News

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...

Horticulture Supervisor, Kyle Cheesborough Veronicastrum, or Culver’s root, is an outstanding summer bloomer, with tall, branching spikes of white-lavender flowers.  The name ‘Culver’s root’ refers to Dr. Culver, who prescribed the plant as a laxative, the roots in fact being a powerful emetic and cathartic.  Veronicastrum is a native Missouri perennial, with a very erect...

Horticulture Supervisor, Kyle Cheesborough Butterfly-weed, Asclepias tuberosa, is a very hardy, drought tolerant, Missouri native perennial with clustered orange blooms in late spring into mid-summer. As the name suggests, this plant is irresistible to butterflies as a nectar source, and the Monarch butterfly uses the plant as a host for egg-laying.  In the fall, wispy,...