Digging Into Native Plants and Gardens

important topic. First up is Shannon Callahan. Shannon is an outreach specialist at Bring Conservation Home, a local nonprofit that provides on site advice to private landowners about how they can restore native plant and animal habitats to their property.

She's worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Missouri Department of Conservation and at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, landscape designer, Susie Vander Reet is the owner of Saint Louis native plants where she offers consultations, landscape design and education about native species, talks, presentations and tours. They're here to talk about why we should all care more about

native flowers, shrubs and trees. But first, some news from the four corners of the house. This episode of House of Loo is sponsored by ST Louis symphony orchestra. I've been moving some furniture around my house lately. I own an antique secretary that I want to convert into a bar for the last, I don't know how many years it's been on my second floor gathering dust and I just want to find a better use for it. And I recently called Sue Wheeler, um, who came over to talk

with me about refinishing the piece. And so we've decided that she's going to strip it, sand it and we're gonna come up with a custom stain for it. And I'm so excited about this. Um I'm also adding antique mirror behind the shelves. And um, a reader, actually, a reader from my newsletter wrote to me suggesting that I call Dave at County Glass on Manchester. Thank you so much, Susan for that recommendation.

I love it when my readers can give me insight on who to call for my particular projects at home. So if you subscribe to my email newsletter, you probably know that I have a desire to rebuild the iron awning above my front door. Like a lot of old Saint Louis houses. A few of the original architectural elements have been stripped from the house over the years. And I really feel like that this house needs its awning back. So my mission is to have that in place by May of this

year. But my husband reminded me that there's no point in moving forward on that project until we repair and waterproof the tile work on the front porch. So that it doesn't keep cracking and buckling. So the awning is on hiatus for a little bit and that's just the way things go with old houses. You think you've got a plan and then you realize that you're about one or two

steps ahead of yourself. I'll be posting pictures of the porch secretary and eventually the awning in my newsletter and on social media. And now on to today's interviews. My first guest today is Shannon Callahan, an outreach specialist at Bring Conservation Home. Thank you, Shannon for joining us today. Thank you so much for having me on. This is so exciting for those listeners who may not be familiar with your organization. Can you tell us a little bit about it? Yeah.

So Brain Conservation Home is a program through the Saint Louis Audubon Society. And uh BC H Brain Conservation Home was founded about 11 years ago back in 2012 with the goal of offering guidance and expertise to homeowners and how to convert their traditional landscaping to native landscaping using native plants. Um So over the last decade, it's evolved to a little bit more than that, but that's really our, our fundamental mission uh at its core. Now, is that a

national organization or is that a Saint Louis organization? I'm proud to say this is Saint Louis local. Um Audubon obviously is a national organization with local city chapters and there are other programs similar to BC H elsewhere. But um our Saint Louis chapter here for conservation home is unique in its name, its founding and our, our reach within the region. And I'm proud to say that we've actually helped other ones start elsewhere. And I know that your focus is on native and

invasive plant management. What does that mean? First of all, educating people on invasive plants, so many people aren't aware of the plants in their yard. You're not taught plant id uh as part of your general education like in, in high school. So a large part of what I do is show up to people's property and just walk them through what they already have. And often they're surprised to find that they actually have

a great number of invasive species on their property. What I mean by invasive species is a non native plant. So not from North America that is aggressive to the point where it actually out competes and is detrimental to the surrounding environment. So it's going to out compete our native plants and keep them at bay. Um And why that's really a problem is our native insects can't them, they can't eat them. And so our insects are dwindling and populations are declining.

And I mean, you go up the food chain that, that affects the things that eat the insects. So um that's step number one is tackling invasive species and then replacing those invasive species with helpful native plants. So that's really what we focus on can anybody pick up the phone or send you an email and ask to be

put on your schedule? Yeah, for sure. Um, even people who don't own their own property, if you're a renter or you're interested in just container gardening, like, you know, pots out on a balcony, we're able to tailor our consultation to anyone like that. So, you go to our website, we unfortunately are very popular and have about a six month waitlist, which we're hoping to get down as capacity grows. But that's just where

we're at currently. And yeah, we are able to come out and do a very in depth consultation on site and then send a very in depth report uh in response to that. And is that, is there a cost to that? So yes and no, there is a sliding fee scale which is new as of this year and we suggest an $80 donation. That's kind of like the true cost of our consultation, but we really accept whatever is comfortable for you. So if less is what you can do or nothing is

what you know, you can do. At that moment, we have supplemental funding through Department of Conservation through various native plant growers in the area that um are able to cover the difference. And what we're finding with this new sliding fee scale we've introduced is actually most people are over paying on the $80. We're receiving a lot of $100 plus donations, which is covering where, you know,

maybe people are donating. And for those listeners who may not be familiar with native landscapes and native gardens, why is it an important topic or subject matter? So, like I mentioned earlier with invasive species, it all boils down to the food chain. So our native insects and therefore our native pollinators can't use non native plants. So people at some point in the last, you know, couple centuries determined that this very European looking traditional landscaping is

the social norm, is like the standard. And so we have all these non native plants from Europe and Asia that aren't eaten by insects which most people may hear and think. Ok, that's a good thing, right? My plants aren't full of holes, but when it's not being eaten, it's not being used, it's not supporting wildlife. Um And it's really separating that area, the urban area

from the habitat in the area. And so if you're not having native insects don't have the things that eat the insects, birds, specifically chicks, adult birds often can eat seeds and other sources of food. But chicks really do need caterpillars that, that high protein caterpillar to eat. But I have um kind of a an interesting little like study that was done that I think you might find

interesting here. So, um I'm gonna be referring to Doctor Doug Talam me quite a bit during this likely and he is an Ecologist entomologist out of Delaware who has done just a ton of research on how native landscaping really does impact wildlife populations. So, he looked at a nest of chickadees in his yard. Chickadees are a very small songbird. Oh, ok. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, I'm full disclosure. I work for Audubon. I know next to nothing about birds. I'm a plant person. Um, so

chickadees are very small. They're like about a third of an ounce weight wise, so very, very small. So when they're raising a nest, both parents help in feeding the chicks and they take turns leaving the nest to go get a caterpillar every 1 to 3 minutes, they bring back a single caterpillar. They do that from about 6 a.m. to about 8 p.m. On average for 16 to 18 days, that's a total of about 350 to 570 caterpillars per day depending on

how many chicks they have. So, in total to raise a single nest of chickadees, you're looking at around 6000 to 9000 caterpillars and that's one nest of chickadees. So think about larger birds, right? Your blue jays, your cardinals, your woodpeckers. So if you don't have those native caterpillars, what are they eating or not? Kind of what it boils down to is supporting the food chain, the food web and supporting wildlife. But it

really does go beyond that. Um You can solve a lot of storm water problems or erosion problems in your yard using native plants that absorb the runoff. Yeah, they absorb runoff, they hold soil in place. I know I live in South City. Um I'm sure a lot of listeners can relate to that. Like very small, very steep South City Hill that is so typical of those neighborhoods. Um Erosion can be a really big problem and bowing. That hill is insane to try to push a lawn

mower up and down. Um So converting that to some kind of native landscaping where you don't have to mow, but it's holding soil in place and it's, it's capturing rainwater run off and, and that's what they refer to as rewilding. Yeah. Yeah. In a way, I've, I've seen that term. Yeah. Ril there's so many different buzzwords around like native landscaping. Rewilding, I think kind of has this connotation of like the Pocket Prairie, the very um wild looking. Yes. And I say this with love. This

is what my own front yard looks like. Um, you know, 4 ft tall wildflowers and it looks more wild, more natural. Um But there are definitely ways and I'm sure we can talk about this more where it looks more intentional. It looks more like a traditional suburban landscape but still using native species and still accomplishing those single goals. And what would one use to achieve that particular look?

Is that ground cover when someone asks us for, um, a Tidier look, um, or, you know, they don't wanna, I like to joke, be that house on the block, right? Because I am that house on the block. I recommend there are certain species like different wildflowers that are gonna max out m height, they're not gonna get so, so many of our prairie plants can be five plus feet tall. Um, so I'm recommending plants that maybe stay around 3 ft. They grow kind of bushier rather

than scraggly. Um, They're less likely to spread many of our native wildflowers will readily self seed into an area which is fantastic if that's what you're prepared for. But if you're going for a more traditional sub urban look, there, there is, you know, something to be said about being able to

plant something and it stays there. Um Or there's plenty of native shrubs where a lot of what we're doing is offering recommendations to replace honeysuckle or burning bush or non invasive but not native boxwoods and um, you shrubs or Japanese maples and things like that. So it's incredible that you can get the look of a boxwood, for example,

by using a native. Yeah. Planned. Yeah, there's a species, a shrubby Saint John's work, which is a shrub that is our go to recommendation specifically for a boxwood look alike. Um It's not evergreen like a boxwood, but it does leaf out very early and stay green very late compared to our other deciduous shrubs and has a very similar look. Um And I'd argue. Um actually much better look because they

have these really huge beautiful flowers. And I love to tell the story about I was on a site visit and two houses away, a neighbor of this person had a mass planting of shrubby Saint John's Wart and it was in bloom from two houses away. I could hear the buzz. Oh my God, that's how many pollinators were on this mass of shrubs. And it was just the perfect example to be showing the steward that I was talking to at the, at that time. Like, hey, this is why we're doing it.

Like you can hear all the pollinators from over there. I'd be curious to know what, what you hear on these site visits from, um, from homeowners, gardeners. What surprises them? What questions do they have? What are their worries or their concerns? Um Anything come to mind? Yeah, for sure. I will say that I hear the same things over and over and yet I never have the same visit twice. It's kind of interesting. So I hear a lot of the same worries or concerns, but everyone is coming from

a different perspective. So, so many people reach out to us because they're bird watchers and they kind, they asked themselves well, how do I get more birds in my yard? I'm tired of just seeing cardinals and robins and does. Um, and through that research they find, oh, I need caterpillars and that's how they find us. Um And so they, they come to us from like a support wildlife perspective,

which is great. And then there are other people who they live further out near like wild water Chesterfield and all their landscaping is being eaten by deer people, right? Um, and so they have us. Yeah. So they have us come out. And unfortunately for that one, we don't have a magic answer for how to, you know, deer are everywhere. But, um, they kind of reach to us. They reach us from

that perspective. We have people who reach out because they can't get anything to grow in their very shady yard, erosion and storm water problems are another big reason people reach out something else is MS D. The sanitation department has a small grant program called Project Clear. That is an incentive program to have people convert areas of their property to native landscaping to increase storm water usage on your own property. So a lot of people find out about that and then reach out to us to

try to kind of start that process. I'm sure that can be several $1000 worth of reimbursement for them to do this complete rehab of their landscaping. Oh, wow. Incredible. And from what I understand, as you said, you have a six month wait, give or take, give or take or so. And, um, this year you've had about 100 and 55 site visits is that pretty average for you or? Yeah. So that's um this year was a bit of a transition year. I'm,

I am new as of March. So there's definitely a learning curve for myself taking on a lot of these site visits about last year. I think they did about 180 or so. Uh The year before that was again, about 100 and 50 pandemic year actually reached much higher because they were doing virtual visits. Oh, That's not something we're planning on doing anytime soon. It just, it really, we do need to be on site and be able to walk around and,

and figure out sun conditions and everything. But um so yeah, it's, it's definitely about 100 and 50 plus site visits a year. Do you find that there's a particular neighborhood or area of Saint Louis where you get a majority of your phone calls or emails? Yeah. Yeah. So we're definitely the top three zip codes I would say are Webster Groves, Kirkwood U City. Um Those are very popular. We're very popular there. Um South City, especially like Tower Grove area. We're very

present there, which is great. Um Something we're really proud of is actually this year, we've done a lot more site visits up in like North City and we call those tier one areas. Tier one is uh partnership with Department of Conservation M DC that we've kind of both identified these areas of the Saint Louis metro area that are being underserved, both by M DC and by our own program.

And so we developed this partnership with M DC that they are covering the fees entirely for these tier one areas, um which is a lot of North city, south city that are like I said, traditionally underserved by these programs. So completely free, no donation even suggested or expected for these areas and you get ABC H consultation. So in past years, it's ranged from two visits, tier one areas up to like I think the most was seven. Um in past years, this year we did 17 and

how are you getting the word out? Yeah. So this year with the 17 site visits, we do really have to credit the City of Jennings. We, they came up with this amazing Curb Appeal program contest that they, yeah, they partnered with M DC and VCH and a couple of their entities and provided free plants to people who signed up for this program. And part of it was ABC H consultation and report that we went really in depth over the different species they

were eligible for. And we helped kind of curate the collection of, oh, you have a sunny yard, you're gonna get this set of species or you have a very shady yard, you're gonna get a different set of species because you can't just expect the shade plants to work well on the sun yard, right? And we're also in the process of forming a partner to get free canopy trees out to tier one areas

as well to restore that missing canopy layer. And what does the canopy tree provide other than shade is that, is that the reason why you want that particular type of tree out? I mean, part of it, you think about how much you rely on shade in the summer, especially in, um you know, I like to equate to, I used to live in the Tower Grove neighborhood and walking my dog in the summer with all those huge trees was no problem.

I enjoyed doing that. I've since moved to a different neighborhood in South City where that canopy tree layer is not there and I will not walk my dogs in the summer all suns up. Um There's a substantial, it's called the heat island effect, but there's a substantial temperature difference when you're missing that canopy layer. So what we found is a lot of these tier one areas, people maybe can't afford to take care of these large canopy trees over the years, they've just been

removed in mass. You're just missing an entire canopy layer. And that's important for wildlife. Birds need a variety of canopy layers. So we always encourage people to have all four canopy layers, ground shrubs, understory trees, large canopy trees. Yes. So if we can try to get them in the hands of people for free and help them with the the guidance of where to plant them, how to take care of them. We're happy to do that. Sounds like an incredible program. What are some of the events

that your organization has planned for? 2024? Yeah. So every year we do a spring series which is, it's been growing and growing every single year. Just a pun intended. Yeah. Right. Um, it just gets bigger every single year. So it's, um, a series of webinars followed by an in person event, usually a plant sale with a series of speakers in person. And last year we had, I don't have those numbers directly in front of me. But last year we had, I want to say about 7000 people view our webinars

because they're through the library system. Um And then they cover these webinars, they're different each year, but they cover a range of topics from like very introductory level. Hey, here's why native plants matter. Hm to very in depth, you know, container gardening with native plants or a panel of gardeners and what they do at their own house or edible native plants. So really any kind of interest you can access through these webinars which we are saving

and uploading on our youtube channel. So those are accessible from previous years. And then like I said in person plant sale, we're really all about putting plants in, in someone's hand. Yeah. So if you can, if you can come and learn about plants and then take them home and actually plant them. That's like just us. What advice would you give to someone who's interested in exploring native gardening in their own home? How should they, aside from calling you or emailing you and

getting on that, wait list? What can they do? First of all, do you research on where to get native plants in the Saint Louis area? We are so incredibly lucky in Saint Louis. I'm not sure people are aware of this. We're kind of a hub for native plants in the country. Yeah, I'm not gonna go out and say that we're number one or anything, but we um coming myself, coming from Mount Saint Louis. Um and studying this for years, I can say like this is

a really hot spot for this kind of activity. So we have a lot of native plant specific nurseries in Saint Louis. So I encourage you to go and get plants from a local grower, not a big box store, like a home improvement store, but a local native plant grower and those who those are are um We list them on our website and our partners and everything but go get a plant and try it. Don't be afraid to fail because I do this for a living and I can't tell you how many plants

I've killed. Um It's all about finding the right fit for your environment and that's part of what BC H is here. To do. But also it's about so many different variables that are sometimes just unforeseen. So it's about experimentation. Um It's about patience and it's really fun when things work. And do you have any personal insight into why Saint Louis is, as you said, a bit of a hub for native gardening. You know,

I've been asked that so many times. I really don't. Um, I think just there with BC H being over a decade old, that's kind of, that was riding the very early waves. And so I think it's just been very well established with our various municipalities. U City and Bloom is a very well established. I, I wish I had a better answer. I'm happy that it's great. But yeah, it's incredible win for Saint Louis for sure. I understand that there's a mental health component to living in an area with

a lot of green space have. Do you find that to be true? Yeah, there's a lot of research coming out recently that shows a direct correlation between high quality natural area in green space and better mental health and lower stress levels. So that's just another benefit to increase native landscaping. Thank you so much for your time today. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me on it. So fun. We'll be right back.

Join your Saint Louis symphony orchestra and music director, Stephane de Neve on February 2nd as international sensation and Saint Louis favorite violinist Augustin Hadle Returns. For Samuel Barber's lyrical violin concerto, then discover pioneer composer Florence Pearce's third symphony that blends passion with great tunes and danceable rhythms on February 2nd at Ump's Two Hill Performing Arts Center. Buy your tickets today at slso.org. And now for our next guest, Susie Vander, Ret of

ST Louis Native Plants. Welcome to the studio. Thanks Veronica. I'm interested to know when and how you became interested in native gardens.

And what else can I put here? And a lot of the response that I got was, uh involved, you know, putting fertilizers down or lots of watering or just lots of maintenance. And, um, you know, I, I'm kind of a skeptical person by nature and so I, you know, consulted Google and a quick Google search of, you know, uh environmentally friendly or ecofriendly plants in Missouri yielded the result of Missouri native plants. And so that was how I originally stumbled on it.

And I really, what drew me to it was that they seemed like a more environmentally friendly plant that they could exist with our climate conditions and, um, that they didn't need all of this extra water or fertilizing or, you know, weed killer or different things like that. They just didn't need that sort of treatment. And

to use for like a bird garden. Uh And then I reached out to the Shan Nature Reserve, Scott Woodbury was working out there still at that time. And, um I asked him, you know about their native plant classes which were only offered during the date at that time. And I had a full time job. It's like, ok, so basically I need to wait until I'm retired to be able to get into this and learn more about this.

And so then he pointed me in the direction of um the Saint Louis Audubon Society with their brain conservation home program because uh he thought that if I got involved as a habitat advisor with them, I could learn a lot about native plants specifically. And so I dove into that and learned it was online, it was through Grow Natives website. They have a lot of information there too, through the Shaw Nature Reserve, just any place that I could find it. And so

So a lot of the people that come to me are already very interested in having native plants as their total landscaper as part of their landscape. But I think even more um, gardeners are who weren't maybe as into that at first are starting to get a little more into it just because, you know, we have these flooding events,

we have these extreme drought events. Um We're hearing in the news things about, um, you know, insects or songbirds disappearing and, you know, just all of these different things that are coming up and native plants really offer a way to uh feel like we can make a difference just with our yard.

moisture or is it kind of high and dry? Is it fully exposed in the sun or is it something that gets more shade? We would look at all of those things together and then we would talk about, like I said, their ideals, uh you know, are they trying to attract more pollinators? Are they trying to attract more birds? Are they trying to deal with some sort of storm water management? Uh

you know, just different things like that. And so we, we talk about the problems that they might be having and then uh we will talk about how to best get rid of the existing vegetation. And if there is any to get rid of, uh that's a very important first step and then we would talk about specific plant species that might be ideal for those site conditions and to help work with their ideals.

Uh If they really wanna lay everything out themselves, we also might talk about how to lay them out in a way that is aesthetically pleasing for them, for people walking by. Um We definitely wanna make sure that it's functional, you know, so that it's not, you know, people are walking past the bed and they're getting hit in the face with, you know, a sunflower or something like that or make sure that everything is in line with that. So that's

pretty much what we talk through. Um And then, you know, if there's any other coaching that they need, you know, we kind of address that at that time.

maintaining their landscape. And so that actually guides how the garden looks a little bit because um certain types of gardens, for instance, gardens that include uh native plants that are prolific, self cedars, they are going to need more maintenance and they might be a little bit harder or trickier to maintain than, you know, a garden that features plants that are more clump forming or mound forming and don't spread

quite as aggressively by seed. And so, uh there's just different ways I think to work with that. But I think generally speaking, people want something that looks like it's an intentional garden uh so that it doesn't upset their neighbors. And also so that it's pleasant for them to look at. It depends on the size, it depends on the scope, right? You know, so sometimes people are like, yeah, I want, I want a wild garden,

I want a prairie. So in that case, you know, the approach is a little bit different, I

orderly symmetrical looking garden, right? Like I think a lot of people are interested in that French garden look, is that possible to achieve with native plants?

You know, you can even alternate between some low growing ground cover borders that will be kind of give you a little bit of variety, but still give you that sort of finished look and something that's very intentional. A lot of people talk about using turf grass as borders too to kind of keep things in that realm. Um And we also uh just specific plant species, I think lend themselves to being a little more just organized looking. Uh We do have a sprinkling of plants from our

palate that are evergreen or semi evergreen. So I think including things like that also helps to bring a little bit more of that look, which always tends to appeal to people. Everybody wants to see green in the winter time too. So,

ground covers can do the same thing. And so they can help to suppress weeds because they take up that valuable soil, real estate area that weeds would otherwise make their way into. Um, they will keep the ground from drying and cracking. Um And, and they also will just give, again, kind of an organized look, uh if you apply them. And so I think that that is one way to make

things lower maintenance. But certainly if you have an abundance of, you know, diversity of plants and, you know, you just plunk hundreds of plants in one small space together and their self cedars and, you know, that's going to be a lot more maintenance for somebody. And so you really just have to kind of that with, you know, if somebody wants something lower maintenance, maybe a larger grouping of plantains or multiple larger groupings, mass plantings of one species, plant is going to help

with that too. And can

landscape. And so, and that's ok. Um Everybody's got their personal preference of what they want. And so I recently had a client where I, I, you know, they wanted the borders to be filled up or otherwise would have been mulched. And so I gave them a lot of low growing ground covers for their borders. But then they also did have a number of box woods where they

wanted some gaps filled in with native plants. And so while their overall plan didn't look like they had a ton of species being added in, did have some really valuable, um, plant material that was being added in there for pollinators and an abundance of wildlife. So really can make a big difference even just with a small amount. I

quick you start to see wildlife come back. And so, you know, I've, I've had a number of clients who have expressed that, that they're just elated at this, you know, and delighted at, at the fact that they just put

in a few of these plants. And then the next year they start seeing things like monarch butterflies showing up more, you know, implants and, um, you know, they start seeing more different types of bees showing up and just, you know, birds come into their garden and it really doesn't take that long for it to happen.

are things that have evolved along with our climate. And so they also have evolved along with our local ecosystems, which means that um when we have these, you know, butterflies that when they're in their larval form or as caterpillars will actually be feeding on these plants, um we have these bees, you know, that are going to be pollinating these plants.

And uh but we have all of these other invertebrates that show up too like mantis, we, you know, beetles showing up, we have maths and all of these different things. And ultimately this all you know, is incorporated into the food web. So the more that we start seeing all of these different things, you know, these smaller beans, we also start seeing birds showing more. And so songbirds are, are very reliant upon insects for food. Um They also will feed on the seed heads of these spent flowers.

They'll feed on berries and different fruits from native plants, but they really need those insects for rearing their young. So it, it's just, it's so important to have plants that bugs are going to be visiting. So that and then in turn also have things like songbirds being supported and that works, you know, across the whole web

tours where that can happen. Uh, during the summertime, usually we have um, the native plant garden tour that happens in the summertime, we have uh the sustainable backyard tour, which that network usually features a lot of native plant gardens. And so that's also an excellent way as far as places to visit without getting too far into the weeds, so to speak. Um, the Shaw Nature Reserve, uh, the Whitmire Wildflower Garden specifically is a beautiful example. I mean,

a shining example of native design and landscaping. It's just, it's gorgeous and there's, you know, there's so many other places that are popping up right now, it's almost hard to keep track of it and I get excited when I see them. Um, like there's a, a place that I drive past frequently that, uh it's quarrelsome coffee, a new little coffee shop that has opened up, I guess, I think in the last

year or so. And they have this like little strip of land that I don't know if it belongs to them or if it belongs to the neighbor, the adjacent neighborhood, uh where there's a bunch of native plants that got

planted as quarrelsome coffee opened. So I think maybe it's associated with them, but it's just this small pocket of land that has these beautiful plants blooming, you know, kind of across the growing season, different things, you know, we're picking up and it just got planted in the last year. And so, um, I think that there's more places that are implementing them in parking lots as kind of bios wh like rain catchment sort of system. Yes. You know, so there's like Missouri Botanical Garden. You

don't even have to go actually into the garden. You can visit their, you know, parking lots basically. So, um there's a lot of different places I think, to see them.

that supplied. I also really like Papillon Perennials which uh the owner Cathy Pauley. Um she uh does not have a brick and mortar location, but she is somebody who you can place orders with and you can actually do pick up with her and she shows up to a number of plant sale events too. So that's Papillon perennials um Missouri Wildflower Nursery. Uh They have a an amazing selection. They will actually ship orders

um directly to you that you place online. You can also find them at different plant sale events too, um, locally or you can have a nice little road trip out to their location. Um, Forest Keeling, uh, nursery is also a really great

place for shrubs and trees and they're located in Elsbury, Missouri. And, uh, another place locally that I'd want to give a shout out to, uh, would be, um, Forest Relief, which they operate kind of seasonally, but they're located out at Crieff Corp Park and they are more of a place for like trees, primarily, maybe shrubs a bit too good uh native trees. And uh and they're also, they contribute uh broadly to um community kind of efforts to uh actually get trees

planted in areas that maybe are underserved. Um And so, uh they don't want anybody to be limited on their ability to have trees based off of their income. And so they're really a great organization to support and I would say pure air native would be another one, especially if you're looking for seeds. Um You know, and you don't necessarily start from live plants that would be a really viable option too.

magnolia or star or sweet by magnolia flowers. Uh And what you do tend to see with, um, the non native magnolias is you will actually frequently see um beetles on the flowers or visiting the flowers as pollinators of those flowers. And so while they're not necessarily, uh they may not provide quite as much in the realm of, you know, something that maybe a native tree would supply depending on what kind of um native tree you had, especially if it was something

like an oak. But uh they are not, they're not an invasive species, like I said, as I'm aware and they're not harming uh anything by being there. So

how people would refer to that. Um but not invasive because invasive is something that's only applied to something that is a non native species and is invading and suppressing uh growth of surrounding plants. And so, like I said, I'm not sure if there's actually a particular line kind of or number that you would be looking for to, to call something or classify something as an invasive species.

But um from what I understand, an invasive species is gonna be a non native species can be something that spreads somewhat uncontrollably um and invades uh surrounding habitat and suppresses native plants from actually being able to grow. And

from happening. And so just in the by the nature of how things grow, um they're gonna be shading out the ground. And so the more that the ground is shaded, it's gonna make, make it harder or more difficult for other plant species to be able to reach towards the sunlight. And so they can definitely do that. And that's where, you know, it, it makes sense to really carefully consider

plant species. You know, if somebody tells me I don't want something high maintenance and I don't want something that's gonna jump all over my yard that right there rules out a lot, a number of plant species. Um, you know, just because I don't want to give somebody a maintenance nightmare.

All levels of experience are welcome and you would get rare access to the orchid show to take photos with professional guidance. This seems like something really great for both beginners and those of us who want to take our photo skills. One step forward. The next class on my list is Darin and mending at perennial. And if you're not familiar with perennial, this is a local nonprofit that offers educational programming and creative reuse and sells handmade diy kits and tools for reuse projects.

I took a class there last year and I had a great experience and this one is all about learning how to repair holes in woven and knit garments using traditional mending and darning techniques

scheduled for January 20th from 10 a.m. to 1230. And you know, I think we're just gonna all sit around and will be provided with holy sample swatches that we can practice on and um improve our skills so that when our clothes tire out a bit, we don't throw them out necessarily, but we mend them and we try to keep them in our closet rotation.

And lastly, there's a tour at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation on January 20th from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. that will take visitors inside the Tadao Ando building to learn more about the incredible architecture of that space. We'll learn from Mark Whelan of B SI constructors and he will talk about his time working on that building from the ground up alongside the architect and his team. I'm sure it's going to be a really interesting tour. Something to think about as you get your year underway.

Thank you for listening to the House of Lou. Be sure to follow us and share the episode with your friends. Be in touch with us through my newsletter, design and home at STL mag.com/newsletters and follow us on Instagram. We'll see you next time and just remember there's so much to see in Saint Louis if you know where to look.