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2007 Naturescaping Symposium at Springfield Nature Center

Violet_Z6
17 years ago

Naturescaping Symposium & Native Plant Sale

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Springfield, Missouri

Free!

You are invited to attend a Naturescaping Symposium from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center. Come for the day or come for a single session for a rare opportunity to learn from the experts for free.

The symposium includes four educational sessions and seven exhibitors.

Here's the schedule:

Natives in Your landscape: Design and Preparation

Mark and Renae Bernskoetter, Master Gardeners

10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

Learn how to incorporate native plants into your landscape using design concepts as well as practical advice to get you started. These are the plants that like to grow in your yard with little maintenance.

Attracting Wildlife for the Adventuresome

11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

Mike Skinner, Missouri Department of Conservation: Natural History Biiologist

Discover less conventional techniques for attracting both the ordinary and the unusual.

Making Rain Barrels

1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Tiffany Fry, James River Basin Partnership

Everything you need to know to make your own rain barrels.

Constructing a Rain Garden

2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.

Holly Neill, James River Basin Partnership &

Ronda Headland, Missouri Department of Conservation: Community Conservationist.

Turn your roof rainfall runoff into a refuge for birds, butterflies, and dragonflies.

Exhibtors Include:

Show-Me Yards and Neighborhoods

Master Gardeners of Southwest Missouri

Greater Ozarks Audubon Society

Missouri Wildflowers Nursery

Hamilton Native Outpost

Town and Country Landscaping

Dickerson Park Zoo

The Springfield Conservation Nature Centers is southeast off Springfield, just west of Highway 65 and just of the James River Freeway. The symposium is free and open to the public. For more information, call (417) 888-4237.

Description: Naturescaping emphasizes landscaping with native plant species providing urban habitat for a diversity of wildlife and offering alternatives to the traditional water- and chemical-dependent manicured lawn. There will be a series of guest speakers espousing the benefits of incorporating native plants into your landscape. The day will also include exhibitors and a plant sale. Call to receive a flier listing the day's activities. No fee or registration required for naturescaping programs.

Location: Springfield Conservation Nature Center

4600 S. Chrisman

Admission: Free

Hours: 9 - 4pm

Phone: 417-888-4237

Comments (5)

  • christie_sw_mo
    16 years ago

    This is today. I went by for awhile this morning and there was a wonderful assortment of native plants starting at $2.50. I didn't stay for any of the sessions. Just went to shop. lol
    Did anyone else go?

  • peaceofmind
    16 years ago

    I was there Christie! I not really familiar with the concept of native planting so it was all new to me. I bought two tiny butterfly weed (milkweed) and a nice size wild ginger. There were lots of other pretty things but there were many shoppers and the lines were long. I went to the first seminar and it was about native planting in your yard. I got a lot of good handouts and am learning about what can take the place of nonnatives in the yard. For instance, they recommended Spicebush (lindera benzoin) or Golden Current (ribes oderatum) in place of Forsythia. I find all that interesting and will probably change my planting habits. Christie, I notice they recommend Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea) highly. That is nice since we both invested in a bunch of them. ;-) How are yours doing by the way? Some of mine have leafed out and some haven't.
    Anise

  • christie_sw_mo
    16 years ago

    I have some Serviceberries that haven't leafed out yet also but I think they're alive. It just turned cooler when they started getting leaves.

    I thought about getting a Golden Currant but they were more expensive than the perennials. Spicebush is one that you can get through MDC. I have a few and find spicebush swallowtail caterpillars rolled up in the leaves occasionally. : )

    I have wild ginger in my shade garden that I got from a trader a few years ago. It wilts when it's thirsty but always very good to perk up again when I water it.
    Today I bought:
    Swamp Milkweed (asclepias incarnata)
    Royal Catchfly (silene regla)
    Purple Poppy Mallow (callirhoe involucrata)
    Fringed Poppy Mallow (callirhoe digitata)
    Birdsfoot Violet
    Shining Blue Star (amsonia illustris)
    They had another kind of amsonia and I wasn't sure which one to get.
    There was too much to choose from.

    One of the vendors was Hamilton Native Outpost. Has anyone ever visited there? Their catalog says "May and June is the best time to see the beauty of over 100 species landscaped within stone terraces and around a two acrea lake". Sounds pretty.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Hamilton Native Outpost in Elk Creek, MO

  • christie_sw_mo
    16 years ago

    The other major vendor was Missouri Wildflowers Nursery from Jefferson City. I thought both had good prices. MO Wildflowers Nursery had some of their plants in smaller containers for $2.50 which is good because I didn't have very much cash with me. lol

    Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Wildflowers Nursery in Jefferson City

  • Violet_Z6
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I was there for the classes, missed the first one though.

    Always fun to learn.

    Native plants here means plants that are indiginous to Missouri. They've been growing here for decades and are therefore adapted to grow well in our area.

    Often people don't understand there is less of a chance of survival from buying plants from nurseries and garden centers who purchase them wholesale from other parts of the country so they are not adapted to our environment.

    If you purchase plants that have already been growing in the region, their chance of survival is far greater and therefore more rewarding. So it's much easier to grow natives. It is also legal to collect seeds so if you ever see any natives in bloom somewhere where you can harvest later, write the location down and watch for seeds.

    :)

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