gracie

Horticulture Supervisor, Kyle Cheesborough The prairie blazing star, Liatrisspicata, is a densely flowering, native perennial growing to 4’ in bloom.  Spikes of tufted, brilliant magenta flowers appear in mid-summer and last into August.  The flowers are a favorite of a number of butterflies, native bees, and honey bees.  Prairie blazing star will tolerate a number...

Horticulture Supervisor, Kyle Cheesborough This week is all about hydrangeas. Hydrangeaarborescens, or smooth hydrangea is a lovely native, colonizing shrub that prefers shaded conditions with average soil moisture.  Typically growing along stream banks and bluff bases, the smooth hydrangea develops woody stems with attractive peeling bark and will slowly fill an area if allowed to...

Horticulture Supervisor, Kyle Cheesborough   First up is shrubby St. John’s wort, Hypericum prolificum, a shrub-like perennial reaching 3’ in height, with numerous branches, a woody base, and shredded bark.  In summer, lemon-yellow blooms open to reveal pom-pom like anthers, covered in pollen.  Bumble bees find shrubby St. John’s wort irresistible, and are the primary...

Horticulture Supervisor, Kyle Cheesborough Purple poppy mallow (Callirhoe involucrate), is a creeping, spreading Missouri native perennial.  The brilliant magenta blooms appear beginning in late spring and persist through the summer, becoming sporadic into the fall.  Purple poppy mallow is very drought tolerant and does well in dry garden plots once established.  The copious flowers provide...