Protecting Prairies & Promoting Native Plants |
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Callery Pear Buyback & Other Initiatives Help Stop the Spread of Invasive Plants |
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Spring is approaching, and plants in the lower Midwest will soon be cloaked in green. Unfortunately, some of the green-up is on non-native, invasive plants that threaten native biodiversity and working land-based economies.
The good news, however, is that there are a number of upcoming opportunities to help property owners and concerned citizens control the spread of invasive plants in their area:
--The Missouri Invasive Plant Council, administered by MPF, has organized a Callery Pear "Buyback" event in St. Louis, Cape Girardeau, Joplin, Springfield, Lebanon, Hannibal, Poplar Bluff, and Columbia, MO on April 18, in partnership with Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, Forrest Keeling Nursery, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), and Deep Roots Kansas City (with locations in Kansas City and Kansas).
Registration for the Buyback event will be open March 15. Register here. Through this program, take a photo of your cut-down Callery pear tree and bring it to an event site to redeem a free, native replacement tree donated by Forest ReLeaf and Forrest Keeling Nursery, in 3-gallon containers that are between 4- and 5-feet tall. Find information on invasive Callery pear, identification, and control information here.
–Grow Native! Champion Supporter MDC will offer a Wild Webcast on Invasive Plant and Animal Species on March 22 at noon. This free, one-hour virtual program led by MDC Invasive Species Ecologist and MoIP Council Member Angela Sokolowski will provide information on what individuals, communities, and organizations can do to identify invasive species, control their spread, and even eliminate them in some situations. Register for this free learning opportunity here.
–For an extended, in-person educational program on invasives, consider attending the Quail Forever Invasive Species Workshop, sponsored by MPF's Grow Native! program on March 25 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Bethel, Missouri. Participants will learn invasive identification and treatment techniques during this free workshop. Register here.
–MPF, Grow Native!, and MoIP offer many free resources on invasive plant identification, treatment, and native alternatives, such as:
* Ranked assessment of 142 invasive plants, with maps, top 25 invasive plant flyers, and much more, at moinvasives.org.
Please see information about more upcoming events and other news, detailed below:
–March 22: World Water Day & Prairie
–Goodbye and Good Luck to Nate Keener
–Make Plans for Prairie: Planned Giving Continues Your Legacy of Prairie Conservation
–Sad Bell Bowl Prairie News
--Save the Dates: June 3 & 4: MPF Prairie BioBlitz and August 19: MPF In-person Annual Dinner
–Prairie Postcard: Eastern Red Cedars
Our best to you,
The MPF Team
Callery Pear Buy-Back event photo collage by Emily Render
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March 15: Grow Native! Webinar: Gardens of Excellence Panel
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Careful planning and maintenance are keys to the success and longevity of native gardens. In this webinar, stewards of three Grow Native! Gardens of Excellence (GOE) will discuss how these native planting “keys” played a role in the establishment of the gardens they maintain and led to their Gardens of Excellence distinctions.
This webinar, to be held via Zoom, will include a 30-minute presentation followed by a question/answer session. A link to a recording of the webinar will be sent to all registrants.
Date and time: Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. Cost: Free. Register here.
To read about all Grow Native! Gardens of Excellence (GOE) inductees, visit our GOE webpage.
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March 22: World Water Day |
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Upcoming World Water Day on March 22 is a fitting occasion to recognize the incredible power of prairie and prairie plants to protect water supplies and streams.
Prior to Euro-American settlement, the 15 million acres of prairie and other intact habitats of Missouri's landscape protected watersheds and the quality of water entering streams. Today, of course, with less than one-half of one percent of original tallgrass prairie remaining in Missouri, watersheds have been irrevocably altered.
It is imperative to protect the few, original tallgrass prairie watersheds that remain in order to examine the hydrology, water quality, and ecology of an aquatic ecosystem that once dominated much of Missouri, Kansas, and midwestern states.
It is also critically important to protect agricultural soils by putting prairie plants to work in projects such as prairie strips, illustrated in the graphic above. MPF has funding for ecosystem service incentive payments for the establishment of prairie strips--learn more here. You can also install native plantings to manage stormwater flowing from your roof or driveway. See our Grow Native! Rain Garden plan and other information on the "Manage Stormwater" page of the Grow Native! website.
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March 25: Grow Native! Native Plant Sale at Runge Conservation Nature Center in Jefferson City |
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On Saturday, March 25, a wide variety of native perennial wildflowers, grasses, sedges, vines, shrubs, and trees supplied by six native plant vendors will be available for sale at Runge Conservation Nature Center, 330 Commerce Drive, Jefferson City, MO 65109, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Plants, trees, and shrubs for sun, shade, dry and moist soils will be available from Gaylena’s Gardens, Missouri Wildflowers Nursery, Ozark Soul, Papillon Perennials, Prairie Hill Farm, and SunRise Gardens.
Shoppers may pre-order plants from five of the vendors and have them ready for pick up. Find pre-order information here.
Vendors will donate a portion of plant sale proceeds to benefit MPF's Grow Native! program.
Make plans to attend one or more of the other MPF spring sales listed below and peruse the grownative.org website to find inspiration and resources to create native plant shopping lists:
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Saturday, April 8, 2023 (10 a.m.-1 p.m.) - MU Bradford Research Center, 4968 S. Rangeline Rd., Columbia, Missouri
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Saturday, April 15, 2023 (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) - Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center, 4750 Troost Ave., Kansas City, Missouri
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Saturday, April 29, 2023 (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) - Watershed Committee of the Ozarks, Ozark Empire Fairgrounds, 3001 N. Grant Ave., Springfield, Missouri
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Saturday, May 13, 2023 (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) - World Bird Sanctuary, 125 Bald Eagle Ridge Rd., Valley Park, Missouri
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Saturday, May 13, 2023 (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) - Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center, 4750 Troost Ave., Kansas City, Missouri
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Saturday, May 20, 2023 (10 a.m.-1 p.m.) - Bass Pro Shops Sportman's Center® , 3101 Bass Pro Drive, Columbia, Missouri
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Saturday, May 27, 2023 (2-6 p.m.) - Mother's Brewing Company, 215 S. Grant Ave., Springfield, Missouri
Photo of Jacob's ladder (Polemonium reptans) in bloom and columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) leafing out by Hayley Howard
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March 29: Grow Native! Master Class: Prairie Garden Primer...for Town and Country
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Much of the lower Midwest was once brimming with tallgrass prairie, and many prairie plants are suitable for home landscaping, adding beauty and ecological functionality to your yard or property. This class, led by Scott Woodbury, will focus on methods for planting, seeding, and maintaining an urban prairie planting while providing ideas for making them enticing and educational in your neighborhood.
Scott led development of the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve for 30 years. He currently teaches Native Landscape Practices, a course at St. Louis Community College, and is a regular speaker, writer, and consultant on native landscaping throughout the region.
This master class, to be held via Zoom, will include a 50-minute presentation followed by a question-and-answer session. A recording will be available only to those who have registered.
Date and time: Wednesday, March 29, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. Cost: Free to all MPF dues-paying members and Grow Native! professional members, or $15 for non-members. Register here.
Photo of flowering downy phlox (Phlox pilosa) by Bruce Schuette
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Goodbye and Good Luck to Nate Keener |
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On Friday, March 10, the Grow Native! Southwest Illinois Partners hosted Native By Design: Community Conservation, a workshop in Edwardsville, Illinois. Speakers explored how community-level planning can be used to conserve existing natural communities, how the public can be included in these efforts, and how native landscaping projects can be integrated into communities to combat nature deficit disorder.
The event was emceed by Nate Keener who, as Director of Sustainability and Grants Management at Lewis and Clark Community College, has been a valued member of the Grow Native! Committee and, with the Grow Native! Southwest Illinois Partners, an integral part of making Grow Native! events in Illinois possible. Friday was Nate’s last day at LCCC, but he will continue to work on environmental issues in his new position as Southern Regional Administrator for the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, overseeing activities of clean jobs workforce programs in Alton, East St. Louis, and Carbondale, Illinois.
We’d like to thank Nate for all that he has done to help promote native plants, and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors!
Pictured above is Nate Keener along with the speakers at the Grow Native! Native By Design Community Conservation Workshop in Edwardsville, Illinois on March 10. From left, Sara McGibany, Debbie Newman, Charlie Pitts, Joann Fricke, Nate Keener, Grow Native! Committee Chair Ronda Burnett, and Eric Wright. Photo by Erika Van Vranken
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We Made Plans for Prairie |
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MPF lifetime member Neil Bass explains why and how his family made provisions for a planned gift to support MPF's prairie conservation efforts.
"As part of our estate planning, it was important for us to include
organizations whose missions echo our values as beneficiaries of our estate. MPF
is one of those charities, and including them in the family trust we created was
quite simple. We contacted an attorney familiar with estate planning and opted
to designate a specific dollar amount or a percentage of our remaining estate to
specific charities. Copies of our trust are with our attorney, at our home, and
with close family members. We also notified the organizations designated.
We have supported MPF since 1998. With a small staff and a dedicated volunteer force, MPF has proven to be an excellent steward of our contributions.
MPF protects prairie by purchasing land from willing sellers—and its stewardship of these prairies in perpetuity certainly resonates with us. MPF’s successful partnerships with other conservation groups, government agencies, and private individuals have increased its preservation capabilities as well as our commitment to the organization. Given all of these reasons, it was natural for us to want to ensure that MPF receive support from us even after our lifetimes.
Teaching philanthropy to our daughters and giving back to our community
are values we’ve tried to instill in them. They know what charities we support
and why—and MPF is definitely one of them."
—Neil Bass, MPF lifetime member
By establishing a planned gift to MPF, you, like Neil & Debbie Bass and their daughters, can help ensure that MPF continues its work long into the future. Learn more about planned giving options with MPF here.
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Save the Dates: June 3 & 4 and August 19 |
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MPF has many upcoming hikes, plant sales, webinars, and master classes, all of which will be shared in our enewsletter.
We also wanted to make you aware of two other 2023 events: the MPF Prairie BioBlitz June 3 & 4 at Carver Prairie near Joplin, and MPF's Annual Dinner (in person) on August 19 in Columbia with guest speaker Dr. Lisa Schulte Moore. Watch for details!
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Sad Bell Bowl Prairie News |
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MPF is terribly saddened by the news of the destruction of many acres of Bell Bowl Prairie in Rockford, Illinois. This remnant dry gravel prairie on land owned by the Greater Rockford Airport Authority is considered a Category I Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI) site due to its high quality natural community of native flora and fauna.
On March 9, 15 acres of this rare, 22-acre prairie were bulldozed for the construction of a service road, part of an expansion of the airport’s cargo operations, which includes the construction of a service road through a section of the ancient Bell Bowl Prairie.
MPF recognizes the valiant efforts of all advocates in Illinois to save Bell Bowl Prairie, as well as many individuals with MPF who also voiced the need to protect this old-growth prairie, one of very few left in Illinois. This news release from WTTW Chicago provides more details about the destruction.
Once prairie is gone, it is gone forever. Protecting prairie means preserving evolutionary history, present-day habitat for many rare and/or prairie-dependent plants and animals, and a lasting legacy for all people.
Purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea), one of the many plants of Bell Bowl Prairie. Photo by Carol Davit
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Early March in the lower Midwest can feel very “brown and gray” before the blossoming of spring. Eastern red cedars (Juniperus virginiana) are native conifers whose needles provide year-round green, brightening up landscapes in late winter. For those who suffer from pollen allergies, however, eastern red cedar can be very problematic this time of year, when the male trees shed pollen now into April.
Eastern red cedar is a dioecious species, meaning it has male and female trees. The blue, berry-like cones encase seeds that are borne on female trees. The pollen is released from rust-colored or tan cones on male trees.
While native and important for wildlife—from the olive hairstreak butterfly, whose caterpillars feed on the needles, to backyard songbirds that eat the female cones, take shelter among the branches, and nest in the trees—human suppression of fire has resulted in this fire-intolerant tree spreading from its original cliff edge habitats to woodlands and grasslands of many types, to the detriment of many other native plants and animals.
Without vigilant stewardship, conversion of prairie, glades, and other grasslands to eastern red cedar thickets can occur in a lifetime. Prescribed burning is key to controlling the spread of eastern red cedar across many landscapes throughout much of the Midwest and the eastern United States. No chemicals or mechanical work is needed, and the trees will not resprout once killed. However, if burning is not an option, and you have many trees to control, focus on cutting female trees first—and thus the source of seeds and future seeds.
While the common name includes “cedar,” this tree is not a member of the Cedrus genus within the pine family, but belongs in the cypress family, Cupressaceae. Missouri has one other native juniper—Ashe's juniper (Juniperus ashei). It is uncommon in the southwestern portion of the Ozarks, which is the northeastern tip of its range.
Photo of male cones by Augusta, GA Recreation & Parks and female cones by www.HenryDomke.com
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The Missouri Prairie Foundation respectfully acknowledges that the land we work to protect was the homeland of a diversity of Native American nations prior to European-American settlement. The land in our care continues to have cultural significance for the Ni-U-Ko’n-Ska (Osage), Nyut/\achi (Missouria), Asakiwaki and Meskwaki (Sac and Fox), Báxoje (Ioway), Kaw, and other Native American nations. We are mindful that these nations had a significant role in shaping the landscape and that they continue a sacred relationship with the lands we protect. We recognize and appreciate their contributions to the cultural heritage of this region and to the history of North America. We honor them as we protect the ecological integrity of the lands in our care. |
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Newsletter content ownership: Missouri Prairie Foundation.
You are receiving this message because you a subscriber to this enewsletter, and are a Missouri Prairie Foundation member, supporter of Missouri's prairies, and/or interested in native plants. If you are not a member, please join us! Member support is vital to our outstanding prairie protection efforts. E-mail us at [email protected], call us at 1-888-843-6739, or visit us at www.moprairie.org. Please forward this message to other prairie supporters. If you do not wish to receive these periodic messages, please unsubscribe below.
Carol Davit
Executive Director, & the MPF Team
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For State Employees: #8426 |
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Missouri Prairie Foundation
PO Box 200
Columbia, MO 65205
(888) 843-6739
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