Summer 2007: Volume 28, Number 3 - Missouri Prairie Foundation

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St. Louis Area Urban PrairiesPrairie Garden Profile:Klondike ParkDo you cringe when you see trees planted in narrowlittle parking lot strips? If so, visit KlondikePark in St. Charles County and cringe no more!Within the park, which formerly was a quarry ona bluff overlooking the Missouri River, is a conferencecenter with a “prairie strip” in its parkinglot. The strip is planted with 27 different speciesof native, drought-tolerant prairie plants withinits 18” wide × 290’ long boundaries. The plantsflower from March through November.In addition to providing an attractive, lowmaintenancelandscaping feature, the prairiestrip is frequently admired by gardening groupsand girl scouts who visit the area to learn andpractice their plant identification skills.Klondike Park is on South Highway 94between Defiance and Augusta. For more information,call Gail Schatzler, horticulture supervisorwith St. Charles County Parks and Recreationat 636-949-1830.Gail SchatzlerGail SchatzlerRain GardenProfile:MissouriMasterNaturalists’Rain GardenIf you’re driving down SouthMain Street in St. Charles, takea quick detour east to RiversideDrive. You will feast your eyes onthe newly completed MissouriMaster Naturalists’ drive-by raingarden project on the riverfront.It is just north of, and part of, theLewis and Clark Boathouse andNature Center.Sandwiched between anasphalt parking lot, a cementdriveway, and a rock and steelbuilding, this 30’ × 90’ space wasthe dumping site for leftoverbuilding materials in the past.The site also contained an aluminumflagpole, giant storm drains,electrical conduits and sewagepipes. To top off the harsh growingenvironment, the soil variedfrom moist and wet to cementlikeand sandy.Nevertheless, beginningin March 2006, the ConfluenceChapter of the Missouri MasterNaturalists crossed their fingersand rolled up their sleeves intrue “can-do” style, and beganwork on the garden. Over thenext year and a half, in the faceof flash storms, drought andrecent river flooding, membersturned an ugly duckling into ascott barnes Lee Phillionlee phillionMPF member Leslie Limberg introduces teachersto the rain garden, who in a four-day conferencelearned to use the site as a teachingtool for outdoor education and field trips.Before and after: Master Naturalists beganwork on the rain garden in the spring of 2006,and the garden looked great a year later.swan. More than 79 plant species were planted in the garden, including little and bigbluestem grasses, penstemon species, joe pye weed, cord grass and prairie dock.Not only is the garden beautiful to look at, but it effectively filters and slowsrainwater runoff. Now when rainwater pours off the pavement, it travels through therain garden’s new topography, plant life, river rocks, boulders and fallen logs beforeemptying into the garden’s storm drains, which carry the water into the Big Muddy,20 feet away.Leslie Limberg, MPF member and master naturalistIf you know of a rain garden or prairie garden in Missouri that you would like to see featured in the Journal, let us know.Contact Editor Carol Davit at davitleahy@earthlink.net or 1311 Moreland Avenue, Jefferson City, MO 65101.24
Visit An MPF Prairie•Runge PrairiePrairie Fork ExpansionBruns TractFriendly PrairieDrovers PrairieKansas City*•••St. Louis*Schwartz PrairieStilwell PrairieGay Feather PrairieLattner PrairieEdgar & RuthDenison PrairieCoyne Prairie••••• • •*SpringfieldGolden PrairiePenn-Sylvania PrairieLa Petite Gemme PrairieImperviousHigh Density UrbanLow Density UrbanBarren or Sparsely VegetatedCroplandGrassland (native and non-native)Deciduous ForestEvergreen ForestMixed ForestDeciduous Woody/HerbaceousEvergreen Woody/HerbaceousWoody Dominated WetlandHerbaceous Dominated WetlandOpen waterSome late summer and fall prairie highlights: prairie grasses turning gold, purple, brown and red; pink and purple asters,migrating monarch butterflies; dewy spiderwebs; silken milkweed seeds; golden sunflowers; blue sage; and jewel-like gentians.For information about and directions to MPF prairies, contact the MPF office in Columbia at 1-888-843-6739 or 573-442-5842.Map credit: MoRAP, Missouri Resource Assessment Partnership25
Page 3 and 4: ContentsSummer2007 Volume 28, Numbe
Page 5 and 6: gather at Friendly PrairieDuring th
Page 7 and 8: Prairie ConservationA Beginner’s
Page 9 and 10: MDC provides funds for landownerswh
Page 11 and 12: etation. This practice may be appli
Page 13: organizations by identifying a comp
Page 16 and 17: St. Louis Area Urban PrairiesBruce
Page 18 and 19: St. Louis Area Urban PrairiesThe ac
Page 20 and 21: St. Louis Area Urban PrairiesCarol
Page 22 and 23: St. Louis Area Urban PrairiesJan Ob
Page 26 and 27: A Rich Man’s GardenOn a Teacher
Page 28 and 29: Top, sweet coneflowerstems spill in
Page 30 and 31: Prairie dropseed grass,broad prairi
Page 32 and 33: Calendar of Prairie-Related EventsS
Page 34 and 35: Pure PrairieDay on Wah’Kon-Tah Pr
Page 36 and 37: Pure PrairieA Nebraska PraiBy David
Page 38 and 39: Pure PrairiePrairie ProfessionalsPr
Page 40 and 41: Pure PrairieMember Profile:Lowell P
Page 42 and 43: Pure PrairieMPF’s Most Appreciati
Page 44: Missouri Prairie Foundation Officer

Summer 2007: Volume 28, Number 3 - Missouri Prairie Foundation

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