I live in the northland. First they need to check any rules to see what changes they can make some will not allow anything other than in pots.

From the discription of one tree in a field I think they live in Kansas City North of the river which has multiple types of land. Theirs is probably all fill.

North Kansas City is a small town in itself. North Kansas City is next to the Missouri river in a flat area which which may be soggy when we have too much rain. My DH just told me there is a retirement residence in a part where they tore down all the senior apartments and build taller buildings.

I would suggest thymes, zinnas. Kansas City has numerous gardening societies. One of the umberella groups is the Garden Center Association. It is a group of various garden groups that used to use a building in a park called Loose Park just south of the plaza area. This groups has a meeting the third Saturday of the month normally at the MO Conservation Department building just south of 4700 Troost. Coffee and goodies at nine am and various types of lectures at 9:30. Center has wonderful gardens behind the building for different types of woodlands, ponds, grasslands, etc. Amazing how much is packed in such a small area.

If you can post the general area of the northland I can give better suggestions and locations of nurseries and plant that can provide decent plants at a reasonable cost.

The three most popular shrubs in my wildlife certified yard are: Virburnums (any kind), and Serviceberry, both for food. then Evergreens for shelter. I have junipers and cedars and Spruce. I have squirrel-proof feeders full of sunflower seeds and bags and feeders full of thistle.
The main thing is to feed year round. Give the birds and other critters a place to hide and shelter.
There is nothing prettier than to watch the red cardinals flock around my upper deck feeder during the winter.
They look like Christmas ornaments when resting in nearby trees. So beautiful!!
Pondy

26 yrs ago, we lived in a house that was in a newly built area when we moved there. You were lucky if the builder put in a tree. We had no squirrels, even with the extensive planting that I did. In 21 yrs, I saw 2 squirrels. I had a few kinds of bird, but mostly we had HOSP. Please be sure to check that they aren't inundated with the HOSP. IMHO, the US already has enough, we don't need to encourage more. I guess my question is, do they see various wildlife there? If so, what? If it is HOSP, they eat any kind of food that they'd put out. In a matter of a couple hours, they'd empty any and all feeders. And that would be incredibly expensive. If they see no squirrels now, the squirrels aren't going to find a squirrel feeder. It's like asking them to find a needle in a haystack. That's from personal experience also.

Ok I give up! what in the world is a HOSP?

ghoghunter,

It's an abbreviation for house sparrow. All the North American birds are identified by 4 letter abbreviations, but most of them aren't obvious without knowing that.

-- Lori

I just received my Wornall House flyer with the date of their herb sale, April 26, 2008, 9 am until sold out. Many of the garden societies have their plant sales in Kansas City that weekend or the next. Shopping at the various clubs will allow your parents to meet other bird and butterfly lovers.

I posted earlier and thought I would update on the plant lovers shopping weekend.