Peculiar Lions Club Community Native Plantings
Peculiar, MO
Top image: click the arrows to see additional photos.
Photos: Doris Sherrick
Size: 4 acres
Year established: 2012
Year induced: 2021
Category: Volunteer maintained
Maintained by: Peculiar Lions Club and South Grand River Watershed Alliance volunteers
Entrance Fee: Free
Description: This beautiful native landscape, featuring a planted prairie and rain garden, is spread over four acres in Peculiar, Missouri, less than an hour south of the Kansas City metro area. The planting is jointly managed by the Lions Club (which owns the property) and the South Grand River Watershed Alliance. The latter group was established in 2005 by citizens who wanted to promote the preservation, protection, and restoration of the South Grand River Watershed in west-central Missouri. They seek to educate their community about how the actions each person takes can contribute to the health of the local watershed, and ultimately result in healthy streams and rivers. Native plants are an integral part of this mission. Consequently, through grants from local partners, a four-acre prairie planting and rain garden were established as an educational tool and as a way to address stormwater runoff and improve local stream health.
Before establishment of this planting, the area was covered mainly with fescue and received substantial runoff from the neighboring bank property. The planting was originally seeded in 2012, but was reseeded a couple of years later due to the incursion of invasives. This property’s constant battle with these unwanted species could be partially attributed to the close proximity of the interstate (which allows easy movement of plant hitchhikers) and nearby intentional plantings of invasive trees such as Callery pears. Invasives such as crown vetch, non-native thistles, bush honeysuckle, and Callery pear continue to present a serious challenge and need to be monitored and eradicated frequently. Invasive plants are controlled mainly by targeted spot spraying. Countless volunteer hours and hard work are needed to keep the planting in excellent shape. With the assistance of the local fire department, the prairie planting is also burned frequently to help control invasives and to promote the health of the ecosystem overall.
The prairie planting is mainly filled with sun-loving wildflowers. An intermittent creek crosses the property, and some native shrubs and trees grow along it. Many native sedges as well as a prairie cordgrass population (which naturally established itself prior to the initial seeding) grow in the wetter areas as well. A short, mulched trail leads into the prairie planting allowing visitors to feel immersed among the wildflowers.
This planting continues to thrive with increasing numbers of species making an appearance to contribute to its beauty and function. Purple prairie clover, pale purple coneflower, lanceleaf coreopsis, and blue sage are among those expanding their numbers. In the fall of 2024, a portion of the adjoining mowed landscape was prepared as the first step to expand the current native prairie planting with seeding of more native prairie plants planned in January 2025.
What Makes this Garden Excellent: This native planting occurs in an area of Missouri that was once part of the prairie ecosystem prior to European-American settlement. Now, however, less than ½ of 1% of original, unplowed prairies remain, making this ecosystem one of the rarest on the planet. While unplowed prairies can never be matched in biological importance, native plantings such as this one at the Peculiar Lions Club provide essential ecosystem services such as water infiltration and pollutant reduction. Also, due to its location on the main street of Peculiar and visibility from I-49, it serves an important educational tool.
Visitors should also consider a visit to a nearby Missouri Prairie Foundation property while in the area. Snowball Hill Prairie, an original unplowed prairie, is only a 15-minute drive away.
Ten Great Native Plants to See Here:
Baptisia australis (blue false indigo)
Castilleja coccinea (Indian paintbrush)
Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf coreopsis)
Echinacea pallida (pale purple coneflower)
Helianthus salicifolius (willow-leaved sunflower)
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot)
Oligoneuron rigidum (stiff goldenrod)
Solidago speciosa (showy goldenrod)
Spartina pectinata (prairie cordgrass)
Tradescantia ohiensis (Ohio spiderwort)
Vernonia arkansana (curlytop ironweed)
Signage: Interpretive signs at both the rain garden and prairie planting emphasize the role native plants play in keeping watersheds healthy and providing critical habitat for wildlife.
Accessibility: Short trails through the property are maintained by mulching and mowing.
Location:
Lions Community Center
500 Schug Ave. Peculiar, MO 64078
Coordinates:
38°43’24.1″N 94°27’29.7″W
38.723, -94.458