Visit Examples of Native Gardens
I
f you love native landscaping, the Midwest and Missouri in particular are exciting places to be. This has been since the early 1900s when Wilhelm Miller (University of Illinois) wrote The Prairie Spirit in Landscape Gardening. Miller felt that the best landscape design was inspired by nature and land forms like prairie and savanna. His preference for local native plant species is evident. In this publication he wrote “Away with gaudy foreigners and artificial varieties” and “Restore the native vegetation.” Jens Jensen, a landscape architect who worked throughout the upper Midwest also promoted the
use of native plants in landscaping noting that common thought was that “native plants are coarse.” He went on to say “To me no plant is more refined than that which belongs. There is no comparison between native plants and those imported from foreign shores which are, and always will be, novelties.” Jensen created council rings, places where people gather together outside in a garden setting. Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit, MO recently built a council ring in the Whitmire Wildflower Garden that will be a focal point for Native Plant School classes and the upcoming Threatened Plant Garden. The
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June 2018 | kcgmag.com
Photos by Scott Woodbury.
Native plant guru, SCOTT WOODBURY describes the places where city grasss meets country grass.
Brightside St. Louis Whitmire garden is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary and will be hosting the Native Plant School Fine Gardening Symposium October 19-20. Registration is required. Visit www.shawnature. org for details. The Missouri Department of Conservation has created some of the best examples of native landscapes at each of its Conservation Nature Centers: Powder Valley in St. Louis, Runge in Jefferson City, Anita B. Gorman Discovery Center and Burr Oak Woods in Kansas City, and the Cape Girardeau and Springfield Nature Centers. Each
are outstanding beautiful gardens that are planted with Missouri native plants that attract wildlife and people. Brightside St. Louis (designed by SWT Design) has taken native landscaping to an exciting new level with walkways that flow through displays of showy native plants and literally envelop boulders at the edge, enticing visitors to slightly stray off the path. There is an outdoor seating area shaded by 15-foot tall purple coneflower umbrellas and a distinctive rain garden that captures water off of the building and parking area. The Brightside