It all began 15 years ago with a lot of research and a garden hose. Oops, did we forget to mention a shovel? The hose was so Bob Henson could create the shape of the pond he was about to dig in the back yard of his home in Sappington.     

Lori Stringer’s Ballwin garden glows with color. It shines in summer from the golds of native Missouri coneflowers, gray-headed prairie coneflowers and ox-eye sunflowers. The color wheel revolves to the cooler shades of purple coneflower and lavender wild bergamot (bee balm).  Brilliant red spikes of Cardinal flower act as exclamation points in the floral display, while native swamp hibiscus, taking advantage of wet spots in the garden, add saucer-shaped blossoms in pinks and burgundy.

Apples 

Apple trees are among the easiest fruit-bearing trees to grow in Missouri! Adaptable and hardy, apple trees produce best in full-sun and with proper care can produce fruit for 25 years or more with yields ranging from five to ten bushels of fruit per mature tree. Please note that to grow this fruit successfully, you’ll need more than one tree for proper pollination.

Having several cultivars with the same flowering times works best, as harvest seasons can range from early to late summer and fall depending on the type. 

Jo Batzer paints with plants. She draws with driftwood and sketches with saplings.  One look at her garden and you see she is an artist.  Colors, textures and shapes flow together and then play off each other.

Step down into Debbie Hadley’s Webster Groves garden and be engulfed in green: the dark forest green of the towering Norway spruce, the Canadian hemlock and feathery false cypress that form the perimeter of property. Spotted throughout to provide winter interest and architectural form, deep green spreading yews, blue tinged spruces and Weeping Blue Atlas cedar add nuances to the verdant theme.