Taylor Twins Memorial Garden
Jackson, MO
Photos: Marcus Janzow (top and bottom left) Cassi (Bock) Holcomb (bottom center and bottom right)
Size: 7,500 square feet
Year established: 2016
Year inducted: 2023
Category: Professionally managed with volunteer assistance
Maintained by: Cassi Bock Landscaping and Flower Gardens LLC and Steve Ford with assistance from volunteers including from Uptown Jackson Revitalization Organization, Jackson High School horticulture class and JHS FFA
Entrance Fee: Free
Description: The Taylor Twins Memorial Garden is located in the historic Uptown district of Jackson, Missouri, home to around 15,500 people. The garden is next door to the oldest house in Jackson, the Frizel-Welling House, which is currently under renovation and will one day house a museum. Stone that was excavated from the site prior to the garden installation was re-purposed into benches. Once upon a time the stones were the foundation for a building that housed a bakery and several other businesses through the years, including the plumbing business of V.G. Taylor, who was the great-grandfather of the house’s current owner, Steve Ford.
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. There’s a mix of sedges, perennials, prairie dropseed (the only warm season grass), and a few shrubs including wild hydrangea. Two different native annual plants, snow on the mountain and palifoxia, reoccur in the garden readily. A coral honeysuckle vine meets visitors near the main entrance (and helps disguise a utility); there is also a wahoo tree, and some existing trees in the west border including hackberry and redbud. The garden has received plants from Shaw Nature Reserve and Donna Aufdenberg, local MU extension horticulture specialist.
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. The pathways wind down the length of the garden along which three benches are placed for visitors to sit and enjoy the space. The garden has a natural feel to it with areas that offer a bit more order in the planting and a repetitive flow of plants draws visitors through the space. Visitors encounter many birds and insects in the garden, which also benefit the garden by keeping each other in check. In late winter or early spring the horticulture class from the local high school helps with cutting old growth. Stems that are removed completely are set aside while some species are left taller for hibernating insects.
What Makes this Garden Excellent: The garden is in a highly visible area for people to easily visit and enjoy just driving by, and is also utilized during community events including an annual event called Jackson in Bloom. It is also utilized by school groups for teaching and community service projects helping with maintenance tasks, and as a beautiful location for amateur and professional photographers. The garden brings nature right to the people; in the garden visitors can experience things like spring ephemerals and spider milkweed plants, up close and personal, which not everyone has a chance to otherwise enjoy. All ages love observing the insect and wildlife activity! Additionally, plants from the garden have been shared with volunteers and a garden for a local grade school helping to foster native gardening throughout the community.
Ten Great Native Plants to See Here:
Amsonia illustris (shining blue star)
Aquilegia canadensis (columbine)
Celtis occidentalis (hackberry)
Cercis canadensis (eastern redbud)
Euonymus atropurpureus (wahoo)
Euphorbia marginata (snow on the mountain)
Hydrangea arborescens (wild hydrangea)
Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle)
Palafoxia callosa (small palafox)
Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed)
Signage: A sign near the entrance identifies the garden space.
Accessibility: A pine bark mulch pathway (approximately 6 feet wide) provides access to the garden. There is also a smaller flagstone path that provides access to some areas but may be difficult for some to navigate. There is parking on the street nearby and a sloped curb on the southeast corner of the property, which was originally a driveway access, can be used as a disabled parking space.
Location:
201 W. Main Street
Jackson, MO 63755
Coordinates:
37°22’57.7″N 89°40’8.6″W
37.38270, -89.66905
For More Information:
Legacy Preservation Enterprise, the 501(c)(3) which owns the garden property and the Frizel-Welling house
AND
Cassi (Bock) Holcomb of Cassi Bock Landscaping & Flower Gardens (grun.haven@yahoo.com or 573-579-7864)
