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Earthspirit Garden, St. Louis, MO (2026)

05/07/2023

I dare you not to fall in love. Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

04/06/2023

Which Missouri tree is currently covered in lovely fragrant white blossoms that do NOT smell of rotting fish?

Wild plum, an excellent, sweet smelling native replacement for the non-native, invasive (and stinky!) Callery pear.

There are multiple species of wild plum trees that are native to North America. One that is commonly found in Missouri is Prunus americana.

03/28/2023

Some Missouri native perennials waking up in the garden right now: golden Alexander, nodding wild onion, Ohio horse mint, wild bergamot.

03/23/2023

Are you looking for a spreading groundcover that is:

- steppable
- edible
- evergreen
- low maintenance
- good for bees
- good for birds
- able to grow in sun or shade

?

Then you're looking for wild strawberry!

03/22/2023

On this very grey spring day it's nice to see that this native wild plum tree plans to brighten things up with a burst of blooms soon!

03/22/2023

Native plant profile: Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa). Also known as bee balm. Perennial. Full sun to part shade. Medium to dry soil. Drought resistant. Tolerates clay and rocky soils. Height 2 - 4 ft. Bloom time May - August. Deer and rabbit resistant.

This Missouri mint family native, as its common name bee balm implies, attracts a wide variety of bees, and is also a magnet for butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. Showy lavender flowers resemble fireworks. Wild bergamot is pleasantly aromatic and the strong scent is something of a deterrent to rabbits and deer. People find this plant quite palatable, though! The edible leaves have a citrusy herbal flavor, something like a cross between lemon balm and oregano. Like many other mint family herbs, wild bergamot can be used to season foods, or brewed to make tea. This plant played an important part in traditional Native American food cultures across North America.

Wild bergamot is a very easy native plant to start from seed. It requires no stratification and can be started indoors with good lighting. If you already start your own tomatoes or basil from seed, you can certainly start wild bergamot.

Wild bergamot may also self-seed outdoors, but it is not nearly as aggressive as non-native mints.

Plant wild bergamot in an area with good air circulation to prevent powdery mildew.

03/20/2023

The recent cold weather doesn't seem to have stopped this blooming red maple, or Earthspirit Garden's talented resident brown thrasher, from declaring it spring. (Sound up for our musical bird's latest mix.)

01/27/2023

Native plant profile: Eastern blazing star (Liatris scariosa). Also called Savannah blazing star, tall gayfeather, or my personal favorite of its many common names, Devil's Bite. Perennial. Full sun to average shade, dry to moderate soil. Height 3-5 ft. Bloom time July - October. This plant is a magnet for migrating monarch butterflies, who love to sip nectar from the puffy purple flowers. It also attracts other butterflies and hummingbirds. Eastern blazing star tolerates clay soil, drought, and heat. It is labeled by some sources as deer resistant, but I would still recommend caging it until it is established. This is a great, low maintenance native plant for a butterfly garden.

01/24/2023

Native plant profile: wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana). Perennial. Full sun to light shade, medium to dry soil. Height: 6 - 10 inches. Bloom time April - May. White flowers, edible red fruit. Wild strawberry, a plant with a ground-hugging growth habit, spreads by rhizomes (underground stems) and stolons (aboveground runners) as well as seeds. This makes wild strawberry an excellent choice for areas of the garden where a rapidly spreading groundcover is desired. Be prepared to trim it from time to time to keep it from putting down roots in places you don't want it to. Unlike many more aggressive types of groundcover, however, wild strawberry does not tend to overtake established larger plants, and can be grown under them as a green mulch to help retain moisture and suppress w**d growth.

Wild strawberry can also be grown in containers to limit its spread. The growth cascading over the sides of a hanging basket has a pleasant ornamental effect. The plant is especially pretty in early spring when the white flowers appear and again in early summer when the fruit begins to turn red.

Wild strawberries provide a good source of nectar for bees in early spring, and native birds adore the ripe berries.

For abundant fruit production, it's best to plant several different wild strawberry plants from different sources. Individual wild strawberry plants may produce all male (non-fruiting) flowers, all female (fruiting) flowers, or flowers with both male and female parts, and it's not easy to identify which type you have, especially when the plants are not blooming or fruiting.

Wild strawberry is often confused with a similar looking, non-native plant, the mock strawberry, Potentilla indica, the fruit of which is also edible in a very technical sense but tasteless. It's a good idea to learn to tell the difference between the two.

Wild strawberries are a very important part of traditional Native American food culture. In a Cherokee story about the origin of strawberries, strawberries are said to have been created to help end a quarrel between a married couple and remind them of their love for one another, and ever since, strawberries have been seen as a symbol of love (see link in comments).

01/20/2023

Native plant profile: golden Alexander (Zizia aurea). Perennial, short-lived. Prefers part sun to medium shade, medium moisture and well-drained soil, but tolerates a range of moisture conditions from medium wet to medium dry. Height 1.5 - 3 ft. Bloom time April - June. Lacy, bright yellow flower clusters top glossy, toothed green foliage. Self-seeds in favorable conditions.

Many gardeners grow non-native herbs from the carrot family, like parsley or dill, as host plants to attract black swallowtail butterflies. As non-natives, these plants are not well adapted to our local climate, and gardeners in Missouri may find they must treat them with extra care and replant them regularly to maintain an attractive supply. Consider instead this pretty, low-maintenance, perennial Missouri native wildflower that hosts the black swallowtail! Golden Alexander is a native member of the carrot family. (Heart-leaved Alexander is another native option.) Golden Alexander is a host plant for both the black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) and a rarer lookalike, the, Missouri native Ozark swallowtail (Papilio joanae).

This plant is often labeled as deer resistant and so far the deer have left it alone in my garden.

01/19/2023

On learning to love native plants in their natural state in winter: In natural settings, the "dead" parts of native perennial wildflowers and grasses that go dormant in winter provide food and shelter for wildlife during cold winter months. Stems and leaves provide nesting habitat for native bees. Dried seed heads offer nutritious, high-protein food for native birds when the insects and berries they rely upon in spring and summer are unavailable, and in early spring, dried grass blades and wildflower stems provide the raw materials birds need to build safe, sturdy nests.

But many native plants offer interesting ornamental value in winter, too. Leave those spent flowerheads and drying stems alone in the fall, and you might be rewarded with stark winter beauty.

01/18/2023

Native plant profile: wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens). Also known as smooth hydrangea or sevenbark. Perennial shrub. Mature height 4 - 5 ft, sometimes larger in ideal conditions. Prefers light shade, but can tolerate a range of full sun to medium shade. Prefers medium to damp soil, but is MUCH more tolerant of heat and dry spells than imported hydrangeas or cultivars-- once the root system is established, you will not have to baby this plant through hot August afternoons! Native wild hydrangea's delicate blooms, resembling lace doilies, are less showy than many more ostentatious non-native hydrangeas and cultivars, but native pollinators, particularly bumblebees, absolutely love them. Native bees racing gleefully back and forth across the surface of the flowers is a sight to behold. Host plant for the hydrangea sphynx moth (Darapsa versicolor).

In my own experience, deer occasionally snack on wild hydrangeas, so you may want to protect small specimens with a cage for the first year or two until they are well established.

There are many smooth hydrangea cultivars, so a make a point of checking to be sure you are getting a true native if you want to grow the wild type, which is the most beneficial type for native pollinators. It's best to acquire this plant from a knowledgeable native plant gardener or a nursery that specializes in natives.

Earthspirit Garden

05/07/2023

04/06/2023

03/28/2023

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03/22/2023

03/22/2023

03/20/2023

01/27/2023

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