Mayor’s Native Plant Garden at City Hall

Columbia, Missouri

Size: 460 square feet

Year established: 2017

Year inducted: 2024

Category: Professionally managed

Maintained by: Office of Sustainability staff

Entrance Fee: None

Description: Positioned along East Broadway, adjacent to Columbia’s City Hall building, this sun-drenched garden was conceived as part of the City’s commitment to the 2016 Mayor’s Monarch Pledge. Originally populated with boxwood shrubs and non-native annuals in 2010, the garden underwent a transformation in 2016. City staff replaced the non-native species with a diverse array of 101 prairie- and glade-adapted wildflowers, grasses, and shrubs.

Planted in a substrate of construction fill—comprising sand, gravel, and minimal organic matter—the native plants were carefully selected to thrive in the dry, nutrient-deficient soil. In a concerted effort to foster establishment, city staff diligently tended to the garden throughout the summer of 2017, ensuring optimal conditions for the native plants to flourish.

Since then, the garden has been meticulously maintained, with city staff undertaking seasonal tasks to sustain its vitality. In spring, spent vegetation is removed, while biannual weeding sessions and the selective removal of aggressive native species help preserve the garden’s biodiversity and ensure a continuous blooming spectacle throughout the growing season.

Not only does this garden grace the city with its natural splendor, but it also serves as an invaluable educational resource, enlightening the public about the significance of native plants in our ecosystem. Complementing the native plant garden, its counterpart on the east side of City Hall offers visitors an interactive learning experience. Here, amidst the hustle and bustle of urban life, visitors are encouraged to engage their senses. Standing amidst the non-native plant garden, they’re prompted to listen for the faint hum of insects amid the urban din. Typically, they discern only a couple of insect sounds above the nearby traffic.

However, the experience takes a transformative turn as visitors venture to the native plant garden. Here, they’re met with a symphony of insect calls confirming the role native plants play in fostering a thriving ecosystem. With each visit, guests are undeniably captivated by the vibrant biodiversity amid a concrete world.

Ten Great Native Plants to See Here:
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed)
Baptisia bracteata (cream wild indigo)
Callirhoe involucrata (purple poppy mallow)
Echinacea pallida (pale purple coneflower)
Echinacea paradoxa (yellow coneflower)
Eryngium yuccifolium (rattlesnake master)
Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)
Oenothera macrocarpa (Missouri primrose)
Penstemon cobaea (purple beard tongue)

Signage: Signs notifiy visitors that the garden is a Monarch Butterfly Habitat Demonstration Garden, a partnership between the City of Columbia, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Missouri Department of Conservation, and point visitors to the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge on the web.

Accessibility: Easily accessible and visible from the sidewalk along East Broadway, in front of City Hall.

For More Information:
Sustainability@como.gov