For Dan and Carol Gravens, gardening is about sharing. Married for 56 years, it is a passion they share with each other that has grown and evolved over time. They also abundantly share their gardening expertise with a variety of community organizations and willingly share the garden itself. Just ask. 

“If you are looking to create a flamboyant color spectacle, Phasion Canna makes the perfect choice, fantastic as a stunning centerpiece of floral arrangements, or planted by themselves. It features exotic banana-like, striped foliage of green, yellow, pink and red with brilliant tangerine orange, torch-like blooms. It prefers full sun.” Ann Lapides, Sugar Creek Gardens.

April 1-7
Shrubs and trees best planted or transplanted in spring, rather than fall, include butterfly bush, dogwood, rose of Sharon, black gum (Nyssa), vitex, red bud, magnolia, tulip poplar, birch, ginkgo, hawthorn and most oaks.

April 1-14
Start cucumber, cantaloupe, summer squash and watermelon seeds indoors in peat pots.

April 1-14
Prune peaches and nectarines now.

April 1-14
Asparagus and rhubarb harvests begin.

April 15-23
When crabapples are in bloom, hardy annuals may be transplanted outdoors.

Catherine Walther’s love for nature, travel, design and all things French after majoring in the language and living in France and Montreal, led her into gardening. The product of those passions — and 35 years of collecting, refining and tweaking the outdoor space surrounding her Brentwood home — is evident in the resplendent container garden that graces the large deck out back.

In his 70-year career in horticulture, Bob Dingwall hasn’t missed a beat and has always relished a challenge. “I enjoy people telling me I can’t do things,” he says with a bit of a smile. His answer, he relates, always is, “Yes, you can make a plant grow the way you want it to grow.”

Those were exactly the words the homeowner wanted to hear. The homeowner had made contact with Bob through one of Bob’s many happy clients, and he had a precise request for the former chief horticulturist at the Missouri Botanical Garden, who now has his own consulting business.

Rain or shine, head over to the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House to see the natural habitat in which butterflies thrive. The Butterfly House is family friendly and a place for people of all ages to enjoy. The conservatory is lushly planted with nearly 100 species of exotic flowering tropical plants. In the Emerson Theater, people can learn about a butterfly’s life cycle before seeing the butterflies themselves.