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Mervin Wallace and Scott Woodbury; shoppers at the sale; and a native plant I could not resist buying and planting in my backyard.
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It's a special treat when my editor sends me out to “cover a story." I get to pretend I’m a real writer! In this case, I went to the Shaw Nature Reserve's Spring Wildflower Sale on Saturday, May 12. This annual sale offers the widest array of native plants available in the metro St. Louis area, selected by the Reserve’s horticulture staff and several local nurseries. Oh goody. I made it out there by 2 p.m. after a morning spent at Bowood Nursery and Gateway Greening’s Bell Garden for leftovers from the Great Perennial Divide. I was having a whopping big horticulture overdose. Hurrah!
The sale organizers lucked on with the weather: slightly overcast to sunny day with a cool breeze. I zipped out I-44 to Gray Summit with a mission to interview Scott Woodbury, horticulturalist at the Shaw Nature Reserve. As I got off the highway and headed toward the SNR entrance, I was immediately greeted by a huge sign reading “PLANT SALE” with an arrow. This lead to more giant directional parking signage—I smelled that this was going to be a Botanical Garden grand-style event.
I pulled off the side road, through a 20-foot wide grove of trees and brush, and came upon a vast open field that could have been two football fields in length and 200 feet wide. There of course was a parking attendant and organized spaces. I passed thre large Johnny on the Spots, only to be greeted by more signs and an entrance shoot for members and nonmembers. After passing clearance, I asked the first volunteer in my path where I could find Scott. She immediately said, “there he is," and sure enough, he was walking towards me. I have met Scott over the years, and am familiar with his passion for native plants, biodiversity, ecology and continuing education. He also never seems to age a bit!
We stepped under a tent canopy to get some shade, and began reviewing topics. I had some in mind, and threw them out with hopes of hitting something fun to cover. Within a few minutes, I could tell I had my story. Scott said, “I want to go into deeper water on the subject of natives. We need to incorporate natives into our lives for the long haul—generational. There is a wonderful book that just came out, called Bringing Nature Home that explains all this in great detail and makes the connection between sustaining wildlife with natives.”
Listen to Scott give a great description of how the importance of natives vs. non-natives play a huge part in the chain of life. After listening to Scott on this video you may never buy a Hosta or Daylily again. Seriously!
Before Scott and I made our way Missouri Wildflowers Nursery booth, he picked up a native for sale that attracts bees and the amazing benefits of this plant. Hear Scott talk about Penstemon tubaeflorus, Prairie Beardtongue:
Over the years, I have specified and ordered many natives for rain gardens and other applications from Missouri Wildflowers Nursery’s catalog. It was a pleasure to meet owner Mervin Wallace, who features Bringing Nature Home in MWN's 2012 catalog. Marvin told a delightful story of how he surprisingly discovered bugs on native plants he photographed:
Of course, I could not leave the sale without buying a native plant. Here is my Hairy Eyelashes in its new home:
To see more photos I shot of the event, go here. And for more fun videos from vendors, click here.
Beth Gellman is an EarthDance Farm Alumn and a landscape designer specializing in edible food gardens and community gardens. To contact The Garden Coach, please email Beth at gellmandesign@yahoo.com.
