Today’s spotlight is on Grow Native! Certified Pro Cassi Holcomb, who became certified in 2023. Cassi owns Grow Native! professional member Juneberry in Jackson, Missouri.
Cassi Holcomb
Cassi was introduced to native plants as a child by her family and their desire to explore. Her great grandmother grew up on a farm where she treasured the woodlands. When she moved into town she continued to grow woodland plants and spring ephemerals like sweet William, Dutchman’s breeches, and bloodroot, which are a few of Cassi’s earliest memories of native plants.
The entrance to Taylor Twins Memorial Garden. Photo: Cassi Holcomb.
Cassi designed the Taylor Twins Memorial Garden, a privately owned garden that is open to the public to highlight the use of native plants, planted in the fall of 2016 in the historic Uptown district of Jackson. The garden entrance is reminiscent of an old park wrought iron archway. There are two pathways through the garden — one out of bark mulch, the other out of flagstone — which represent Lucille and Louise Taylor, the two sisters the garden is named for who grew up in Jackson and were very different, but always connected. Most of the garden receives full sun, but does have a nice shady corner with some lovely spring ephemerals and other shade loving perennials and ferns. Taylor Twins, which is owned by Legacy Preservation Enterprise, a 501(c)(3) organization, was inducted as a Grow Native! Garden of Excellence in 2023.
One of Cassi’s current projects, in progress at a residence that underwent foundation repairs. Photo: Cassi Holcomb.
Recent projects include a 14+ acre prairie planting, seeded in January of 2023 on a 50 acre property that is to be a nature preserve.
Cassi is currently working on a new project, a residence that had to undergo foundation repairs. The homeowners are taking this opportunity to rework the landscape around the house using native plants. This project is in progress and will be completed soon.
Nature reserve prairie planting. Photo: Cassi Holcomb.
When designing a landscape, Cassi first listens to the client and then discerns what natives may fit into their plan, taking opportunities to make suggestions of how they can replace existing plants with those more beneficial to the ecosystem while still serving them in their space. She is also able to share the Taylor Twins garden as an example; being only a block and a half from her shop, it’s been a huge help to actually show people established plantings.
Established plantings at Taylor Twins Memorial Garden. Photo: Cassi Holcomb.
Cassi preparing to seed a native planting.
Cassi’s work is motivated by a deep love of nature and wanting to teach people who just aren’t aware of the connections, and also by the fact that she feels there is still so much for her to learn when working with clients,
Cassi points out that – whether one has a planter or several acres – there are native plants that will work in any landscape!
In 2025, the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s Grow Native! program is 25 years old. For a quarter century, this native plant education and marketing program has been a significant catalyst for the growth of the native landscaping movement in the lower Midwest and beyond. Certification offered by Grow Native! is a voluntary program that provides recognition of an individual’s knowledge and skills related to working with native plants in a professional capacity. Since launching in 2022, more than 30 native plant professionals have earned credentials through the Grow Native! Professional Certification Program. Learn more here.
