Missouri Department of Conservation Sedalia Office
Sedalia, Missouri
Photos: Carol Davit
Size: Approximately 3,350 square feet
Year established: 2008
Year inducted: 2024
Category: Professionally managed
Maintained by: Missouri Department of Conservation Sedalia Office staff
Entrance Fee: None
Description: This garden includes several sections, with the largest at the front of the building. There are also four sections around the parking lot, a rain garden, and a butterfly garden. All of the garden areas include plants that support pollinating insects and provide food and shelter for other wildlife. A butterfly garden on the southwest side of the office building attracts pollinators and lessens yard maintenance.
A 200-square-foot rain garden was established to help manage stormwater runoff from the roof, yard, and parking lot. With heavy rain events, water from downspouts was washing out of garden areas along the sidewalks. After surveying where the drainage issues were, the rain garden was installed to soak up and slow down the runoff.
The gardens are maintained by the MDC Sedalia Office staff, including weeding and checking for invasive plants regularly. Mulch is applied as needed. Spent vegetation is left in the gardens until February so wildlife can use it for forage and cover. Some areas of the garden have been enhanced over time with new plants and thinning of other plants.
What Makes this Garden Excellent:
With its location adjacent to the Missouri State Fairgrounds, many thousands of visitors pass by during the fair each year. This garden showcases a beautiful garden that mitigates stormwater while providing for pollinators and other wildlife. Throughout the year, the community enjoys seeing the flowers and pollinators, showing how a native garden can be a welcoming addition to the grounds of a state office building.
Examples of Wildlife Spotted Here:
Birds including purple finches, Northern cardinals, blue jays, and American robins
Insects including several bee species, wasps, several butterfly species including monarchs, preying mantises, and walking sticks
Squirrels and rabbits
Ten Great Native Plants to See Here:
Amsonia illustris (shining blue star)
Anemone canadensis (meadow anemone)
Aquilegia canadensis (columbine)
Chelone obliqua (rose turtlehead)
Eryngium yuccifolium (rattlesnake master)
Oenothera macrocarpa (Missouri primrose)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant)
Scutellaria incana (downy skullcap)
Tradescantia ohiensis (Ohio spiderwort)
Signage: Name plates are displayed periodically depnding on what is blooming.
Accessibility: The front garden is accessible for viewing from a sidewalk that transects the garden. The other gardens are accessed via the grassy areas.
Location:
2000 S Limit Avenue
Sedalia, MO 65301
Coordinates:
38°41’41.3″N 93°15’5.7″W
38.694806, -93.251573
For More Information:
Contact person: Andrea Thierfelder, Office Supervisor
Andrea.Thierfelder@mdc.mo.gov