Pollinator Junction
National Museum of Transportation
Kirkwood, MO
Top image: click the arrows to see
additional photos.
Photos: Tess Wasserman
Size: 1/4 acre
Year established: 2016
Year inducted: 2021
Category: Professionally managed with volunteer assistance
Entrance Fee: Admission required to visit Pollinator Junction Garden, but some native plantings are available outside fee areas. See website for museum hours and admission prices.
Description: Pollinator Junction, named to highlight the importance of pollen transportation, is located between the Orthwein Building and the mini train depot at the National Museum of Transportation. At 135 by 85 feet, this garden is considered to be one of the largest gardens dedicated to pollinators in the St. Louis area.
Prior to 2016, the entire area was covered in monoculture turf grass with a drainage ditch and creek on one side. With design assistance from the horticulture students at St. Louis Community College Meramec Campus, the area was repurposed to become a native garden. Many local organizations contributed to the project, including the St. Louis Wild Ones Chapter, which provided a generous grant and Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, which donated native trees and shrubs. Many caring volunteers also contributed countless hours of work.
Pollinator Junction is managed by a staff member and volunteers at least three days a week. Maintenance activities include weeding and thinning, and cutting spent stems to 8 to 12 inches for bee nesting in early spring. Invasives are not currently a problem in Pollinator Junction.
The garden is located on two dry hillsides in full and part sun which slope down to a continuously wet rain garden, a perfect place for many varieties of native plants. In addition to Pollinator Junction, there are other, smaller native plantings around the property including a large prairie, rain garden, and a milkweed “swamp” at the lake’s edge.
What Makes this Garden Excellent:
This garden is a superb educational garden and is designed to introduce families and people of all ages to the importance of pollinators and native plants. The garden is well-signed and includes an interpretive display on the lifecycle of the monarch butterfly. Individual species use yellow butterfly name tags to identify butterfly host plants. Nectar plants that are not larval food are also identified.
A caterpillar corner grows herbs such as parsley and dill to attract black swallowtail larvae. Children are encouraged to play “I Spy” and find more than 20 wooden cutouts of Missouri animals that are hidden throughout the garden. A particularly popular activity is the “Rock Hunt,” in which children find painted rocks hidden in the garden and then can hide them for the next set of visitors. Also interspersed throughout the garden are clay pots with pollinator facts on them as part of “plant pot trivia.” A display box features objects that also relate to the planting, such as seeds that people can take home with them in the fall (the museum has a seed library).
Ten Great Native Plants to See Here:
Allium stellatum (wild onion)
Amelanchier arborea (downy serviceberry)
Amsonia illustris (shining bluestar)
Asimina triloba (pawpaw)
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower)
Liatris pycnostachya (prairie blazing star)
Parthenium integrifolium (wild quinine)
Ratibida pinnata (gray-headed coneflower)
Scutellaria incana (downy skullcap)
Senna marilandica (wild senna)
Signage: Individual plants are labeled and there are interpretive signs.
Accessibility: There are wood mulch paths within the garden.
Location:
2933 Barrett Station Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63122
Coordinates:
38°34’26.3″N 90°27’52.9″W
38.573969, -90.464688
For More Information:
Tess Wasserman
tesswass4@gmail.com
National Museum of Transportation
https://tnmot.org/
314-965-6212
Article from Wild Ones about the installation of the planting:
https://stlwildones.org/grant-given-to-museum-of-transportation-for-native-plant-garden-installation/