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December Article
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Happy Holidays from all of us at Natural Shore!
As we reflect back on this exciting year, we are incredibly thankful for our clients and the opportunity to make a difference - improving the ecology of Minnesota, one project and one plant at a time. We are fortunate to do what we love and share our knowledge with an amazing community of passionate individuals.
In February, we moved our company to a bigger facility in nearby Independence, MN. This allowed us to spread our wings a bit, providing a more open office space and a warehouse for all of the restoration equipment. We also put up a retail greenhouse outlet that was bustling with activity during the growing season. Next year, we plan to open the retail doors before Mother's Day - so we can serve our customers at the very start of the planting season.
We developed a restoration plan for our office campus, and have started the site preparation work and even some planting. A variety of restoration areas with a suite of plant communities will help showcase the endless possibilities. We can't wait to see how the new demonstration areas will look next year.
We were excited to welcome Colin Zumwalde to our restoration (installation) team. Colin has been a great addition and welcomed the challenge of our rigorous standards. He had the opportunity to work on a variety of installations, from corporate rain gardens to steep hill-slopes on the St. Croix River. You may see Colin at a trade show this winter - please stop by and say hi.
Our veteran maintenance team leader, Tracy, had a very successful year, despite the ample amount of rain we received. On top of that, the summer heat was brutal, with monthly temperatures well above normal. Our maintenance crew also received a new member, Janna Jonely, who has helped organize and efficiently handle the ever growing maintenance schedule. We are very proud of the variety of sites we maintain and the degree in which we strive to maintain them for our clients.
In the upcoming year, we are looking forward to beginning some really interesting and innovative restoration projects with many new and extremely ambitious clients. Some of the design work is happening this winter in order to get started early this upcoming spring. Maintenance will also be expanding to cover more ground and ensure we reach as many sites as we can to keep the weeds in check and the ecological diversity off the charts. Please come visit us this winter at a few events we will be attending. (See the side column for more details)
A few other goals we have in the upcoming year are to continue to explore how we can become more sustainable, reduce company carbon emissions, and reduce our herbicide use. These are very exciting areas that Natural Shore is thrilled to explore in an effort to remain environmentally conscious. We want to investigate more ways we can do our part to mitigate climate change, something that is more and more important to us as the company grows. Read our upcoming 2017 newsletters for updates!
From all of us at Natural Shore we thank our customers for their support during this last season and we look forward to working with all of you again in 2017. Happy New Year!
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Natural Shore Has Moved!
We have moved a mile from our Maple Plain location to a new office in neighboring Independence, MN. Our new location will allow us to better serve our clients' needs.
Our new retail nursery address is:
1480 County Rd 90. Independence MN 55359
Interested in Native Plants? Contact our Greenhouse Manager Jill at [email protected] |
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Native Plant of the Month
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Rattlesnake Master
Eryngium yuccifolium 
Moisture: Moist or Dry
Exposure: Full Sun
Color: White
Blooms: July-September
Height: 2-6 Feet
Rattlesnake Master is a low maintenance, long-lived perennial that's drought resistant and tolerant of disturbance and stress. Their flowers grow on top of coarse, stout stems.
The globe-shaped green flower heads consist of many little white flowers. Rattlesnake Master has a lot of basal leaves that are stiff, waxy, and bluish green. The thick leaves also have soft-to-the-touch needle-like teeth on the margins. Smaller leaves are found up the stem. The appearance of the leaves is yucca-like, but the plants are not related. It thrives in full sun to part sun, in moist to dry, well-drained soils. It is often found in open woods, prairies, and savannas. Their roots were used for herbal medicine by Native Americans. Their flowers attractive to butterflies and bees. Another common name is button snakeroot.
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Invasive Plant of the Month
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Asiatic Dayflower
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©
2008 Katy Chayka minnesotawildflowers.info
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Commelina communis
Exposure: Full or Part Shade
Moisture: Moist
Height: 1-3 Feet
Blooms: July to October
Asiatic Dayflower is an annual ground cover weed from Asia that spreads prolifically, forming colonies that can push out native plants. The flower is made up of two bright blue petals and a smaller white petal. Leaves are long and slender and clasp the stem. It spreads using nodes along the stem as it creeps across the ground. Management strategies include hand pulling, preventing it from going to seed, and select herbicide treatments.
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Snowberry Clearwing 
Hemaris diffinis
Range
: Throughout North America
Identification
: Wings are clear with dark brown margins. Bodies are yellow and hairy with a large black band on their abdomen. They also have black tufts on the end of their abdomens that looks like a little tail.
Pollination: Adults visit a variety of native plants for nectar. Some include Bergamot, Milkweed species, Prairie phlox, and others.Their larvae also use the native shrub low bush honeysuckle (
Diervilla lonicera) as a host plant.
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Our retail nursery is closed for the 2016 season.
Still want to place a plant order? Contact Jill at [email protected] for information on remaining stock.
Click and visit our website for current
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NST staff will be at the Stearns County Lakeshore Training workshop on Thursday January 19th at St. Benedict's Gorecki Conference Center
Come visit us at MECA on Jan. 31st- Feb. 2nd in Mankato!
We will be at
Pheasants Forever's
2017 National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic at the Minneapolis Convention Center on Feb. 17th-19th
Come visit us at the Wild Ones Design with Nature Conference on February 18th! This year's theme is "Planting Matters- what you plant and why" at the Anderson Student Center at the University of St. Thomas
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Deer Resistance
 Have a planting area that the deer just won't leave alone? Deer will avoid plants with thorns, hairy leaves or stems, and plants that are too aromatic or oily. Try these native plants that deer don't like!
1. Butterfly weed
Asclepias tuberosa
2. Rattlesnake master
Eryngium yuccifolium
3. Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum
4. Culver's Root
Veronicastrum virginicum
5. Spiderwort
Tradescantia virginiana
Want to learn more about these native plants? Click Here to visit our website!
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