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Where the wild things grow

Walk kicks off Grow Native! Landscape Challenge

By PAULA BARR
Daily Journal Staff Writer

Friday, May 16, 2008

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Read more about the Grow Native Landscape Challenge here

Download an application for the Landscape Challenge here

Dudley Pautz hoped to see Sweet William and coneflowers.

Margaret Sullivan wanted to see native plants she can grow instead of replanting every year.

But Matt Boll and his children, Christian and Gabriel, were after more active sights when they started out on the wildflower hike Saturday in St. Francois State Park.

"We might find wildlife, too," Boll said. "We might see some snakes!"

His children replied, "Yay! Snakes!"

Boll explained to the flora fanciers around him, "We’re reptile people."

The Bolls, from the St. Louis area, were camping at the park with their friends, Kurt Bedow and his children, Katie and Caleb. They were among a small crowd of people who came to the park to learn about wildflowers and to find out more about the Daily Journal’s second "Grow Native! Landscape Challenge" from Assistant Managing Editor Renee Jean.

The Daily Journal will help one homeowner in St. Francois County incorporate wild plantings into their lawn with a $1,000 Earth Day makeover. The prize includes a season pass to Shaw Nature Reserve as well as the help of professional landscape designer Linda Resinger and native plant expert Jan Dellamano, a private land conservationist with Missouri Department of Conservation.

Jean kicked off the Grow Native! Landscape Challenge Saturday at the park in conjunction with Park Naturalist Jamie Hubert’s wildfire hike.

The kick-off event began with details of the contest and a short presentation about native gardening. Participants learned about the plants in the native wildflower garden that was planted by visitors and park staff last spring.

Following the garden talk, Hubert led a 45-minute wildflower photo hike.

Sullivan, who lives in Liberty, Mo., grew up in the area and came back for the weekend.

She came to learn about native plants to use in her landscape.

"My project this summer since I’m tired of replanting flowers is to put native Missouri flowers in and just try to get rid of all the flowers that I have to replant every year," she said. "I thought I might as well get natives, because then I’d be assured they would come back."

She already has columbine, asters and blue false indigo. After the walk today, Sullivan was really interested in the Virginia bluebells.

"I just love those," she said.

They did make an impressive show, covering hundreds of feet beneath the tall trees near the river. Butterflies visited and a Carolina wren sang in the background as about 30 people walked through the area, pointing out fluffy purple swatches of wild sweet William and maroon-flowered trillium with variegated white and green leaves. They were a nice color combination for a shady area.

Bluebells, Hubert explained, grow by a taproot and will spread to cover the forest floor.

"They do not transplant well," she added. "It’s really best to get your plants from a nursery such as Missouri Wildflowers."

Digging wildflowers from a state park or a roadside is also illegal, she added, and natives should not be collected that way.

Missouri Wildflowers sells a wide variety of natives in both seeds or plants.

"They’re really inexpensive and a good source of plants," Hubert said.

For more information about native gardening, visit www.grownative.org.

To apply for the Daily Journal’s Earth Day makeover, request a form from the Daily Journal or the Farmington Press offices or download it from the link in the resource box at right.

Early entries will be entered in a drawing for a signed copy of "Birds and Butterflies" by David Mizejewski, a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation, and a selection from the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Nature Shop.

Applications must be in by 5 p.m. May 12 to qualify for early-bird prizes.

Be sure to include a photograph of the makeover site with your application. You may include up to three pictures. Landscapes must be located in St. Francois County and at least 12 x 12 feet.

Paula Barr is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 172 or at pbarr@dailyjournalonline.com.