We celebrate Earth Day every April 22. On a chilly September day in 2001, an Energy Festival in mid-town St. Louis anchored the other side of the year. One “green” event in spring, one in fall. For a while, that was it! On June 2, 3, and 4, 2021, the Green Living Festival carries this…
In his nearly 40 years as Missouri Botanical Garden President, Dr. Peter Raven oversaw a period of unprecedented growth, including the creation of some of the Garden’s most beloved areas — the Margaret Grigg Nanjing Friendship Garden (Chinese Garden), Blanke Boxwood Garden, and English Woodland Garden among them. In his autobiography Driven by Nature: A…
Every year since 1998, the Missouri Botanical Garden has partnered with other regional horticultural institutions to select Plants of Merit. Plants of Merit are chosen for outstanding quality and dependable performance in Missouri, southern and central Illinois, and the Kansas City metro area. To qualify as a Plant of Merit, the plants must be easy…
As temperatures warm outside, many home gardeners are eager to get their summer gardens started. Spring is the perfect time to plan your summer garden, and once the final frost is out of the forecast, you can get to planting your annuals. When you’re thinking about how to make your yard pop this summer, consider…
In St. Louis, the Cardinals have thrown the first pitch of the season, the weather is heating up, and our local biodiversity is blooming, sprouting, and flying all around us. You’ve dusted off your baseball cap and enjoyed a picnic. Now it’s time to test your nature observation skills! We need you, community scientists, to…
One of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s most spectacular spring shows is headed Off-Broadway, so to speak. Specifically, to Alfred Avenue, the site of a make-shift nursery housing more than 300 of the Garden’s azaleas and rhododendrons. Here, they await a public encore in the near future. These showy, spring-blooming shrubs were moved to Alfred Avenue in 2020….
Perhaps you have seen them while visiting the Missouri Botanical Garden’s William T. Kemper Center for Home Gardening — large white, multi-compartment birdhouses on poles about 14 feet high. In spring and summer, the housing is fully occupied by purple martins (Progne subis), a swallow species. St. Louis today is possibly home to the largest…
With regret, the Garden reports that the St. Louis-area Plastic Pot Recycling program remains suspended going into this spring’s growing season. We are answering many emails and calls about this program. We know that gardeners are sustainability minded! We hope this summary of issues and some options will be useful, even while our region cannot…
In springtime, Easter lilies are a common sight in grocery stores, churches, and on dining room tables. With their large, white, trumpet-shaped blooms and delicate fragrance, they are a true symbol of the Easter season. But did you know that spring isn’t the only time these plants can be enjoyed? If you want to keep…
A welcome visitor to gardens, and sure sign summer is coming to an end when seen in large groups, monarch butterflies are a staple of St. Louis scenery and landscapes across the country. But their numbers are dwindling, scientists say. Shrinking Numbers and the Endangered Species Act Recently, the monarch butterfly has been in the…
Tariq StevartAssociate Scientist, Africa and Madagascar Program When Tariq Stevart was around 10 years old, his grandfather took him on a trip to Switzerland, where they climbed mountains and discovered alpine flora, in particular orchids. It sparked a lifelong interest for Stevart, who grew up in Belgium and always admired the beautiful orchids of Europe….
In 1895, Anna Isabel Mulford would become the first student—of any gender—to earn a PhD from Washington University.