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I-270/I-44 Interchange Planting Report
By Tamie Yegge, Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center (Summer 2000 Issue)
You may recall that last December, a team of over 50 volunteers converged on the North and South sides of the 1-270/1-44 interchange to plant Missouri native grass and forb seed. The native seed was mixed with an annual rye grass which was meant to quickly sprout, grow and protect the soil from erosion while the native seedlings developed.
The goal of the project was to reduce the amount of fescue along the roadways, therefore, reducing the amount of mowing required by MoDOT crews, and also to re-establish a remnant of our past. Eventually we'll see there a beautiful, flowing field of tall grasses interspersed with the subtle beauty of native wildflowers. This has worked very well,
although you probably won't notice anything happening on those sites for another year or so. On May 1, 2000, a team went to the site to check its progress. Despite drought conditions, a number of desirable seedlings were found amongst the rye, including: Pale Purple Coneflower, Black-eyed Susan, Blazing Star, Beard ongue, Compass Plant,
Prairie Dock, Aster and Bee balm. Many of the grasses sown were popping up as well, including Big and Little Bluestem. Side Oats Gramma, Indian and Switch grass. It was determined by the team that the rye was competing with the natives for sunlight, therefore, MoDOT was asked to include the sites in their regular mowing schedule for this year.
Regular mowing won't affect the native species, as they are putting energy into establishing a root system this year. In each successive year, we'll be able to reduce mowing to once a year, and look forward to a whole season of a colorful, scenic drive through the interchange. To learn more about using Missouri native plants to enhance your yard or garden,
contact Powder Valley Nature Center, or the Shaw Arboretum of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Fund
By Tom and Marilyn Chryst (Summer 2000 Issue)
The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Fund awards annual grants to places of learning for projects that reflect the Wild Ones message of creating natural landscapes using native plants and environmentally sound practices, and appreciating humankind's proper place in the web of nature. The fund was developed by Lorrie Otto, who is one of the
founders of Wild Ones and the 36th inductee to the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. She is regarded as a conservation luminary along with the likes of Aldo Leopold and John Muir. At 80 years of age, Lorrie shows no sign of slowing down in her quest for a healed and respected natural environment.
Past grants have ranged from $100 to $400 per application. Donations and $1.00 from each Wild Ones membership or renewal support the fund. Nine volunteer judges administer the fund. Because we feel they have better experience, organization and expertise to select suitable projects and administer
these grants, the Wild Ones St. Louis Chapter has decided to give half of our annual plant sale earnings to this fund. The amount given this year was $500.
Additional information and grant applications are available from the Wild Ones National Office by calling 1-877-394-9453. If you know of a worthwhile group or project, let them know about this funding opportunity. Applications are due November 15; notification of awards is the following February.
Recycling - A Personal Experience
By Tom Chryst (Spring 2000 Issue, revised)
Among the missions of the Wild Ones, along with encouraging natural landscaping, is promoting environmentally sound practices. One of these practices -- one that everyone can participate in -- is recycling. This article is a first-hand memoir of what I think is a successful recycling program.
There is nothing difficult or expensive or time-consuming about it; my wife Marilyn and I simply take advantage of readily available opportunities to recycle. Since we have been seriously recycling, we have reduced our trash (which goes to the landfill) from a crammed-full can every week to one only half full, and often we even skip a week. We use a
combination of strategies: curbside recycling, non-profit and for-profit recycling centers, and re-use.
All trash collectors in unincorporated St. Louis County (and in some other counties and municipalities) are required to provide curbside recycling services. Ours (Midwest Waste) collects once a week, and accepts newspaper, glass containers, steel cans and #1 and #2 plastic (soda bottles and milk jugs, respectively).
We collect corrugated cardboard and combine it with that collected at Shaw Arboretum (where we volunteer) and sell it at the market rate (1 to 1-1/2 cents a pound), donating the proceeds to the Arboretum staff picnic fund. We collect aluminum cans and sell them at about 30 to 50 cents a pound -- more than enough to pay for the gas to
haul them and the cardboard. Both of these are sold to Southside Recycling.
We segregate two varieties of paper; magazines and catalogs, and miscellaneous paper (which includes virtually everything else: junk mail, office paper, non-corrugated cardboard, etc.) and periodically take them to the Francis Scheidegger Recycling Depositary in Kirkwood. We save any clean, re-usable paper to use for computer drafts,
notes, grocery lists, and what-have-you.
All Dierberg's stores accept plastic grocery bags and newspaper sleeves (which can also be re-used, of course.)
Recycling resources are easy to find -- in the yellow pages, through the County Department of Health, or on the Internet (try www.stlouisco.com/doh/rsrc_ctr/ recycler.html or www.postnet.com/postnet/getout/recycle.nsf).
All of our recycling takes only a little time and effort, and a small amount of space in the garage, and it really pays off in reducing the impact we have on the landfill. I encourage every Wild One to give it a try!
Spring Bend: Yesterday and Today
By Scott Woodbury (Spring 2000 Issue)
Of all the wildflower forays I go on each year, I look forward to Spring Bend the most. Perhaps it's spring in the air, but more likely, it's the remarkable array of spring ephemerals that carpet the Missouri River banks and hallows that cut down from the softly rolling hills. It used to be that those hilltops were some of the richest farmland in Missouri,
and before that, they were likely covered in prairie. Now most of it is housing. Only the moist hallows and floodplains could support lush tree growth, and that is where Spring Bend's rich diversity of native plants have been thriving ever since Lewis and Clark drew water from the spring below the old log house. (This part of the river used to be
called Spring House Bend, hence the current name, Spring Bend.). Now there is a six-lane bridge going in overhead: The Page Avenue extension.
This year we saw more than a few blooming white trillium Trillium flexipes. The deer must have been busy elsewhere. We also saw huge masses of blooming wild geranium Geranium maculatum, wild sweet William Phlox divaricata, green trillium, Trillium viride, purple wake robin Trillium recurvatum,
crested iris Iris cristata, false rue anemone Isopyrum biternatum, dutchman's breeches, common violet Voila sororia, yellow violet V. pubescens, dwarf larkspur Delphinium tricorne, shooting star Dodecatheon meadia (which smelled like concord grapes!), yellow pimpernel Taenidia integerrima,
red buckeye Aesculus pavia, Virginia bluebells Mertensia virginica, Blue-eyed-Mary Collinsia verna, and so many more.
The old gravel lane coming into the farmstead used to curve through the woods beneath tangles of grapevines and shagbark hickories. Before reaching the old farmhouse, it would bend within view of soybean and hay fields. Now it is a straight shot to the house following all six lanes of what will become Page Avenue, the row of white pines
and spruce that will some day screen the view, and the high tension cables of a new Ameren UE power line. I'm writing this down to preserve my rather brief impression of Spring Bend. Bill and Nancy Knowles have been coming here most of their lives. Nancy's father built a dog-trot log house in the 30's on top of the hill overlooking the river. Over
the years they have gathered their own impressions and stories, having raised their children there. For decades, invited friends have been coming to see the spring wildflower displays. Wild Ones has been fortunate to be a part of that. Our appreciation goes out to Bill and Nancy, who have been dedicated stewards of the land, both striving to protect
the natural diversity and cultural history in an era of fast-track development and short-term gain.
Lessons from a 55 m.p.h. Cloverleaf Prairie
By Scott Woodbury (Winter 2000 Issue)
I am happy to report that the I-270 and I-44 cloverleaf prairie conversion is well underway. The combined efforts made by David Schilling (Washington University), Tamie Yegge (MDC-Powder Valley), John Behrer (Shaw Arboretum), Linda Chambers (Henry Shaw Ozark Corridor Foundation), and Mark Grossenbacher (Missouri Dept. of Transportation)
have been successful. Planting plans were made, native Missouri prairie seed was purchased by MoDOT, and the seed was sown on Saturday, December 11, 1999 with the tremendous support of about 45 volunteers.
The morning began at 8:00 a.m. at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center in Kirkwood with John Behrer speaking to the group on the importance of highway prairie plantings. He explained that prairies require a single annual mowing, rather than the typical 5-6 mowings per year for tall fescue (common cool season grass used along highways).
This is a significant reduction in labor. A MoDOT official said that it would take two people a full day to mow the eight acres which have been planted at I-270 and I-44. Planting this prairie will also mean a big reduction in gasoline consumption and equipment use.
Perhaps more important is that the cloverleaf is being converted to tallgrass prairie, a common plant community in St. Louis County prior to European settlement. Henry Shaw, founder of the Missouri Botanical Garden, wrote in an 1880 manuscript, "when I first visited these grounds (MBG and Tower Grove Park) in 1820, they were called
'La Prairie de la Barriere a Denoyer', from Louis Denoyer who formerly lived at and kept the gate of the fence (barriere) by which the commons of the old village of St. Louis were surrounded. For a distance of nearly two miles from where Tower Grove Park is now laid out, no trees were growing, except two or three venerable cottonwoods in the low
ground...the prairie was grown over with a tall natural grass Andropogon, prairie grass, and an occasional patch of the wild strawberry, of which neither a tuft of the grass or a plant of the strawberry can now be found." Hopefully, in the summer of 2000, prairie plants will reappear at the I-270 and I-44 interchange, reversing a nearly 200 year
trend of converting "wild and weedy" prairies into lushly mowed green fescue pastures and lawn.
It goes without saying that when you create a prairie diverse with native grasses and forbs (colorful-flowering plants) you will also attract a diversity of wild animals. Goldfinches will come to feed on ripe coneflower seed heads. Dragonflies will hover over the acres of open grasses to eat from the wide array of insects which will
make the prairie their new home. Even hawks are known to hang around highway prairie plantings in search of soil-churning rodents. None of these creatures ever dared to eat, drink, mate, or nest in a mowed fescue lawn, but I've often seen them risk life and limb to live in a 55 m.p.h. cloverleaf prairie.
This year, the cloverleaf prairie will remain just a cloverleaf. It will take a few years for most of the prairie grasses and forbs to mature and flower. Similarly, it will take a few years for the city of St. Louis to mature and warm up to the idea of converting our pasture-like lawns into urban prairies. This year, however, coreopsis,
black-eyed-susan, and Canada wild rye may bloom, but so may a host of weeds. With a few light mowings by MoDOT this growing season, most weed problems should be controlled and the cloverleaf prairie will be off to a good start. After 2001, the prairie should begin to flower and attract commuters and wildlife alike. It takes a lot of nurturing and
patience to rebuild an 8 acre prairie. It takes far more patience to nurture and rebuild a commitment to preserving Missouri's prairie landscape.
Our hats should come off to the people who worked long and hard on this and to the Missouri Department of Transportation for supporting a large prairie planting on such a busy highway interchange. Please contact them at 1-888-ASK-MODO(T) with your comments.
Scenic Missouri Billboard Petition
By Tom Chryst (Winter 2000 Issue, revised)
Scenic Missouri has sponsored an initiative petition for a proposed law, which will be submitted to the voters at the general election on 7 November 2000, as follows:
Shall Missouri statutes be amended to prohibit the construction of most new outdoor advertising and to further restrict existing outdoor advertising along all National Highway System highways in Missouri; to increase the authority of any city, county or local zoning authority to regulate outdoor advertising; and to prohibit the removal
of trees and vegetation located on public rights of way except for purposes of improving aesthetic or environmental value or of eliminating safety hazards?
Scenic Missouri says "The preservation of Missouri's natural scenic beauty, the promotion of highway safety and the protection of the tourism and economic development potential inherent in Missouri's natural scenic beauty are valid public purposes and, therefore, the Missouri Billboard Statute should be amended to prohibit new billboards,
further restrict existing billboards, reaffirm local authority to regulate billboards and prohibit the cutting or trimming of trees and vegetation on public right of ways to improve billboard visibility."
Scenic Missouri is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the scenic beauty of Missouri. To this end, Scenic Missouri works with local governments to encourage the adoption of community standards that protect community character, such as sign and billboard regulations, tree preservation and landscaping policies
and programs, and high quality streetscape design. Scenic Missouri is an affiliate of Scenic America, Inc. Check out their web site, www.scenicmissouri.org.
Aldo Leopold Benches
By Tom and Marilyn Chryst (Winter 2000 Issue)
The eight Aldo Leopold benches that were built by Wild Ones last winter were installed along the Wildflower Trail at Shaw Arboretum on November 6th. Several rugged Wild Ones, assisted by Arboretum staff, participated in the hard work of placing the benches.
On January 5th, the Wild Ones bench-makers gathered again at Shaw Arboretum. The hardy seven, all of whom were among last year's "construction crew", met at 6:30, and by 9:00 we had put together ten Aldo Leopold benches. This year's model is slightly wider than the original ones; it seats three (rather than two) comfortably.
Another difference is that we will be selling them in May at the Shaw Arboretum Native Plant Sale. Thanks to all who helped.
Aerial Images on the Internet
By Tom Chryst (Winter 2000 Issue)
There is a great web site with aerial photographic coverage of much of the United States, and some foreign areas as well, which might be of interest to Wild Ones. Go to terraserver.microsoft.com, type in "St Louis, MO" and click "go". Pick an image and start experimenting.
Zoom out for a wider view, locate some landmarks, and then click "topo" to see the corresponding map of the area. You should soon be able to locate your own neighborhood, click back to "photo", then zoom in closer and find your house. For a fascinating simulated "long shot" of the entire area, showing St. Louis at the confluence of the Missouri,
Mississippi and Illinois rivers, click on "relief". Go back to the home page and try some foreign images - for example, the Suez Canal. Be prepared to spend some time on this one - it's addicting!
Happy Anniversary St. Louis Wild Ones
By Terry L. Sebben (Fall 1999 Issue)
This October marks the one-year anniversary of the St. Louis chapter of Wild Ones. Some of you may not be aware of how this chapter began, so let me take this opportunity to fill you in, at least from my point of view.
It was June 5th, 1998 at the Shaw Arboretum Native Plant Conference. Bret Rappaport, president of Wild Ones at the national level, was the keynote speaker, talking about the history of the natural landscaping movement. This was the first time I had heard of this organization, and was quite interested in Wild Ones. At the end of the
evening I approached Scott Woodbury about the possibilities of starting a St. Louis chapter, and discovered that the process had already begun. Bret had thrown out those seeds of information and they had germinated. By mid-June, Scott had contacted me and asked if I wanted to plant a prairie in my yard. He had plants that needed homes or they
would die, so naturally I said YES! We used this as an incentive to get more interest for Wild Ones. On July 5, I gathered 20 friends and family, and in two hours, 500 seedlings had been planted. Those seeds that Bret had so metaphorically thrown out had not only germinated, but were beginning to send up shoots of green and lay roots for future
native and natural plantings.
We were on the move, and by August/September we had enough people to form an interest group. That was all we needed, there was a meeting and it was decided that this was a viable plan. By October we had officially become the St. Louis Chapter of Wild Ones! Since that time we have grown to 50 members, and had our first fund raiser by
selling plants at the native plant sale this spring at the Arboretum. We are currently in the process of developing some possible community projects. Those roots keep growing deeper and deeper.
National Wild Ones Board Meeting
By Scott Woodbury (Fall 1999 Issue, revised)
Terry Sebben and I attended the national Wild Ones board meeting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum on August 14th, 1999. The U.W. Arboretum is much like Shaw Arboretum. Both have well-developed restored tallgrass prairies, both are dedicated to environmental education, and both will soon have a new visitor center and
wildflower gardens which demonstrate native gardening and plant communities. (Whitmire Wildflower Garden has been open for 7 years, whereas the U.W. Arboretum wildflower garden will open in spring 2000.) The setting for the meeting was in a large classroom overlooking Curtis Prairie. It was difficult to keep from staring out the windows,
over the oldest restored prairie in the nation, to look at soaring hawks and swaying cordgrass.
President's Report, Bret Rappaport: The new national 800 number is 877-394-9453 (FYI-WILD). Bret gave us an update on a new coalition from Chicago called Chicago Wilderness. It comprises 90 organizations including the Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago Park District, Wild Ones and many more. They have the goal of
preserving wilderness throughout the Illinois area and their voice is published through a new glossy magazine of the same name.
Membership Report, Donna VanBuken: She reported a 25% reduction in membership since last year and reminded the chapters to mail out notices to the membership whose dues are lapsed.
Education Report, Nancy Aiton: Nancy is in charge of the Seeds for Education Grant (i.e. Laurie Otto Fund). It currently has a $12,000 endowment. She moved to vote to dedicate $1.00 from each membership to go into the Seeds for Education Fund. Wild Ones has 2,200 members, which means that about $2,200 will
go into the fund annually. We should advise anybody who is teaching environmental education in our area that grant money is available. Scott Woodbury has grant applications. In 1998, $2,000 was given, including $400 to a school woodland and prairie project in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, $400 to a school prairie project in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
$200 to an urban prairie project in Detroit, Michigan and $200 to a nature trail project in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Website Report, Mark Charles: There currently are WWW pages for each of the Wild Ones chapters. The St. Louis chapter simply has contact people and phone numbers. There is potential for adding new articles, gardening resources, and schedules. We could send our newsletter to Mark quarterly to be included
in our chapter page. Visit the site at www.for-wild.com.
Journal Report, Joy Buslaff: The December\January issue if the Wild Ones Journal will be replaced with a revised Wild Ones Handbook.
In addition to the Board member reports, there were three issues discussed. They are as follows.
Issue 1, By-law change: Currently, there are 24 chapters and 9 at-large national board members (that is 33 voting board members, counting the president of each chapter). A quorum of 50% attendance is needed to have a valid vote. So far in the history of Wild Ones, not a single quorum has occurred until
this August meeting. The proposal is to have a 15 member national board with a 4-year term to make voting easier. They will be selected from a nominating committee of 3-4 people. The selection will be based on wide geographical diversity. This by-law change will be voted upon by the membership via ballot in an upcoming journal issue.
Issue 2, Membership Recruitment: Most new members come from personal contact with local chapters, not from sophisticated marketing schemes. Also, publicity helps when located at libraries, bookstores, election sites, newsletters, etc. It has been suggested that the chapters create a publicity chair.
Issue 3, Weed Laws: At a Weed Ordinance Seminar in Glendale, Wisconsin, Bret Rappaport and Laurie Otto spoke to representatives of 30 local communities. Glendale was the only one not to send anybody. They decided that: 1. What is needed to promote nature-friendly gardening is a diverse committee of
people who essentially replace old weed ordinances with regular meetings to discuss citations face to face with all parties involved. 2. Old ordinances still on the books, and not likely to come down from the books any time soon, don't necessarily mean much against legitimate natural landscapes. Quiet sidestepping of weed laws seems to
work better than attacking the law directly. In other words, it is important to educate and inform neighbors, local politicians, and weed cops about natural landscaping and to make your landscape look intentional with fences, borders, or a Wild Ones sign. Also, using the two presidential proclamations that are printed in the Wild Ones
web site helps to validate natural landscaping. 3. The biggest problem is that no U.S. city has adopted a good and usable weed law. One is needed in order to set a precedent for future laws.
The keynote speaker at the end of the meeting was Darrel Morrison, a landscape architect from the University of Georgia. He designed the outdoor landscape at the Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, Georgia and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Research Center in Austin, Texas, and is currently working on the new wildflower
garden at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum.
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