I began planting for wildlife, birds and pollinators in 2003 after I retired. I began with a plan from Grow Native for hummingbirds in my side garden. I initially added native plants slowly and concentrated more on my vegetable and fruit gardens until my first class at the Native Plant School at Shaw Nature Reserve.
I have attended the Partners for Native Landscaping Workshop and webinars from the Missouri Prairie Foundation. In 2020, we added more trees and shrubs for wildlife and in 2021 Sue Bartelette from Flower and Garden Design designed my front two flowerbeds adding more native plants. Future plans include a water feature to help the birds and insects and a bed on the west side of the house to handle a water issue.
We have lived in the house since 1980 and are gradually replacing the original ornamental plants with natives. This past year we added St. John’s Wort, Yellow baptisia, Dittany, Crested iris, Zigzag goldenrod, Golden groundsel, Columbine, and Firepink to our driveway beds which reflect and complement each other with similar plantings. The front bed of our home is planted with Prairie dropseed, American beautyberry, Alum root, and purple poppy mallow. We are definitely a work in progress for adding natives.
