Three additional sites have been inducted into the Grow Native! Native Gardens of Excellence program, which showcases native landscaping styles in the lower Midwest. The three new sites are in Missouri and include locations in Columbia, Sedalia, and Springfield. These join the 25 sites in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Illinois that have been inducted into the program since it launched in 2021.
The Grow Native! Native Gardens of Excellence program features plantings of native plants in designed, well-maintained gardens and in other native landscape plantings in the lower Midwest. The Grow Native! Native Gardens of Excellence are located in a variety of settings ranging from multi-acre plantings associated with commercial properties; formal, urban gardens; and even small community plots. All Grow Native! Native Gardens of Excellence sites are open to the public (many are free; some charge an admission fee), consist of at least 90% native plants (excluding cultivars and nativars), and are at least three years old with an established maintenance schedule.
The newly inducted gardens:
— Mayor’s Native Plant Garden at City Hall (701 East Broadway, Columbia) is a small native garden that is highly visible to the public, containing prairie- and glade-adapted plants and featuring a colorful array that brightens up a south-facing wall of office windows. The garden demonstrates a site stewarded for wildlife in a busy downtown district. (Photo above by Danielle Fox)
— Missouri Department of Conservation Sedalia Office (200 Limit Ave., Sedalia) showcases a native garden that mitigates stormwater while providing for pollinators and other wildlife. Adjacent to the Missouri State Fairgrounds, many thousands of visitors pass by during the fair each year, and throughout the year, the community enjoys seeing the flowers and pollinators and how a native garden can be a welcoming addition to the grounds of a state office building. (Photo above by Carol Davit)
— The Watershed Center Rain Garden (2400 E. Valley Watermill Rd., Springfield) is a native garden that has provided countless “nature moments” for staff and visitors to the Watershed Center. The garden is maintained with a distinct mulch border, while the native plants, including water-loving plants like buttonbush and mallow, are allowed to grow naturally within the planting, mitigating stormwater runoff and letting water recharge the aquifer. (Photo above by Marra Holt)
The Grow Native! program encourages homeowners, native plant enthusiasts, land managers, gardening groups, and landscape professionals to visit the sites included in this program in person and to learn more about their maintenance from their caretakers. Contact information is included for each of the 28 sites at the Native Gardens of Excellence web page, which also contains a link to the Native Gardens of Excellence nomination form.
