St. Louis’s year-round species of birds are beginning to be joined by migrating birds returning here or passing through on their way to more exotic summer habitats. Our area is a great location for birdwatching. It is on the Mississippi Flyway migration...
Update to previous post on the Invasive Species bill: The Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM) has made it easy to take action. Here's a link to their automated letter generator. For those living in U City, it will likely set that up to send to Rep....
Invasive plants choke out native vegetation without providing nutritious food for wildlife. They can also negatively impact crops and livestock. Thanks to U. City in Bloom horticulture staff and dedicated volunteers, we have made great progress in removing invasive...
On Memorial Day, May 27, 2024, the University City Memorial Day Run (MDR) will turn fifty! For the upcoming 50th Anniversary of this beloved University City tradition, the MDR Committee would like to hear from runners, volunteers, and others associated with the Run...
On Sunday, October 1, U City in Bloom hosts its biennial Garden Tour in conjunction with its annual Plein Air Art Festival and Competition. The Tour takes place from 1 – 5 PM and highlights the Musick and Meridian neighborhoods located just north of Olive Boulevard on...
Watch A Year in the Life of the Woods, a video created by Byron Sletten, which was shown at the Centennial Year of the Parks event at Ruth Park Woods, April 16, 2023.
There’s no doubt that water is a precious natural resource but it can also be a tremendously destructive force as late July’s record-setting rainfall and flash floods demonstrated. As a NatureScaper helping to rid Ruth Park Woods of invasive plants, the recent floods...
Phen…What? Phenology is one of the many -ologies — the study of something. In this case, it is the study of the timing of biological events that recur — usually on a seasonal basis, but I like to simply think of it as “let’s see what’s in bloom this week!” After...
No, bananas aren’t native to Missouri, but the pawpaw, otherwise known as the American custard apple or Missouri (or Indiana, Hoosier, Michigan or Nebraska) banana is. These small trees with big leaves tend to grow along streams and rivers in bottomland forests.
This week’s focus is vine or Japanese honeysuckle Lonicera japonica. It smells lovely, tastes sweet, and can smother trees to death.
The umbrella-like leaves of red buckeyes offer habitat to birds and small animals. The flowers are an important food source for our native ruby-throated hummingbirds, especially since they bloom right at the time that the hummingbirds arrive in the St. Louis area from their migration north from southern Mexico and Central America. Note that the flowers are a hummingbird’s favorite shape (tubular) and color (red)!
BUSH HONEYSUCKLE (Lonicera maackii) is one of the most abundant invasive species in Ruth Park Woods. Why is it undesirable, though? It’s a big green bush that grows well. Bush honeysuckle is undesirable because:It creates such dense thickets that it produces too much...
U City in Bloom staff have written plant profiles in the past focusing on a particular plant. I want to do something a little different this time and focus on a flower shape. I love globe-shaped flowers, I think there is something special about them. I don’t...
Urban forests help to store carbon, suck up stormwater, filter air pollution, cool our cities, provide food and homes for wildlife, and improve our own physical and mental health. But powerful as they are, trees are under attack from climate change, invasive...
An Ode to Giant Coneflower: Most garden centers today offer a lot of great options for people that want short perennials. But, what about plants that make us tip our heads back to look up instead of down? Do these plants deserve a spot in the...
Plant & Shrub Donations Needed U City in Bloom needs donations of perennial plants and shrubs for our Annual Plant Sale. Get your gardening tools out and start digging! Donations are being accepted at the Vernon Nursery. Please place donated plants in plastic bags...
U City in Bloom is seeking skilled gardeners and horticulturists to apply to be part of our dedicated team. You have seen our shirts at conventions, or heard about some of the great things we are doing, but what actually is U City in Bloom? We are an...
Winter can be grey, cold and dreary especially for gardeners who long for the lush growth and flowering plants of spring and summer. There is a way to fight against the idea that the winter garden is a boring dormant scene. There are so many characteristics of...