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Wild Crops of America

As our natural food supply faces threats from climate change and habitat loss, crop wild relatives have been a recent research darling. Crop wild relatives can provide genetic diversity that modern agriculture lacks, offering better resistance to disease and pests. Much research on these wild species has taken place in distant locales, like Kyrgyzstan, which…

Hispanic Heritage Month: The Garden’s Peru Program

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re having a month-long series focused on our work in Latin America. This week, we’re learning about the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Peru program! Leading the team is Program Director, Rodolfo Vásquez (below, first from left in front row), and Program Manager, Rocío Rojas (below, second from left in front row)….

Trying Chaya: Introducing a Superfood in Madagascar to Address Food Insecurity

In many parts of Madagascar, crop farmers face a food shortage every year between harvests. To try to help with this issue of food insecurity, the Missouri Botanical Garden is starting a trial introducing a super food to farmers: chaya, a perennial spinach-like crop native to Central America. The hope is that once a few…

Plant Profile: Cascade Mums

While mums (chrysanthemum) are a popular in the late summer and fall thanks to their ability to withstand temperature changes and their variety of colors, cascade mums can add a whole new layer of creativity and beauty to a garden. Growing these beautiful blooms does require quite a bit of planning and the right tools,…

Plants Of Demerit 2023

When it comes to home gardening, knowing what not to plant is just as important as knowing what should be going into your garden.

Is it Time for You to Go Solar?

Have you considered solar power in your home, but been overwhelmed by information and options? The Grow-Solar group buy program aims to make it easier, and cheaper, for homeowners to switch to solar! What is GrowSolar? Grow Solar Gateway Region combines Grow Solar St. Louis and Grow Solar Metro East.   It is designed to help…

Gardening Help: Common diseases to watch for in your garden

Like people, plants can become sick due to an infectious pathogen. Many of the most popular landscaping plants in the St. Louis area are susceptible to a number of common diseases.

Sunflowers for Sustainability

On a vacant lot in the Old North neighborhood in St. Louis, bright yellow sunflowers bloom against a backdrop of brick buildings and a distant view of the Gateway Arch. Years ago, this picturesque scene was a bit bleaker, with construction debris and weeds filling the lot instead of flowers. In stepped the the Sunflower+…

Meeting Madagascar

Madagascar is home to the Missouri Botanical Garden’s largest international research program with more than 200 local staff members, all of whom but one are Malagasy. The Garden has had a research presence in Madagascar since the 1970s, and currently co-manages 13 protected sites jointly with local communities.

Urban Garden Dreams: Student Community Art at the Sachs Museum

Urban Garden Dreams: Student Community Art is currently installed in the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum, which is open daily for visitors, 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. It will be on view through March 2024. The exhibition content is available online at the Museum Twitter account here and the Museum Instagram account here. Please check the Museum site here for updates and future online events.

Collections Highlight: A Look at Daylilies

Daylilies have been cultivated by humans for years, originally more for food purposes than beauty. Today, there are more than 80,000 registered cultivars of daylilies.

Gardening Help FAQ

The Kemper Center for Home Gardening answers some of the most common gardening help questions from St. Louis gardeners this spring.