Grow Native! Plant Resources for Midwest Farmers and Landowners

If you wish to diversify pastures with native forage, help pollinators on your farm, reduce erosion in your row crops, or plant native trees and shrubs to sell or eat, this resource page is for you.

The time has never been better to use Missouri’s native plants to conserve and beautify your farm.

Our Grow Native! Professional members have experience in

• Preparing seed mixes
• Native plantings
• Prairie and woodland maintenance
• And more!

Visit our Resource Guide to get help with your land.

Guides on Planting Natives, Building Value and Other Resources

These Grow Native! and Missouri Prairie Foundation resources show you how to use Missouri’s native grasses, sedges, forbs, shrubs and trees to maximize Farm Bill and other program incentives to achieve superior conservation benefits on your farmland or rural property.

• Why Grow Native?
• Reconstructing a Tallgrass Prairie–A Seeding Guide for Missouri produced by Shaw Nature Reserve and Grow Native!
• Rich Grasslands for Missouri Landowners (PDF 1MB)
• I’ve gotten rid of my fescue, now what do I do? by David Darrow and Steve Clubine (PDF 270KB)
• Grow Native! Native Plants for Erosion Control
• Prairie Strips – incorporating rows of prairie plantings within row crop agriculture curbs erosion and provides for pollinators
• STRIPS – Iowa State University website on the latest in prairie strip research
• Attract and Sustain Pollinators on Your Farm
• Field Guide to Missouri’s Oaks and Hickories
• Missouri Department of Conservation Seedling Order Form (deadline to order is April 15, 2017)
• Plant an Oak! (But not a Pin Oak!)
• Join the Missouri Prairie Foundation to protect precious habitat.

Missouri Prairie Journal articles for farmers

• Native forage provides benefits to cattle producers, wildlife, and more
• Savannas Woodlands of Northern Missouri
• Northern Missouri Savanna Woodland Plan
• Value of Grassland Shrubs
• Fire Grazing Grassland Management
• Prairie Milkweeds
• Best Management Practices for Problem Plants

Biofuels

• How Will We Limit the Impacts of Biofuels?
• Biomass Crop Assistance Program

Other links

• Learn about conservation program incentives
• Learn about native species for conservation programs
• Bring back the quail call
• Seedling identification
• Books, Magazines & Publications
• MO Invasive Plants Task Force (MoIP)
• Pesticide Usage and Native Plants information sheet
• Missouri Plant Identification (external website)

Grow Native! Committee’s Top-10 Lists

Top-10 Plants Lists For Wildlife

The species on each of these Top Ten Lists are not ranked. That is, the tenth plant on the list is just as significant as the first one!

• Grow Native! Top Ten Native Plants to Attract Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds
• Grow Native! Top Ten Native Plants for Winter Pollinators
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Native Plants for Pollinators
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Native Shrubs for Wildlife
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Plants that Attract Abundant Wildlife
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Native Nectar Plants for Butterflies
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Best Plants for Butterflies and Moths
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Native Water Garden Plants to Attract Dragonflies, Frogs, and Toads

Top-10 Plants Lists for General Planting

The species on each of these Top Ten Lists are not ranked. That is, the tenth plant on the list is just as significant as the first one!

• Grow Native! Top Ten Native Plants that Connect Children to Nature
• Grow Native! Top Ten Native Plants that Grow in Poorly Drained Clay Soil
• Grow Native! Top Ten Native Goldenrods for Gardening
• Grow Native! Top Ten Purple Coneflower Companion Plants
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Native Edible (for humans) Native Shrubs and Trees
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Top Performing Native Plants
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Small Native Flowering Trees to Plant Under Utility Lines
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Native Groundcovers Under Six Inches
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Big and Tall Native Plants
• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Plants with Winter Interest

Invasive Plants Lists

• Grow Native! Top Ten List of Invasive Plants
• Invasive Exotics of the Greater Kansas City Region (from Powell Gardens)
• Invasive Non-Native Plants and Nuisance Native Plants control guides (from MDC)