150 E Argonne

Choose from our Selection on:

April 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd & 29th Saturdays 8am - 4pm

Advance orders (by Tues.) may also picked up Fri. 4-6pm (no walk-up sales) or during normal Sat. hrs.

Missouri Botanical Garden April 1st & 2nd, 10am-3pm Meet Me Outdoors in St. Louis Town Square Pavilion - Sierra Club IL Saturday, April 29 th 9am-4pm US 51N & Main (Hwy. 13) Carbondale, IL Shaw Nature Reserve Saturday, May 13 th 9am-4pm Friday night members only, 4-7:30pm Nursery Hours at Brazito, MO Weekdays 9am-5pm Year Round Weekends Mar. 19th-July 3rd, Aug. 27th-Oct. 15th Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. Noon-5pm

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

Wild Ones continues to lead the natural landscaping movement as we explore, teach, and change the practice of gardening in our communities and around the country by encouraging the use of native plants. The more gardens we convert to native plantings, the more we restore vital ecosystem functions where we live and work. The hope is that landscaping with native plants will become the norm instead of the exception. This encourages us to establish a personal relationship with the natural world, a relationship that literally invites native plants and wildlife such as birds, bees and butterflies back into our immediate lives.

Wild Ones-St. Louis meets 10 times a year.

Monthly meetings during the spring, summer and fall months are

lucky homeowner is selected for a “native plant front yard makeover.” In 2017 we will begin a pilot program offering grants to small municipalities to establish native plant gardens in their communities.

Wild Ones-St. Louis is a recognized chapter of the national Wild Ones organization, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Established in 1979, Wild Ones Members of the Wild Ones St. is headquartered in Neenah, Louis celebrate a Landscape Wisconsin, and has over 50 Challenge planting in 2014. chapters around the country. beautiful native landscapes, For more information about the see butterflies and birds, ask organization, please visit the questions and learn from websites www.stlwildones.org those with experience. Other and www.wildones.org. activities include St. Louis Earth Day, the Native Plant Sale at Shaw Nature Reserve, the Native Plant Expo at Schlafly Information for this article was Bottleworks and the St. Louis compiled from the Wild Ones website and contributed by Sue Native Plant Garden Tour.

Leahy. Sue has been a member We provide grants to schools to of Wild Ones for 5 years and its Publicity/Marketing establish native plant pollinator is and rain gardens. In addition, Coordinator. She has been we offer a yearly landscape gardening extensively with challenge, in conjunction with native plants for about 10 years Shaw Nature Reserve and at her Brentwood home.

GrowNative!, whereby one

St. Louis Greenhouse Plant Society

Annual Greenhouse Plant Sale May 6th • 9am-3pm

May 7th • 9am-Noon

Located at: South Technical High School, 12721 West Watson in Sunset Hills

All plants grown locally by the St. Louis Greenhouse Plant Society master gardener level volunteers.

Annuals • Perennials • Herbs • Vegetables • Aquatics • Tropicals Natives • Pollinator Attractors • Succulents Proceeds benefit the horticulture program at South County Technical High School and other community programs throughout the region.

Please bring your own boxes or bags. Thanks!

GreenhousePlantSociety.com 20

(314) 965-1367 The Gateway Gardener™ APRIL 2017

APRIL 2017

The Gateway Gardenerâ„¢

21

2017 Eco-Garden Product Guide You can make your green thumb even greener by practicing sustainable gardening in your landscape! Here are some suggestions from area retailers for products that can help us all establish our own greener gardening habits.

Happy Earth Day! Hillermann Nursery & Florist 2601 E. 5th Street, Washington, MO 63090 636-239-6729 Hillermann.com

Espoma Organic Plant Foods.

Rose Tone, Tree Tone, Garden Tone, and more; Each Espoma plant food is a complex blend of long lasting natural ingredients.

The natural organics break down slowly for steady, continuous feeding. They contain Biotone® microbes, add organic matter to soil, and are naturally low in salts, so they won’t burn.

4 lb. $7.99, Garden Tone only 8 lb. $14.99 and 36 lb. $33.99 Frisella’s Nursery 550 Hwy F Defiance, MO 63341 (636) 798-2555 FrisellaNursery.com

22

Recycled Glass Terrariums.

Made using recycled glass and a free-blown method that is over 2,000 years old. Each terrarium is unique and carries a rustic feel that is typified by irregularities such as bubbles, dimples and rippling. Three sizes available. $153.99 - $214.99 La Bella Fiori 18540 White City Rd. Staunton, IL 62088 (217) 313-1001 LaBellaFiori.com

Rolling Ridge Nursery 60 North Gore Ave. Webster Groves, MO 63119 RollingRidgeNursery.com

BurnOut. Produced by Bonide, BurnOut is a great organic alternative to RoundUp. It is an effective non-selective weed and grass killer, which works in temps as low as 40 degrees. Approved for organic gardening, it’s made from natural ingredients like Citric acid and clove oil, and safe to use around pets and kids. 1qt. or 1gal.RTU and 1qt. concentrate.

Garden Heights Nursery 1605 S. Big Bend Blvd.

Richmond Heights, MO DeWit Garden Tools. Tools (314) 645-7333 designed with the environment GardenHeights.com in mind. All DeWit tools have ash wood handles that come from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, government-controlled forests.

This regulates the use of wood and the replanting of trees for a greener environment. DeWit tools are made of the highest quality and come with a lifetime warranty.

SeedGeeks Products.

SeedGeeks is an independent, family-owned heirloom seed

company and urban farm.

Products include seed packets and gift sets, a variety of lip balms and lotion bars, and many flavors and sizes of raw honey.

Thought and care goes into everything SeedGeeks create.

They are passionate about using natural ingredients, sustainable methods, and earth-friendly materials.

Greenscape Gardens 2832 Barrett Station Rd. Manchester, MO 63021 (314) 821-2440 GreenscapeGardens.com

Beneficial Bug Home.

Biological controls naturally keep garden pests at bay!

Provide a home for insects such as solitary bees, lacewings, ladybugs, earwigs &, butterflies.

A balanced and bio-diverse ecosystem can save you time and money, while entertaining the kiddos too! Available in various sizes, prices, & colors (brown, black, blue, green, red).

The Gateway Gardener™ APRIL 2017

Gutter Gardens LLC Sappington Garden Shop GutterGardens.com 11530 Gravois Rd. 314-255-1845 or 618-334-2504 St. Louis, MO (314) 843-4700 SappingtonGardenShop.com

Gutter Gardens. Stand Up and Patio Egg Mosquito Deterrent Garden! Hangs securely from Diffuser. A deet-free way to a balcony or deck railing. arm yourself for the Skeeter From recycled materials and Skirmish!Package contains recyclable! Grow food or 1 egg, 1 hanger and a bottle flowers with ease. Sold only at of Skeeter Screen. Great GutterGardens.com. for outdoor living! Made in Sugar Creek Gardens 1011 N. Woodlawn Kirkwood, MO 63122 (314) 965-3070 SugarCreekGardens.com

2017 Perennial of the Year Meadow Blazing Star. Liatris ligulistylis. With its brilliant purple spires that attract swarms of butterflies, its display may be the showiest and most flamboyant of all Liatris. From mid summer into fall its tall flower stalks are adorned with rich rosy-purple florets. A top choice for butterflies, many consider it the #1 favorite nectar plant for Monarch butterflies.

Bonide Organic Pest Control.

Weed, Insect, and Fungus control for organic gardening.

BurnOut will kill weeds organically with natural oils and is great to use in veggie gardens or in areas where pets or children play. All seasons spray oil can control insect and fungus problems on edibles.

Effinger Garden Center 720 South 11th St. Belleville, IL 62220 (618) EffingerGarden.com

Beautiful Native Shrubs.

Zick’s unique & unusual choice for 2017 are Aesculus parviflora (bottlebrush buckeye) & Aesculus pavia (dwarf red horse chestnut). Both can be used as America. specimens in the garden with parviflora building a colony O.K. Hatchery and pavia (shown in pic) being 109-115 Argonne a true dwarf tree in the garden.

Kirkwood, MO Both are hard to find but can add (314) 822-0083 great interest to many garden Espoma Organic Lawn Food. areas.

Espoma’s new All Natural Lawn Food nourishes the grass so that it becomes more resistant to heat, drought and other stress. And because the product is 100% organic it is STLCC MERAMEC safe for your family, your pets, HORTICULTURE Messinas Wildlife Animal and the environment. Covers ANNUALS . PERENNIALS Stoppers. A complete line 5,000 sq. ft.

VEGETABLES . NATIVES of animal-specific repellents TROPICALS . SUCCULENTS create a sensory barrier that The Potted Plant Garden April 27 8:00-6 & April 28 8:00-4 works by smell and taste and Center & Gifts 11333 Big Bend Rd, St. Louis, MO can be applied every 30 days 1257 St. Peters Cottleville Rd. West Parking Lot K Cash or Check regardless of rain or watering. St. Peters, MO 63376 Pleasant to use, dries clear and (636) 447-9000 odor free and is safe to use on PottedPlant.net fruits and vegetables.

PLANT

S SALE

Kirkwood Gardens 2701 Barrett Station Rd. St. Louis, MO 63021 (314) 966-4840 KirkwoodGardens.com Terrariums from Reclaimed/ Recycled Materials. These reclaimed teak roots with hand blown recycled glass terrariums are a great way to display your air-plants and mini gardens.

APRIL 2017

Zicks Great Outdoors 16498 Clayton Rd. Wildwood, MO (636) 458-1445 ZicksGreatOutdoors.com

The Gateway Gardener™

All proceeds from the sale go to the student’s Botanical Society allowing them to attend green industry events.

Registration for fall classes begins April 12. Join us!

23

Naturally Natives Tasty and Beautiful Blazing Stars

B

lazing star (Liatris) is one of those native plants that is loved by everybody and everything. It is a runway model and a super-food for wildlife.

People love its colorful flowers that adorn slender stalks and the wildlife it attracts. Monarch butterfly programs like Monarch Watch and Milkweeds for Monarchs promote it as a vital source of food for King Billy butterflies, otherwise known as monarchs. It is highly attractive to monarchs who seek flower nectar to fuel their migration to Mexico. But monarchs are highly attractive to something else, the Asian praying mantis. This mantis waits in ambush, hidden among blazing star flowers. Last summer I

text and photos by Scott Woodbury

Eastern blazing star, Liatris scariosa

watched an Asian mantis on eastern blazing star catch and eat

bring it back to what matters

a bumblebee, a duskywing skipper and two silver spotted skippers in two afternoons. The mantis also snagged a monarch butterfly, which struggled and got away, and stared down a hummingbird that flew away without a drop of nectar.

Native Americans called Liatris crow root because crows dug and ate the roots in fall. Staff at the Missouri Department of Conservation Discovery Center in Kansas City confirmed this years ago, telling me that they watched a flock of crows uproot and eat several plants. The wavy-lined emerald moth also has a taste for blazing star. They are stealthy in

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

Looking for Something Unique for your Garden??

Come Stroll Thru Our Gardens and Discover the Pleasure of Plants!

Natives, Not-so-common Trees, Shrubs & Perennials

GreenscapeGardens.com 314.821.2440 2832 Barrett Station Rd., Manchester, MO 63021 Located 1 Mile West of I-270 on Barrett Station at Dougherty Ferry

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1674 N. Bluff Rd Collinsville, IL 62234

(618)344-8841

their approach, removing pink flower petals, and sticking them all over their caterpillar bodies. Once the camouflage is in place they crawl around undetected as they devour flower after flower. Even when the pink petals fade to tan the caterpillars remain hidden in faded flowers while they continue to feed. Fortunately blazing stars survive. But not so when voles come round. Voles are tiny mammals that tunnel through soil and feed on plant roots, especially blazing star. I once planted over a hundred rough blazing star, Liatris aspera, to see each one disappear in a winter feeding frenzy. It reminded me of Bugs Bunny stealing the king’s carrots, zip, zip zap. Tunneling from plant to plant, eating corm after corm until every root was devoured. I’ve seen this happen with eastern blazing star, L. scariosa outside my office window, with prairie blazing star, L. pycnostacyha by the thousands in Crawfish Flat at Shaw Nature Reserve and with marsh blazing star, L. spicata in too many gardens to recall. All are like Bissinger’s blood orange truffles to a vole. The only thing that slows down voles is steel and concrete. Sidewalks and raised planting beds exclude voles and so do large containers with wire mesh covering the drain hole.

With my fingers crossed behind my back I’m growing the rare Ouachita gayfeather, Liatris squarrosa var. compacta in the native plant trial garden thanks to colleague Quinn Long. For two years neither crows nor voles have discovered them.

Crows are not a common problem with blazing stars but voles are.

Nevertheless I’m tempting fate, which is why I plan to test grow blazing stars in wire baskets this year and why I have made it a policy to grow and replace them year after year. They disappear

The Gateway Gardener™ APRIL 2017

Tips and Resources for Growing and Landscaping with Sustainable Native Plants after two or three years. I want a better return on our investment.

All this having been said you might give up on blazing star altogether.

I still love them and can’t imagine a garden without them. They attract more King Billy’s and other insects than any other native plant.

Few native plants are as graceful or bloom lavender pink in mid to late summer. They feed gold finches in fall and white-throated sparrows

in winter. And plus they are easy to grow from seed and seedlings appear in the garden ensuring new plants year after year if you know how to identify baby seedlings.

So set up your own blazing star nursery at home and populate your garden and neighborhood with tasty beautiful Liatris that will delight everybody and everything.

Shaw Wildflower Market for greener gardens!

At Shaw Nature Reserve • Gray Summit, MO

Saturday, May 13th 9am-4pm

Free for members $5 for non-members www.shawnature.org 636-451-3512

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.

A Grow Native! Top 10 List FEATURED CATEGORY:

TOP 10 NATIVE COMPANION PLANTS FOR BLAZINGSTAR Garden Companions for Blazingstar • Attractive to Pollinators • Tried and True NATIVE PLANT NAME

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Marsh Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) Blanketflower (Gillenia stipulata) Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) Compass plant (Silphium laciniatum) Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum) Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) Redwhisker clammyweed

(Polanisia dodecandra) Slender mountain mint

(Pycnanthemum tenuifolium)

Texas greeneyes (Berlandiera texana)

HEIGHT

LIGHT

UNIQUE QUALITY Perennial. Monarch caterpillar food.

Mounded perennial. Butterfly magnet.

3-4'

Sun

2'

Sun

2–3'

Sun/ Pt. Shade

6-8'

Sun

3-4'

Sun/ Pt. Shade

3-4'

Pt. Shade

2-3'

Sun

Yucca-like leaves blue-green.

1-2'

Sun

2'

Sun/ Pt. Shade

4-6'

Sun

Annual. Attracts hummingbird moths.

Clump-forming perennial.

Pollinators.

Long-blooming. Goldfinch magnet.

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!

Biennial. Bee magnet.

Textural leaves. Lemon-yellow flowers.

Mauve flowers attract pollinators.

Fragrant flowers. Butterfly magnet.

This list was created by Scott Woodbury, based on his many years of experience and observations as the Curator of the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve.

This list is not in ranked order.

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

APRIL 2017

Po l Yo He linat ur ad or qu Pl art an ers t !

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!

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Celebrate Arbor Day with Mulch...

But Not TOO Much!

MULCH: Tree Care Basics With proper planting and mulching, trees become valuable assets.

Mulch Your Trees Use organic mulch such as wood chips, bark, pine needles and compost.

Use a donut shape, making sure not to pile mulch on the bark.

Once planted, young trees benefit in a number of ways from a ring of mulch. In fact, all trees benefit from mulch, as The Missouri Community Forestry Council (MCFC) would like to remind us.

CORRECT MULCHING

Do not dome mulch, keep mulch away from trunk and bark.

BAD MULCHING

MULCH BENEFITS Adds landscaped appearance.

Maintains moisture and insulates soil Protects tree from lawn equipment ● Improves soil structure and fertility ● ●

Layer mulch 2 to 4 inches deep for well-drained soils.

Sustaining healthy forests, fish and wildlife. mdc.mo.gov

www.mocommunitytrees.org

A

rbor Day is celebrated nationally on the last Friday in April, but is observed state-by-state on varying days in order to allow for states to celebrate at an appropriate planting time of the season. Illinois observes the last Friday as well, but in Missouri Arbor Day is observed on the first Friday in April, April 7th this year.

Among other celebratory activities, Missouri Botanical Gardens is once again giving away tree saplings while supplies last April 7th-8th.

Go to the Kemper Center to get yours, and plant a tree!

Helps control weeds.

Wider mulched areas are better, extending ring out to the tree’s drip line.

MCFC is a group of professional tree care companies and individuals and other interested parties committed to urban and community forestry issues in Missouri. The Council meets regularly to advise the State of Missouri on the best ways to preserve, protect, expand and improve our urban and community forests.

Recently the group, in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Conservation, developed and distributed mulch “yard signs” (at left) for members to place in their regions at targeted locations like big box stores. The signs acknowledge the benefits of mulch, such as protection from lawn equipment, moisture retention and weed reduction, but advise not to overdo it. Mulch “volcanoes” piled against the trunk sometimes a foot or more in depth are detrimental to tree health, preventing oxygen and moisture exchange to the roots and inviting insects and disease. Instead, apply no more than 2-4” in depth, and keep the mulch away from the base of the tree, more like a donut than a volcano!

If you’d like to join the MCFC or find out more about urban tree health, learn more at their next meeting scheduled for May 11th, 9am at the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area Headquarters.

Will Rein, Director of Operations & Special Projects, Tower Grove Park, and a member of MCFC, contributed to this article.

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The Gateway Gardener™ APRIL 2017

find out how trees protect our water - www.TREESWORK.org APRIL 2017

The Gateway Gardenerâ„¢

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Dig This!

Gateway Gardeners and Businesses in the News New Ownership for Two Garden Centers

Mike Curran, longtime manager of SummerWinds Garden Center in Ellisville, is now its new owner, having acquired the business from the western-state chain’s parent company headquartered in Idaho.

Mike will now operate the business independently and has renamed it TimberWinds Garden Center. The new name is a nod to the long history and tradition at the location. In 2002, SummerWinds Garden Centers purchased Timber Creek Nursery in Ellisville, Mo., from long-time successful retailers Bob and Geri Specker, who had purchased the nursery in 1985. Prior to that, the Passiglia family had operated a garden center there since 1979. Mike has worked at the garden center through both ownerships.

In St. Charles, Nichole Torpea and Greg Stinson have also taken over ownership of a long-standing and popular plant place, the Busy Bee Plantland, which they have renamed The Bee Garden Center. You can read more about them in our Know the Pros feature on page 7.

New Group to Manage Tech School Greenhouse/Plant Sale The St. Louis Greenhouse Plant Society is a recently incorporated 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization with the mission of promoting gardening in the St Louis community. The society is composed of many of the same master gardener volunteers who previously managed the South County Technical High School greenhouse under the auspices of the St. Louis Master Gardeners. The new group’s members continue the greenhouse’s mission of sharing their knowledge, love of gardening and commitment to the community.

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The group works out of the 10,000 square foot greenhouse on the c a m p u s of South T e c h n i c a l Volunteers potting up six packs of H i g h seedlings to grow for the plant sale.

School. Their philanthropic efforts include scholarships for students of South Technical High School and plant donations to local community gardening efforts including Gateway Greening, Lafayette Park, Laumeier Sculpture Park, Kirkwood Parks and the Sunset Hills Earth Day Celebration.

Educational efforts include speaker series and hands-on gardening programs for South Technical High School students and continuing educational opportunities for master gardeners.

Funding for these efforts is raised through an annual spring plant sale. This year’s sale is May 6th from 9-3 and May 7 from 9-noon, and will offer thousands of annuals, perennials, herbs, tropicals, succulents, vegetables, aquatics, native plants, succulents and pollinator attractors.

The sale is at the greenhouse at South Technical High School, 12721 Watson Road in Sunset Hills.

Shoppers are asked to please be green and bring their own boxes. For additional information visit the website www.greenhouseplantsociety.com or call 314-965-1367.

More Pollinator Recognized

Pantry

Gardens

As a partner in the Project Pollinator program along with the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, St. Louis County Library and Greenscape Gardens & Gifts, the St. Louis County Parks Department has been promoting and recognizing the installation of “Pollinator Pantry Gardens” in public and private spaces throughout the county.

The Gateway Gardener™ APRIL 2017

Denise Chapell

Conservation-Erin Shank, St Louis Audubon Society-Mitch Leachmann, Missouri Master Naturalists-Great River Chapter: Pam Wilcox and Michael Meredith, Arborist Forestry Consultant Mike Walsh/Forest ReLeaf, Wild Ones St Louis Chapter-Marsha Gebhardt, U.S Fish and WildLIfe Service-Bob Dietrich, Creve Coeur Lakehouse -on site support, and St. Louis County Parks Dennis Hogan and Joe Strasser.

Several Pollinator Partners were recognized at the Project Pollinator’s 1st anniversary celebration recently.

This spring, the Parks Department has been busy as a bee recognizing more garden hosts.

In the “A Safe Place to Bee” category, The City of Crestwood was recognized for creating two gardens, one at City Hall and the other at White Cliff Park. The recognition was made to Mayor Gregg Roby, Alderwoman Mary Stadter, Horticulture Advisor Tom Krauska and Director of Public Services Jim Gillam.

In the “Partnering People for Pollinators” category, St. Louis County Library and Gateway Greening were jointly recognized for garden installations at three county library branches: Prairie Commons, Grant View, and Cliff Cave. Accepting the recognitions were St. Louis County Library representatives Deputy Director Eric Button and Adult Programming Specialist Denise Chapell, and for Gateway Greening, board member Bill Ruppert.

Pollinator Pantry wants to get private homeowners involved, too! They invite all homeowners to “bee” “paparazzi” and take pictures of “the flyer and the flower” (any winged visiting your gardens, and where they are dining or making their home). You can submit your pictures to: Dwolter@stlouisco. com.

Would you like to receive recognition for your pollinator pantry garden? Public or private, it just needs to be viewable by the public. If you have one that’s already installed or in the process, contact Doug Wolter at Dwolter@stlouisco.com or call (314) 822-9095.

Plant Sale

Saturday, April 29 • 9 AM to 1 PM Sunday, April 30 • 11 AM to 1 PM

Preview Party & Sale Friday, April 28 • 5 to 7 PM

$20 donation includes Wine, Cheese & Snacks Reservations Required: www.ucityinbloom.org or call 314-973-6062

Heman Community Center • 975 Pennsylvania Ave.

U City in Bloom

Finally, the Mallard Lake Project in Creve Coeur Park was recognized under both categories, with participants including: Missouri Department of One-stop shopping for the greatest varieties of herbs, heirloom tomatoes and vegetables for your garden!

Annual Spring Herb Sale Saturday April 22, 2017 8:30-2:00

First Congregational Church of Webster Groves, MO (at Lockwood & Elm) FREE admission, plenty of parking!

WEBSTER GROVES HERB SOCIET Y

• Thousands of culinary, medicinal, and ornamental herbs, heirloom tomatoes and vegetables • Books, recipes and herb growing advice

www.wgherbs.org APRIL 2017

The Gateway Gardener™

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Upcoming Events GARDEN TOURS, PLANT SALES AND SHOWS

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 June issue is May 1st.

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

GARDEN CLUBS AND PLANT SOCIETY MEETINGS Interested in joining a Garden Club or Plant Society? We have meeting dates, locations and contact information on more than 50 area garden clubs on our website at www.GatewayGardener.com.

Don’t have access to the internet? Just call us at (314) 968-3740, or write us at PO Box 220853, St. Louis, MO 63122, and we’ll get the information to you. So share your joy for gardening and join a garden club or favorite plant society today!

FUN FOR KIDS April 1st 9am—Fun in the Garden. FREE, no reservations required, everyone welcome. The Children’s Garden Club is designed to educate and bring delight in gardening to children with projects they do themselves. For the Garden by Haefner’s, 6703 Telegraph Rd., (314) 846-0078.

11am-1pm—First Saturday Kids– Easter Bunny visit! Bring your camera.

FREE. Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636-239-6729, www.hillermann.com.

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April 8th-9th 9am-5pm—Greater St. Louis Daffodil Society Sale. New 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 Center. Free with Garden admission.

April 22nd 9am-1pm—Seven Pines Garden Club Plant Sale. Annuals, vegetables.

Swimming pool grounds in Seven Pines subdivision, Maryland Heights/Creve Coeur area. Rain date April 23rd.

8:30am-2pm—Webster Groves Herb Society Spring Herb Sale. Thousands of herbs, vegetables and native herbs.

Useful tips, demonstrations, tasty treats and recipes. No admission charge and great parking. Proceeds help the society support and maintain several gardens plus provide scholarships to local horticulture students. First Congregational Church of Webster Groves, 10 W. Lockwood. Free admission and parking.

8am-1pm – 6th Annual Lincoln County Master Gardener Plant Sale. A variety of plants for sale along with seeds and garden art. Also a basket full of garden tools to be raffled off. Check us out at our Facebook page Lincoln County Master Gardeners. Troy, MO, at the Valvoline Express Care, 47 The Plaza.

April 27th-28th 8am-6pm Thurs, 8am-4pm Fri—St. Louis Community College, Meramec Horticulture Club Plant Sale. Annuals, perennials, vegetables, native and pollinator plants. Cash or check. Parking Lot K, 11333 Big Bend, Kirkwood.

April 27th-29th Members Only Thur. 5-8pm., Public 9-am-5pm Fri., 9am-noon Sat.—Herb Days. Choose from a wide selection of potted fresh herbs, including new and hard-to-find varieties. Herb Society members will give demonstrations and guidance on selecting, planting, growing and using herbs. Included with Garden admission or membership. Missouri Botanical Garden. Orthwein Floral Display Hall.

April 29th 9:30am—Olivette in Bloom Native Plant Sale. Native plants at great prices until sold out! Get there early! Stacy Park Pavilion (Old Bonhomme Rd. just south of Olive in Olivette.) www. olivetteinbloom.org.

April 29th-30th 9am-1pm Sat., 11am-1pm Sun.—U. City in Bloom’s Annual Plant Sale. Perennials, annuals, native and wildlife-attracting plants, culinary herbs and vegetables. (Opening Night Party and Plant Sale April 28th, 5-7pm. $20 donation, includes wine, cheese and snacks. Reservation required.)

Heman Park Community Center, 975 Pennsylvania Ave., University City.

UCityinBloom.org, 314-973-6062.

April 30th 1-3pm—St. Louis Hosta Society Vendor Day Sale.

Hostas and companion plants and garden items for sale. Open to the public. Creve Coeur Community Center, 300 N. Ballas.

FREE. 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. Horticulture-Design exhibits, educational culture info, supplies, African violets, Streptocarpus and other gesneriads for sale. Missouri Botanical Garden, Orthwein Hall. Included with Garden admission.

PLUS SAVE THE DATE! Coming May 6TH or 7th—Plant Sales hosted by Bethel UMC, Four Winds Garden Club, Central Missouri Master Gardeners, Jardin du Lac Garden Club, Kress Farm Gardens Preserve, St. Louis Greenhouse Plant Society, and Webster Groves Women’s Garden Association. More information in the May issue calendar.

CLASSES, LECTURES AND EVENTS April 1st 10-11 AM – Mushroom Growing.

Learn about the basics of growing edible fungi outdoors. Gateway Greening Demonstration Garden, 3841 Bell Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108. $5 Suggested donation.

April 1st-2nd 9am-5pm—Meet Me (Outdoors in St. Louis Garden Weekend. Active outdoor experiences, exhibitors, experts and more at Missouri Botanical Garden, Shaw Nature Reserve, and the Butterfly House.

April 2nd 2pm—Miniature/Fairy Garden. Learn how to build a mini garden of your own, $35 fee per kit, includes container, a few plants, accessories and other supplies. La Bella Fiori, 18450 White City Rd., Staunton, IL. (217) 313-1001.

LaBellaFiori.com.

April 4th 10-11am—High Impact for Small Spaces. Discover landscape ideas to maximize the impact for smaller gardens and yards. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. April 5th 7-8pm–Growing Tomatoes. Learn how to grow, care for, and select tomato varieties to use in the kitchen. Prairie Commons Branch Library, 915 Utz Ln, Hazelwood, MO 63042. FREE. April 6th 5:30-6:30pm—Enchanting Bedfellows, Exquisite Perennial Plant Combos.

Learn the perennial combinations to create a brilliant masterpiece of color texture and fascinating forms in your garden. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

April 7th-8th 9am-5pm—Arbor Day Tree Giveaway.

The Kemper Center for Home Gardening will give away Missouri native tree saplings. Tree saplings will be distributed on a first-come, first served basis, one per visitor while supplies last. Master gardeners will answer questions and give advice on planting trees. Missouri Botanical Garden. Included with Garden admission. www.mobot.org or call 314577-5100 April 8th 11am—Succulents Indoors and Out. Join Chris Walker from the St. Louis Cactus & Succulent Society to explore new ways to incorporate succulents into and around your home. Frisella Nursery, frisellanursery.com/events, 636.798.2555.

2pm—Terrarium Workshop. Create a modern terrarium in glass. $45 fee includes all supplies. Register in advance. La Bella Fiori, 18450 White City Rd., Staunton, IL. (217) 313-1001.

LaBellaFiori.com.

10-11am–Container Gardening. Learn about how to grow fresh vegetables and herbs on your porch, balcony, or front steps. Indian Trails Branch Library, 8400 Delport Dr, Overland, MO 63114. Please register for this FREE event: https://www.slcl.org/evancedregistration/142496.

April 8th-9th 11am—Project Pollinator Weekend.

Meet Wild Ones on Saturday for special native plant giveaways, then on Sunday at 11am, meet MaryAnn Fink of the Museum of Transportation’s Polllinary Park for “Having fun with Function” and learn about the amazing ways pollinators make our lives better. Greenscape Gardens & Gifts, 2832 Barrett Station

The Gateway Gardener™ APRIL 2017

Rd., Manchester, MO 63021. (314) 8212440, GreenscapeGardens.com.

April 11th 10-11am—Minimum Care, Maximum Results with Superb Small Shrubs.

Discover our favorite small shrubs with exceptional blooms and foliage from spring through fall. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. April 12th 5:30-6:30pm—Build Your Own Bird Sanctuary. Learn how this program of the St. Louis Audubon Society can help you enrich your landscape with native plants to improve animal habitat for even the smallest urban landscapes. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

5:30-7:30pm—Cure Your Lawn Weed Headaches. Learn to ID weeds from every season and the best ways to control them. $15. U. of MO Extension, 132 E. Monroe Ave., St. Louis, MO. (314) 400-2115.

StLouisCo@missouri.edu. extension.missouri.edu/stlouis.

April 13th 4;30-6:30pm—Q&A with Native Plant Experts and Landscaping with Native Plants. Meet members of Wild Ones Natural Landscapers from 4:30-6:30pm, and enjoy member Betty Struckhoff’s presentation from 5:30-6:30pm on how you can create a lively landscape, reduce maintenance and attract birds and butterflies to your garden. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. 1-4pm—Native Plant School: Top Performing Native Plants for the St. Louis Region. Class will cover the best native plants for a home garden, how to combine them, deer resistance and best plants for wildlife. $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.

April 15th 9am—Arbor Day in Kirkwood. Join Kirkwood’s Urban Forestry Commission, University of Missouri St. Louis County Extension, the Landscape and Nursery Association of Greater St. Louis and ArborDave Tree Care to “Plant the Arbor Day Oak Grove” at the MU Extension Office, 132 E. Monroe Ave. in Downtown Kirkwood. Event includes educational program, a mayoral proclamation and the planting event.

2pm—Succulent Ball Workshop.

Create a fun fall topiary stand for a tabletop or a hanging succulent ball.

Register in advance. , $40 fee includes all supplies. La Bella Fiori, 18450 White City Rd., Staunton, IL. (217) 313-1001.

LaBellaFiori.com.

9-10am –Gateway Greening Demonstration Garden Tour. Come

APRIL 2017

and learn about some of the growing techniques used in St. Louis urban gardening. 3841 Bell Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108. $5 Suggested donation.

10-11am–Build-a-Double High Raised Bed. Join us for a hands-on demonstration of how to build doublehigh garden beds, which are ideal for individuals with limited mobility.

Gateway Greening Carriage House, 3815 Bell Ave., St. Louis, MO 63108. $5 Suggested donation.

April 22nd 10am, 12 & 2pm--Designing Large Planters and Small Gardens. Join Frisella’s staff for a presentation on large planter and small garden design. They’ll provide design tips and share some of their new favorite plants arriving this year. There will be a door prize drawing of a custom designed planter valued at $200. Frisella Nursery, frisellanursery. com/events, 636.798.2555.

April 18th 5:30-6:30pm—Making Edible Gardens Pretty. Learn how to make fabulous combinations of ornamental herbs, flowering annuals and flavorful veggies.

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

10am-2pm—Earth Day Event. The City of Washington Parks Department will host kid’s events 10-11am. Crown Valley Organics program on herbs at 10am. . Informational booths from various groups from 10am-2pm. BBQ by Missouri Mulch. Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636-239-6729, www.hillermann. com.

April 19th 6:30–7:30pm –Pints’n’Plants: Forest Park Owls, Hiding in Plain Sight.

Speaker Mark H.X. Glenshaw returns to Pints ‘n Plants for a program on the Great Horned Owls he studies in Forest Park.

Urban Chestnut Brewing Company, 4485 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110. $5 Suggested donation.

April 22nd & 23rd Earth Day Celebration at Sappington Garden Shop. Poker Chip Discount Days, free saplings, popcorn. Sat. 10-2 Hootie’s Rescue Haven Pet Adoption and American Eskimo Rescue! Sun. 10-2 Needy Paws Pet Adoption.11530 Gravois Rd. St. Louis, 63126. Call (314) 8434700.

7-8pm–Growing Tomatoes. Learn how to grow, care for, and select tomato varieties to use in the kitchen. Thornhill Branch Library, 12863 Willowyck Dr, St. Louis, MO 63146. Please register for this FREE event:

10am-6pm—St. Louis Earth Day Festival. See pg. 10 for information.

April 20th 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.

5-7pm—Ladies’ Night Out. Just for the Girls! Vendor booths, samples and demonstrations including container and mini gardens during the event. Spring Wreath making project, $25.00 fee - limit 20 people (sign up when you RSVP).

Please call 636-239-6729 to RSVP by 4/4/16. Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636-239-6729, www.hillermann.com.

April 20th and 25th 5:30-6:30pm Apr. 20th, 10-11am Apr. 25th—Plants That Work. Learn about the plants that have been found to be most beautiful, tough and long lived.

Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. April 22nd 10am-Noon—Rose Pruning Demo.

Gardeners of Florissant and The Rose Society of Greater St. Louis are hosts.

Bring hand pruners, bucket to collect your clippings. Call 314-521-6824 for info. Florissant Civic Center Rose Garden, 1 James J. Eagan Dr., Forissant.

The Gateway Gardener™

April 23rd 2pm—Container Combinations Demo. Learn how to combine plnats for beautiful container gardens. Free demonstration. La Bella Fiori, 18450 White City Rd., Staunton, IL. (217) 3131001. LaBellaFiori.com.

April 24 6-7:30pm—Washington Town & Country Fair “Make it Monday”.

Hillermann’s Flower Shop will help you create painted flower pots, and the Pot Shop will show how to make jewelry to be entered into the Washington Town & Country Fair. Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636-239-6729, www.hillermann. com. th

April 25th or 27th Girls Night Out Planting Party. Ladies will put together their own Succulent Soiree Centerpiece.

Refreshments included. $30. Call (314) 843-4700 to RSVP. Sappington Garden Shop, 11530 Gravois Rd. April 27th 5:30pm—Make & Take Container Workshop and Class. Learn creative combinations of plants, colors and textures to transform window boxes, baskets, hayracks and pots. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE.

Frisella Nursery, frisellanursery.com/ events, 636.798.2555.

9am-3pm—Mushroom Cultivation.

Grow 3 types of tasty mushrooms in your shady yard or woodlot. Lunch included. $30. U. of MO Extension, 132 E. Monroe Ave., St. Louis, MO. (314) 400-2115.

StLouisCo@missouri.edu. extension. missouri.edu/stlouis.

April 29th 9-11am—Container Gardener Class.

Learn the ins and outs of container gardening with Wallflower Design’s Victoria Hatfield. $20. U. of MO Extension, 132 E. Monroe Ave., St. Louis, MO. (314) 400-2115. StLouisCo@ missouri.edu. extension.missouri.edu/ stlouis.

11am-3pm—Safe Paws. Join us, Espoma, Treats Unleashed and other local small businesses at the nursery for a day celebrating our four-legged friends and creating healthy, safe lawns. Frisella Nursery, frisellanursery.com/events, 636.798.2555.

11:30am–12:3pm–Gateway Greening Urban Farm Tour. Come tour the largest urban farm in a US downtown, and learn about how we grow 8 tons of food per year on 2.5 acres. 2200 Pine St, St. Louis, MO 63103. $5 Suggested donation.

Kirkwood’s Earth Day Celebration.

See page 10 for details.

Riverbend Earth Day Festival. See page 10 for details.

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 annual operations. Visit TowerGrovePark.org or call (314) 7714484, or email blynn@towergrovepark. org.

May 6th O’Fallon Garden Expo—See page 10 for details.

April 28th 6am-2pm—En Plein Air Sunrise Paint.

Spring is here, flowers are in bloom and artists will be intertwined throughout the nursery. Come for brunch and a relaxing morning filled with art and flowers.

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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 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

VALLEY PARK, MO

ST. LOUIS, MO

39 Old Elam Avenue 636.861.3344

560 Terminal Road 314.868.1612

PACIFIC, MO

FLORISSANT, MO

18900 Franklin Road 636.271.3352

13060 County Park Road 314.355.0052

stlcompost.com STLComposting

ENRICHING THE SOIL NATURALLY SINCE 1992