The Gateway Gardener January/February 2019

Gateway Gardener

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

THE

®

Your Guide to Enjoyable Gardening and Easy-Care Landscapes

Art in Bloom

A Celebration of Art and Flowers

7 Plants to Get Excited About Spring Shows, Conventions & Classes Craving Wild Spaces...

Collective Impact Design FREE Courtesy of:

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Gateway Gardener THE

®

Your Guide to Enjoyable Gardening and Easy-Care Landscapes

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 Volume 15, Number 1

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

Diane Brueckman Rosarian Abby Lapides Nursery Professional Steffie Littlefield Nursery Professional Jennifer Schamber Nursery Professional Crystal Stevens EarthDance Organic Farm School 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

read with great interest Scott Woodbury’s contribution to this issue. It seems my gardening technique reflects an actual style! I’ve often felt a little disappointment in the results of my gardening, reflecting as they so often do a lazy lack of follow through on seasonal chores like dividing, deadheading and rogueing out volunteers, offspring perennials and self-seeding annuals that rove beyond their designated spaces and chat it up with neighbors in haphazard ways. It turns out, according to Scott’s report (page 7), this type of garden is a “style”: lowmaintenance landscape style, or to use another of his terms, a “tossed salad garden.” Validation!

Another way to garden emphasizes substance as well as style, focusing as much on what you plant as how you arrange the plants. We’ve written much about the influences of Douglas Tallamy and his Bringing Nature Home book that has inspired a movement to consider planting more native plants for the benefit of birds and other wildlife. Now a growing number of designers are taking up the challenge not only to use more native plants, but to incorporate them in landscape designs every bit as esthetically pleasing as the more traditional

natives can still indulge gardening pleasures with the best of the industry’s new offerings (many of which are in fact native progeny).

Abby Lapides introduces us to 7 of her favorite new introductions on page 4.

ornamental gardens that have been the mainstay of garden tours for years. Jennifer Schamber writes about this concept and some of the leaders behind it on page 8.

One of the precepts of that movement is that gardeners need not commit solely to natives, which eases the minds of many garden centers as well as gardeners still attached to their favorite hostas and butterfly bushes. Breeders and growers have spent lifetimes working in fields and greenhouses to shape new plant cultivars that give gardeners beautiful ornamental plants with bigger flowers, more compact growth, more colorful foliage, greater disease tolerance and other qualities. Even those of us who want to plant more

On the Cover...

They say art imitates life, and at the St. Louis Art Museum, the area’s top floral designers are expressing that thought, making flowers and art complement each other at the annual Art in Bloom exhibit. More on page 6. (Photo courtesy St. Louis Art Museum.)

All great topics to ponder as we hunker down in the cold, gardenless months of winter. But if cabin fever starts to set in, there are plenty of activities around town to scratch your gardening itch. Art in Bloom at St. Louis Art Museum (page 6) offers the inspired works of our area’s most creative floral designers in complementary representations of many museum masterpieces; the annual Orchid Show at Missouri Botanical Garden provides a tropical escape from the winter chill; and a variety of educational and inspirational programs (pages 10 and 14) throughout the region inspire and educate while we shake off the cold and dream of spring.

Good Gardening!

IN THIS ISSUE 4 7 Plants to Get Excited About 6 Art in Bloom 7 Maintenance a Matter of Style 8 Craving Wild Spaces: Collective Impact Design 10 Shows, Classes and Conventions 11 Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous...A Standard Flower Show 12 Dig This 14 Upcoming Events

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7 Plants to Get Excited About

by Abby Lapides

hile waiting for the garden to wake up, let’s look at some new plants to excite the big green gardening monster.

love with ‘Tophat Pink’ whose soft pink petals enchanted me, but they also come in a showy white and a rose red. They excel in our hot St. Louis summers and are forgiving of the forgetful waterer.

‘Fashionably Early Princess’ Phlox wowed me this past summer at multiple test gardens.

Its light fuchsia flowers bloom three weeks earlier than the

Want an amazing display on an easy care shrub? Look to ‘Grand Cascade’ butterfly bush.

Giant cascading panicles of lavender can reach over a foot long! The graceful arching habit and large flowers are reminiscent of wisteria. This drought-tolerant shrub requires almost no maintenance and deer stay away as well.

Butterfly Bush ‘Grand Cascade’

Phlox ‘Fashionably Early Princess’

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typical garden phlox, usually blooming as early as April.

Large flushes of these bright blooms appear well into Vendors and Exhibitors

More than 40 exhibitors and vendors offering Fresh herbs, herbs for culinary, medicinal and decorative use, bulbs, seeds, hypertufa, live plants, herbal cookbooks, bird feeders, houses and baths, antiques, , china, spices, dried floral arrangements, herbal soap, garden decor, homemade fudge, herbal spices and blends, spiced nuts, and more.

summer with a rebloom in fall.

What also wowed me was this A new chokeberry that has perennial’s disease resistance. I piqued my interest is ‘Low Scape did not see a speck of powdery Mound’. Native to Missouri, mildew anywhere near the dark green foliage.

New begonias to keep your eye

Chokeberry ‘Low Scape Mound’ Classes and Workshops

How to Effectively Use Fresh Herbs and Spices Cooking Demo, Keep Calm and Use Your Herbs, Healing the Whole Family with Herbal Medicine, and much more!

Keynote Speakers

Mike McGrath, former editor of Organic Gardening, author and radio host Chef Robert Rhymes, Assistant Professor of Culinary Arts, Kaskaskia College

31st Annual Midwestern Herb & Garden Show Times Square Mall, Mt. Vernon February 8th-10th, 2019 Friday & Saturday 10am-9pm Sunday Noon-5pm

FREE ADMISSION (618) 242-3151

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www.midwesternherbandgardenshow.com

Begonia ‘Tophat Pink’ out for are the Tophat series.

Looking like traditional annual landscape begonias were given the radioactive treatment, the flowers of Tophat begonias are monstrous in size. The flowers are easily two to three times larger than the old fashioned varieties and the plants themselves are much more vigorous. I particularly fell in

the fruit of chokeberries feed birds in winter. ‘Low Scape Mound’ takes the toughness and beauty of our native chokeberry and wraps into a tidy sized package, growing only 1-2’ tall and wide. In spring bright white flowers cover the petite shrub.

In fall the glossy green foliage turns a bright red that contrast beautifully with the dark purple to black berries. Chokeberry fruit is edible, but I advise against eating them right off the shrub. They are known to be incredibly sour; in fact so sour one may make choking noises

The Gateway Gardener™ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

when eating them. They can even like to touch them. They be delicious when cooked into can be used to create a living jams and pies. fence to help keep the cute but When presented with all destructive deer at bay. these show-stopping blooms, I am falling in love with sometimes the subtler grasses the burgundy-rose spikes of can get overlooked. Well, ‘Little Miss’ maiden grass screams

Maiden Grass ‘Little Miss’

white stripes and edging. Each plant produces masses of these Two new annual million bells eye-popping flowers, creating that I will be sure to add to my a display that will turn heads. containers this year are ‘Holy These unique beauties look Smokes!’ and ‘Fancy Berry’. great in mixed containers, Each flower features purple or but they are showy enough to raspberry flowers, respectively, make a splash on their own in with yellow highlights and a hanging basket or a display where height isn’t required.

With all these new plants I can’t wait for spring to arrive, can you?

Hummingbird Mint ‘Morello’

“look at me!” Featuring foliage of red, eggplant and pink, this hardy grass rivals the flashiness of the popular, but not hardy, ‘Fireworks’ fountain grass.

Maiden grasses are not only deer proof, but deer don’t

hummingbird mint faster than weed killer.

‘Morello’ hummingbird mint.

Blooming all summer long this low-maintenance perennial is beloved by many a pollinator.

Don’t be surprised to see bees, butterflies and hummingbirds gathering at the ‘Morello’ watering hole day in and day out. Easily grown in pots or well-drained soils—any poor-draining soil will kill a

photo credits: Phlox, Begonia and Mllion Bells courtesy Ann Lapides. Butterfly bush courtesy Walter’s Gardens. Chokeberry courtesy Proven Winners. Maiden grass courtesy Plant Haven.

Hummingbird mint couresy Terra Nova.

Million Bells ‘‘Fancy Berry’

Abby Lapides 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.

Art in Bloom A CELEBRATION OF ART AND FLOWERS

March 1–3, 2019 A weekend of unique floral arrangements inspired by the Museum’s collection, as well as floral-inspired events, dining, shopping, family fun, and much more.

Free Museum admission. Tickets required for featured events.

slam.org/bloom

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

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#ArtinBloom

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Art in Bloom: A Celebration of Art and Flowers ST. Louis Art Museum March 1st-3rd

It is free to tour the galleries and see floral installations, but tickets are required for some programs, to be announced.

A complete list of programs and ticket prices will be announced at slam.org/bloom.

The museum accepts applications from professional florists and garden club members to create Art in Bloom’s dazzling floral arrangements. Participating floral designers are assigned an artwork through random selection by the Museum.

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rt in Bloom, the annual festival of fine art and fresh flowers, returns to the Saint Louis Art Museum on Friday, March 1 through Sunday, March 3. Floral designers and garden club members will create imaginative displays celebrating works of art in the galleries during one of the museum’s most popular programs. Art in Bloom is open to the public every day of the festival at 10 a.m. Museum members can come early at 8 a.m. on Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2.

Dig This!

Gateway Gardeners and Businesses in the News (Cont’d from page 13)

The food scraps are then taken to a St. Louis Composting permitted facility and within six months’ time are processed into STA-Certified compost.

Residential Composting is Here!

Well.. in one Maryland Heights subdivision that is. Brookfield subdivision residents had the opportunity to opt-in to this first-of-its-kind composting program back in May. Residents were given a kitchen-counter top bin and a 35-gallon bin for easy organics collection. Food scraps that can include meat, bones, poultry and dairy products are mixed with yard waste and picked-up on yard waste day. Total Organics Recycling, St. Louis Department of Public Health and Republic Services teamed up to make this pilot possible.

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The Gateway Gardener™ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

Naturally Natives

Tips and Resources for Growing and Landscaping with Sustainable Native Plants

Maintenance is Often a Matter of Style Text and photos by Scott Woodbury

These gardens in the Whitmire Wildflower Garden illustrate two different styles with different maintenance requirements. The garden at left is more traditionally maintained, requiring more time and labor than the garden at right, allowed to grow in a more natural form. et’s begin by looking at two basic garden styles. I’ll call and shrubs pruned away from gutters and sidewalks and weeds are them traditional and natural. You would expect a traditional kept out. The main difference is that plants are not grouped in masses. garden to require more maintenance than a natural garden. The They are allowed to spread more freely from seeds and roots. After estimated labor needed to maintain a traditional high-maintenance plants are established (this typically takes two years) mulch is no garden style (native or non-native plants) for a year is 6 minutes longer needed except perhaps at the edges to create visual contrast. per square foot of garden space give or take. That is for a garden Plants are rarely dug and divided and rarely are dead headed. That where plants are grouped neatly in masses, where beds are mulched, said, some species are more aggressive than others and may require weeded and watered and the edges are kept tidy. This kind of garden partial removal to give less-aggressive species room to grow. At the has a variety of perennials, grasses, trees and shrubs, all needing to end of winter this garden style may be cut or mowed down all at once be trimmed or pruned on a regular basis to keep them looking good (typically in March). Again, be sure to cut stems at least 8-10 inches and as originally intended. Perennials and grasses that grow fast are high for cavity-nesting native bees. dug up at the edges to keep them compact and to keep them from If you care for a large or small garden, it doesn’t take long to discover spreading into neighboring plants. Plants that aggressively spread the labor savings of a “tossed-salad” style. Traditional and natural from seed are avoided or dead-headed (the process of removing spent gardening both take trained horticultural labor. They both can be flowers to prevent seed production and spread). Branches that grow stunningly beautiful. They both can be rich with plant, insect and bird into sidewalks or gutters are trimmed back. Walkways are swept diversity (if you use native plants!). The difference may boil down to up and leaves are gathered in fall. In late winter, garden plants are how much spare time you have available for good old fashioned garden cut back before spring, keeping 10-inch stems standing for cavity- maintenance. It may also come to how you view the world around nesting bees. An avid gardener may have 2,000 square feet of garden you and how you choose to shape it. Some choose to emulate nature, though some homeowners have more and most choose to have less. others choose tradition and yet others invent new styles. Whatever Maintenance on this hypothetical garden is about 200 hours per year. you choose, your garden deserves a place in the neighborhood as long That’s 16.5 hours per month or a little more than 4 hours per week as it gets the care it needs. Happy gardening! (based on 2,000 square feet x 6 minutes). Ok, that’s a considerable amount of work but that is what is needed to keep this garden looking Horticulturist Scott Woodbury is the Curator its best. of the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw In contrast the estimated labor for a natural low-maintenance Nature Reserve, where he has worked with landscape style (native or non-native plants) is 3 minutes per square native plant propagation, design, and foot per year. For the same size garden as above, maintenance is about education for more than 20 years. He is 100 hours per year or about 2 hours per week on average. Note that also an advisor to the Missouri Prairie this style too requires considerable maintenance. But the natural style Foundation’s GrowNative! program. is different from a traditional style because the perennials and grasses are randomly mixed in a natural arrangement. This is often called a “tossed-salad” garden and looks somewhat natural. Trees and shrubs are still used to add shape and contrast to the natural garden and to soften the harsh visual lines of a house. Walkways are blown, trees

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Craving Wild Spaces: Collective Impact Design text by Jennifer Schamber, photos by Nancy Lawson

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he Pollinator Partnership started an initiative called “S.H.A.R.E.” that is tied in with the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge that launched in 2015.

The concept of “S.H.A.R.E.Simply Have Areas Reserved For The Environment” is about taking the very “big picture” issue of declining biodiversity, and making it approachable for anyone. It’s not an all or nothing approach, which can be intimidating for many people, instead, it’s a way to demonstrate that all landowners have an obligation to their surrounding neighbors and community to have at least a portion of their yard dedicated to a greater ecological good. As people discover the new dimension created by having these types of spaces in their yard, there’s a greater chance that these spaces could be expanded over time.

Give them a habitat in which to thrive, and you may find young eastern box turtles like this in your lawn or garden.

even modest increases in the native plant cover on suburban properties increases the number and species of breeding birds, including birds of conservation concern. Every little bit contributes to the bigger picture of inter-connected habitats within our communities. Nature Douglas Tallamy, author needs us to create a network, of Bringing Nature Home a living world wide web, of and co-author of The Living habitat.

Landscape, lectures about studies that have shown that This movement has gained a

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new pollinator garden, but the challenge lies in getting people engaged in stewarding the space afterwards. These dynamic landscapes, when done right, will still need to be “edited” on occasion and may require some extra care, especially over the first growing season. It is reasonable to suggest that we are never actually “finished” with a landscape. Once we accept that, our expectations change, and we can develop a better understanding for how we live with these spaces.

Designers from around the world are continuing to develop solutions to new challenges

lot of traction over the years, and there have been beautiful landscape projects that have proven to be successful and have grown into true living landscapes, while there have been others that, due to an array of variables and expectations, are considered failures. What we learn from the failures is every bit as important, if not more so, than what we learn through the success stories. By evaluating failures, we can prevent future projects from making those same mistakes. For example, with a school project, it tends to be relatively easy to get people excited about planting a Water and native plans pack a powerful one-two combo for attractive wildlife habitat.

that we face and many of them have been building a support network that builds off of each other’s ideas and inspirations.

Fortunately some of these influencers, like Doug Tallamy, Piet Oudolf, Thomas Rainer, Claudia West, Roy Diblik, Rick Darke, Larry Weaner, Nancy Lawson, Benjamin Vogt, John Greenlee, Heather Holm, and

cont’d on next page

The Gateway Gardener™ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

Learn More at These Upcoming Events

Grow Native! & the St. Louis Audubon Society: Mingle With The Native Plant Pros Friday, March 8th Featuring Nancy Lawson, author of The Humane Gardener, Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife Join local professional members of Grow Native! for a happy hour social followed by a presentation and book signing.

Why do we call some insects “beneficial” while others are “pests”? Why are some plants considered “desirable” while others are “weeds”?

In this myth-busting talk, learn how common growing methods divide the natural world into false dichotomies and perpetuate misperceptions about the wild species living among us. Discover practical ways to put humane gardening philosophies into action by protecting wildlife nurseries, eliminating unintended hazards, nurturing plants that provide food and shelter, and humanely resolving conflicts with mammals and other commonly misunderstood creatures.

cont’d from previous page

Being a part of this movement others, have been working can be as simple as planting a hard at publishing these ideas single native tree, or as complex and actively spreading these as designing the landscape messages through networks of of a multi-acre property. The supporters across the country collective impact of everyone and around the globe. By doing something, regardless connecting influencers to a wide of size, has the potential audience, Grow Native! and its of connecting us all, both partners have played a major physically and philosophically. role in empowering people to not just plant natives, but to change the way we think about our outdoor spaces. That we don’t just want things to look pretty, we want our yards to improve the quality of life for everything and everyone.

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

For more information go to www.stlaudubon.org Grow Native!’s Native By Design: Layered Landscapes Friday, March 22nd, 2019 7:30am-noon Lewis and Clark Community College, Edwardsville Featuring keynote speakers Thomas Rainer, co-author of Planting In A PostWild World, and Doug Peterson, soil scientist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, plus four local plenary speakers.

This workshop, intended for home gardeners, landcare professionals, planners, and anyone else interested in landscaping that is at once aesthetically pleasing and ecologically beneficial, will explore the concept of designed plant communities. Speakers will share insights on “layered landscapes”—carefully planned landscape design that draws inspiration from wild plant communities and soil profiles.

For more information go to www.grownative.org.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

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2019 Spring Shows, Conventions & Classes In this our 12th annual listing of spring shows, conferences and classes, you’ll find a wide array of educational and entertaining options to break the ice off your winter gardening dreams. Whether you’re a horticulture professional, master gardener or neophyte green-thumber, there’s something going on this spring that will scratch your gardening itch!

31st Anniversary Midwestern Herb and Garden Show Times Square Mall, Mt. Vernon, IL Feb. 8th-10th For both the gardening experts and the gardening hopefuls, three days of demonstrations, classes, and seminars with nationally recognized speakers and unique displays by more than 40+ exhibitors. The Herb & Garden Show is an opportunity to learn from the experts during the free hourly educational classes where you can ask questions, share information and even participate in take-home activities. The Keynote Speaker this year is Mike McGrath, former editor of Organic Gardening magazine. Vendors display a variety of items including fresh herbs, herbs for culinary, medicinal and decorative use, bulbs, seeds, books on birds, herbs and gardening, hypertufa, plants, herbal cookbooks, gardening magazines, bird feeders, houses and baths, antiques, china, spices, trellises, gourds, orchids, fudge, pasta, rolling pins, and many more. Times Square Mall located on Broadway & 42nd Street. Hours are 10am – 9pm on Friday & Saturday and 12pm – 5pm Sunday. Free Admission & Free Hourly Classes. For more information call (800) 252-5464 or visit www.midwesternherbandgardenshow.com.

Community Agriculture Conference St. Louis University High School St. Louis, MO February 10th The Community Agriculture Conference is an annual Gateway Greening event that brings in over 200 people each year. This event provides the opportunity to hear from national experts on community gardening, horticulture, and community development.

Attendees participate in networking with other gardeners and people working in sustainable practices across the region. This year’s event features Keynote Speaker Joyce Moore, Director and Program Manager, Urban Patch, Indianapolis, IN. Learn more at www.gatewaygreening.org/ community-agriculture-conference/.

Dig In: A Gardening Seminar St. Charles Community College Cottleville, MO February 23rd Preseason Gardening Expo Join us for Dig In 2019! Hosted by St. Charles County Master Gardeners at St. Rolling Ridge Nursery Webster Groves, MO Charles Community th February 9 College, 4601 Mid 10am-3pm. Join local industry experts who will cover gardening Rivers Mall Drive, topics, education, demonstrations, and seed-starting for kids. Cottleville MO 63376; Refreshments and prizes on hand. Visit with, ask questions and February 23, 9:00 a.m. share ideas with Landscape to 3:00 p.m. Your day Designers, Local Growers, of learning starts with Local Green Industry keynote speaker, Matt Lebon, who encourages Experts, Plant Society landscapes that attract pollinators, birds and can feed us as well.

Representatives, and more.

Rolling Ridge Nursery, 60 N. Three sessions will follow where you choose your topic of interest.

Gore, Webster Groves. Visit When registering, you will choose from five topics for each of the RollingRidgeNursery.com for three sessions. Register early to guarantee your topic selection. more info or call (314) 962Topics will include soil, vegetable and herb gardening, choosing 3311. native trees/shrubs and more. Light breakfast and box lunch 10

The Gateway Gardener™ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

included. Call MU Extension, 636-970-3000, to register--$30 (nonrefundable) for registration by February 15; $40 for late and atthe-door registration. All major credit cards accepted. Visit http:// extension.missouri.edu/stcharles/digin.aspx to view the schedule of topics and details.

Weekend Gardener Our Lady of Snows Belleville, IL March 2nd Attend sessions on a variety of topics including vegetable gardening, gardening with natives, flowering shrubs, and much more. Informative program for beginning gardeners and more advanced gardeners. Registration information is available at http:// web.extension.illinois.edu/mms.

Gateway Green Industry Conference Gateway Convention Center Collinsville, IL March 13th Attend sessions on a variety of topics including native plants, diseases and pests in the land-scape, and landscape design.

Informative program for advanced gardeners and people working in the horticulture industry. Registration information is available at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/mms.

Native by Design: Layered Landscapes Lewis and Clark Community College NO Nelson Campus Edwardsville, MO March 22nd Presented by the Grow Native!

Southwestern Illinois Event Committee, this half-day program features keynote presentations by landscape architect, teacher and author Thomas Rainier and soil health specialist Doug Peterson, who will discuss ecological landscape design and the importance of soil health and its impact on natural resource processes. For more information call 888-843-6739 or email grownative@moprairie. org.

Partners for Native Landscaping Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Creve Coeur, MO March 29th-30th Keynote presenter is Larry Weaner, landscape professional and author of Garden Revolution: How our landscapes can be a source of environmental change. Other breakout sessions to be announced. Native plants for sale, and vendors from various organizations on hand to answer questions about native gardening and related topics. More information to follow. For registration and more information, visit www.stlouisaudubon.org/PNL2019.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

The Gateway Gardener™

An NGC Standard Flower Show

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March 7th-10th Builder’s Home & Garden Show America’s Center • St. Louis, MO

his year’s annual flower show at the St. Louis Builder’s Home and Garden Show invites participants to explore the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in their floral designs! That’s the theme for this year’s edition of the annual flower show and competition, once again presented by the East Central District of the Federated Garden Clubs of Missouri, Inc., National Garden Clubs, Inc., and the Home Builders Association of St. Louis and Eastern Missouri.

Participants can enter in a number of categories, including a youth division and a new Botanical Arts Division, and show off designs celebrating a variety of themes. Children can get some tips and practice prior to the show by attending the Children’s Garden Club meeting on January 5th at Baisch & Skinner. Sponsors encourage any interested gardeners and flower arrangers to enter regardless of past experience.

The deadline for entries is February 28th. For questions call:

Design & Botanical Arts Entries Kim Peterson (314) 421-6272 Horticulture Entries Jackie Reynolds (314) 968-5004 Youth Entries Doug Wolter (314) 822-9095 The Flower Show is made possible by the Home Builders Association and the Home & Garden Show.

Sponsors include Sherwood’s Forest Nursery and Garden Center, which provided landscape materials to beautify the flower show area, Saint Louis County Parks, Baisch and Skinner, National Garden Clubs, Federated Garden Clubs of Missouri, Emerald View Turf Farms, Jost Greenhouses, St. Louis Composting and Wiethop Greenhouses.

Even if you don’t enter, be sure to stop by the Flower Show at Booth #229. And be sure to bring your children to the Children’s Garden Club booth #435. For complete rules and regulations, visit our website at: GatewayGardener. com/flower-shows/rules

Entry Form for Horticulture Division

Name__________________________________________ Phone #________________________________________ Address________________________________________ City_________________State_______Zip_____________ Class#

Class Title

_______ __________________________________ _______ __________________________________ _______ __________________________________ Mail or email form to: Jackie Reynolds • 452 Foreston Place Webster Groves, MO 63119 • JReynolds452@charter.net

Entry Form for Design & Botanical Arts Divisions (Also use this form for Youth Design Section*)

Name__________________________________________ Phone #________________________________________ Address________________________________________ City_________________State_______Zip_____________ For Youth Entries: Age_______ Class#

Grade______________

Class Title

_______ __________________________________ _______ __________________________________ _______ __________________________________ Mail form to:

Kim Peterson • 1705 Carroll St. • St. Louis, MO 63104

*Youth entries mail or email to: Douglas Wolter • St. Louis County Parks and Recreation • 1675 S. Mason Rd.• St. Louis, MO 63131 • DWolter@stlouisco.com

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Dig This!

Gateway Gardeners and Businesses in the News Forest ReLeaf Earns Recognition

Donna Coble, executive director of Forest ReLeaf, accepts the Outstanding Conservationist Award on behalf of Forest ReLeaf from Michael Meredith, St. Louis Audubon Society board member.

Forest ReLeaf of Missouri was recognized with the St. Louis Audubon Society’s Outstanding Conservationist Award at the organization’s annual Fall Gaggle last November. Forest ReLeaf was honored for its reforestation efforts, which, according to the SLAS, has planted more than 150,000 trees since 1993 in underserved communities and areas affected by major weather disasters throughout Missouri and Illinois. Forest ReLeaf staff and volunteers are dedicated to restoring and sustaining urban forests, and educating people about the many benefits of trees.

“I can’t think of another organization in the St. Louis region that has had a wider and more direct impact on creating habitat for our birds and other wildlife,” said Mitch Leachman, Director of Programs for St. Louis Audubon. “We are so pleased to call ReLeaf a partner on so many projects, including our work restoring the woodlands and wetlands of Creve Coeur Park.”

Group Honors Area Prairie Advocates

Conservation efforts were also honored by the Missouri Prairie Foundation at its annual dinner in December.

Among individuals recognized statewide were three people from our readership area. Scott Woodbury, our regular native plant contributor from Gray Summit, MO, was recognized with the 2018 Grow Native! Native Plant Pioneer Award. “This award recognizes efforts that have been foundational to the advancement of the native plant industry and movement. Woodbury, 12

Bob Siemer and Ann Earley, above, and Scott Woodbury, below. the Curator of the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve, received this award in recognition of his work to demonstrate and promote the horticultural and ecological value of native plants over the course of nearly 30 years.”

Also recognized were Ann Earley and Bob Siemer of Chesterfield, MO, who received the 2018 Donald M. Christisen Prairie Volunteer of the Year Award. “This dynamic couple was recognized for outstanding volunteer outreach efforts to educate citizens about the importance of prairie conservation and use of native plants, at festivals, conferences, and other venues around the state, as well as to develop and present programs on monarch butterfly conservation to various groups.”

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Soldier’s

Sherwood’s Forest Nursery and Garden Center was requested by Compass Design/Build to assist in the landscaping for a home in Wildwood funded by the Gary Sinise Foundation for Army Sargeant Legrand Strickland and his family. Strickland was a soldier in Afghanistan where he was critically wounded.

The home sits on a partly wooded lot that required several The Gateway Gardener™ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

improving the environment and adding to the pollinator chain. This is a cooperative communal effort with the wider Jewish community of the St. Louis area, numerous Jewish organization and nature-oriented entities, which will partner with the Society in implementing the project.

large retaining walls on one side of the property that were screened with ‘Canaertii’ junipers and ‘Techny’ arborvitae, according to Sherwood’s designer Bill Minford. The other plantings around the house were primarly evergreens at the homeowner’s request, comprised of boxwood, holly, Legrand Strickland and his cypress, ‘Horstmann’ cedars, wife Carrie. dwarf pine, ‘Grey Owl’ and ‘Daub’s Frosted’ junipers, dwarf blue spruce, plus others and some assorted deciduous shrubs, carpet roses, spiraea, Fineline® buckthorn plus assorted deer resistant perennials. “It was again a great pleasure for our company to help create a new, welcoming space for this family,” said Minford. Last year, Sherwood’s donated a landscape for the Ballwin Police Officer Michael Flamion’s home, also a Sinise Foundation project.

Cemetery To Get Memorial Garden

The Chesed Shel Emeth Society has announced plans for the establishment of the Chesed Shel Emeth Memorial Garden, a space of more than 25,000 square feet on the southern border of its White Road cemetery.

Plans call for a safe, secure and serene place to allow prayer and reflection, while providing nature a way to replenish itself. The garden will also serve as a pollinator habitat, linking to the nearby Faust Park and the Sophia Sachs Butterfly House. The Society wishes to enhance the environment for religious reflection and to provide a support system for terrestrial habitat in St. Louis County.

Chesed Shel Emeth seeks to fulfill two important Jewish principles—(1) honoring those who have passed (kavod HaMet, as said in Hebrew) who weren’t buried in the cemetery, such as Holocaust victims and members of the military; and (2) repairing the world (Tikkun Olam) by JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

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The project will be implemented in phases, consistent with the normal work of the cemetery. Arrangements will be made for individuals and organizations who wish to participate in the financing or completion of the project, which is expected to take one year to complete. Further information may be obtained from Anita Feigenbaum, Cemetery Director at 650 White Road, Chesterfield, MO 63017, 314-469-1891, info@chesedshelemeth. org; www.chesedshelemeth.org.

In Memorium

Our local green industry lost a longtime leader when Rolling Ridge Nursery president Jim McMillan passed away Tuesday December 4.

Jim was a Webster Groves High School and University of Missouri graduate where he majored in horticulture. He began full time work in his parent’s new business, Rolling Ridge in 1961, and was later joined by his brother Sandy.

He was a founding member of United Garden Centers, started the Old Webster Christmas Open House, was Business Person of the Year in 1991, and active in his industry and community. Jim started his radio career with the “Growing Green” show on KTRS, and then went on with John Shea to host “the Inside Out Show,” having just retired from radio in early 2017.

Jim loved the outdoors; gardening, fishing, camping and golf. He had a great sense of humor and loved to tell a story about the crazy escapades with his buddies, of which he had many. He cherished his wife, Susie, daughters Lynn and Karen, and grandchildren James, Jessica, Carly and Jake.

(Dig This news continued on page 6.)

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Upcoming Events Meetings, Classes, Entertainment and More Updates to this information are often posted on our online events calendar at G a t e w a y G a r d e n e r. c o m , 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 March issue is February 1st.

February 2nd 9am—Health Benefits of House Plants- Children’s Garden Club. MayPops Coffee & Garden Shop. 803 Marshall Ave, Webster Groves 63119.

CLASSES, LECTURES AND EVENTS January 10th 1-4pm—Native Plant School: Invasive Plant ID and Control. Control methods described in this class are designed for both homeowners and large landowners who are having problems with invasive plants. Audience participation encouraged. Registration is required by visiting online at www.shawnature.org or calling (636) 451-3512 x6007. $17 ($14 Garden members).

February 2nd-3rd 9am-5pm—Orchid Society of Greater St. Louis Show and Sale. New cultivars and old favorites are shown and sold by the area’s top growers, who are on hand to give plant care FUN FOR KIDS advice and share information about their organization.

January 5th 9 am—Home and Garden Missouri Botanical Garden Flora Design—Children’s Ridgway Visitor Center.

Garden Club. Baisch & 2nd through March Skinner, Inc., 2721 LaSalle February th 25 St., St. Louis, MO. FREE. 9am-5pm—Annual Orchid 10-11am—First Saturday Show. Features 500 blooming Kids. Make a mason jar orchids from one of the world’s terrarium. $5 supply fee. premier orchid collections.

Hillermann Nursery & Florist, The Orchid Show is the only call 636-239-6729 to sign up. time of year when a vast, rotating selection of orchids www.hillermann.com. from the Garden’s collection is available for public viewing.

Orthwein Floral Display Hall at Missouri Botanical Garden.

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

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February 14th 1-4pm—Native Plant School: Greenhouse Propagation of Native Plants. This class will introduce the basic propagation methods that involve stratification, scarification, timing, soils, containers, fertilization and basic insect management.

Class held at Shaw Nature Reserve Greenhouse area.

Session includes hands-on tours and demonstrations.

Audience participation encouraged. Registration is required by visiting online at www.shawnature.org or calling (636) 451-3512 x6007. $17 ($14 Garden members).

February 9th 10am-3pm—Preseason Gardening Expo. Join local industry experts who will cover gardening topics, education, demonstrations, and seedstarting for kids. Refreshments and prizes on hand. Visit with, ask questions and share ideas with Landscape Designers, Local Growers, Local Green Industry Experts, Plant Society Representatives, and more.

Rolling Ridge Nursery, 60 N. Gore, Webster Groves. Visit RollingRidgeNursery.com for more information or call (314) 962-3311.

February 8th-10th 31st Anniversary Midwestern Herb and Garden Show. For both the gardening experts and the gardening hopefuls, three days of demonstrations, classes, and seminars with nationally recognized speakers and unique displays by more than 40+ exhibitors.

The Herb & Garden Show

is an opportunity to learn from the experts during the free hourly educational classes where you can ask questions, share information and even participate in take-home activities. Times Square Mall located on Broadway & 42nd Street.

Hours are 10am – 9pm on Friday & Saturday and 12pm – 5pm Sunday. Free Admission & Free Hourly Classes. For more information call (800) 252-5464 or visit www.mid westernherbandgardenshow. com.

February 10th 12-5:30pm - Community Agriculture Conference.

The Community Agriculture Conference is an annual Gateway Greening event that brings in over 200 people each year. This event provides the opportunity to hear from national experts on community gardening, horticulture, and community development.

Attendees participate in networking with other gardeners and people working in sustainable practices across the region. This year’s event features Keynote Speaker Joyce Moore, Director and Program Manager, Urban Patch, Indianapolis, IN. Learn more at www.gatewaygreening. org/community-agricultureconference/.

February 12th 6pm—Winter Horticulture Class.

Visit Facebook or website for topic and more information. FREE class.

Kirkwood Gardens, 2701 Barrett Station Rd., St. Louis, MO. KirkwoodGardens.com.

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February 16th 8am-noon—Perry County Master Gardeners Spring Symposium. Perryville Higher Education, 108 South Progress Drive, Perryville, MO. For more information contact Perry County Extension office at (573) 547-4504.

February 23rd St. Charles Master Gardeners’ Dig In: A Gardening Seminar. Hosted

by St. Charles County Master Gardeners at St. Charles Community College, 4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive, Cottleville MO 63376; February 23, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Your day of learning starts with keynote speaker, Matt Lebon, who encourages landscapes that attract pollinators, birds and can feed us as well. Three sessions will follow where you choose your topic of interest.

When registering, you will choose from five topics for each of the three sessions.

Register early to guarantee your topic selection. Topics will include soil, vegetable and herb gardening, choosing native trees/shrubs and more.

Light breakfast and box lunch included. Call MU Extension, 636-970-3000, to register--$30 (nonrefundable) for registration by February 15; $40 for late and at-the-door registration. All major credit cards accepted. Visit http:// extension.missouri.edu/ stcharles/digin.aspx to view the schedule of topics and details.

February 26th 6pm—Winter Horticulture Class.

Visit Facebook or website for topic and more information. FREE class.

Kirkwood Gardens, 2701 Barrett Station Rd., St. Louis, MO 63021. KirkwoodGardens. com.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

February 27th Wednesdays 6-8pm—St. Charles County Master Gardener Training Begins.

Training is the first step, and this 15-week program is held on Wednesdays at St. Charles County Extension Center.

Cost for the program is $195.

Calll 636-970-3000 for more information.

Call 618-344-4230 for more information or register online at http://web.extension. illinois.edu/mms/.

March 7th-10th Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: A Standard Flower Show. See page 11 for details.

March 22nd Natives by Design: Layered st rd March 1 -3 Landscapes. See page 9 for Art in Bloom. A Celebration details. of Art and Flowers. St. Louis Art Museum. See page 6 for March 29th-30th details.

Partners for Native Landscaping.

Keynote March 3rd presenter is Larry Weaner, 2019 Weekend Gardener. landscape professional and Attend sessions on a variety author of Garden Revolution: of topics including vegetable How our landscapes can be gardening, gardening with a source of environmental natives, flowering shrubs, change.

Other breakout and much more. Informative sessions to be announced. program for beginning Native plants for sale, gardeners and more advanced and vendors from various gardeners.

Registration information is available on our website: http://web.extension. illinois.edu/mms.

organizations on hand to answer questions about native gardening and related topics. Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Creve Coeur, MO. More information to follow. For registration and more information, visit www. stlouisaudubon.org/PNL2019.

Dig Deeper.

Visit GatewayGardener.

COM for Articles, videos, projects and more!

March 13th Gateway Green Industry Conference. Attend sessions on a variety of topics including native plants, diseases and pests in the landscape, and landscape design. Informative program for advanced gardeners and people working in the horticultural industry.

Share the love of gardening Become a Master Gardener  Training is the first step and begins February 27, 2019 at the St. Charles County Extension Center  15 weeks  Wednesdays, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.  $195, all major credit cards accepted

Call 636-970-3000 for more info

equal opportunity/ADA institution

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