Midwest

[Garden Calendar Coordinator]

Share your local garden events with other gardeners from your neck of the woods. Find out about cool happenings right where you live, including garden tours, plant sales, nature walks, classes, workshops, and more! Scroll through the posts below to find events in your area – or just click the “reply to this post” button below to let other gardeners know about events going on near you!

[Garden Calendar Coordinator]

For 150 years, the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis has been a top destination for visitors seeking a scenic respite among bountiful blooms. Winter is no exception: since 1915, the Garden has blended plants with seasonal décor in an indoor holiday spectacle enjoyed by all ages. In 2009, the “Gardenland Express” holiday flower and train show celebrates 150 Years of the Garden through a vibrant spectrum of bold botanicals. See the festive showcase on display Wednesday, Nov. 25 through Sunday, Jan. 3 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (closes at 4 p.m. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve; closed Christmas Day.) Eight G-scale model garden trains will travel along 800 feet of railway track in the Orthwein Floral Display Hall, through a colorful palette of oranges, purples, reds, lime greens and more.

A few of the holiday show’s traditional inclusions will be given a trendy twist, from the poinsettia ORANGE SPICE^TM to the hot hue of POLLY’S PINK^TM. Others will highlight the opposite spectrum of time, such as the amaryllis Hippeastrum x johnsonii, which dates back to the Victorian era. Unexpected tropicals and large palms will deck the hall in a botanical bonanza. See blue-grey triangle palms, Oxalis CHARMED WINE^TM and deep CHARMED VELVET^TM, Chrysanthemum ‘Green Valley’ and ‘Ivory Eugene,’ Begonia ‘Black Coffee,’ Hibiscus acetosella ‘Maple Sugar,’ Syngonium ‘Golden Illusion,’ lime green coleus and more!A diamond-shaped criss-cross floor plan outlines four perimeter display areas, each showcasing Missouri Botanical Garden landmarks in miniature. Look for the historic Linnean House conservatory, Museum Building, Chinese Garden pagoda, Piper Observatory, Tower Grove House (founder Henry Shaw’s original country estate) and more, replicated through models with some botanical surface treatments. Archival images highlighting the institution’s 150 year history will line the walls in a tribute timeline. At the show’s center, a water feature is accented by regal stone columns in a style similar to the Garden’s entrance. Urns and wrought iron garden décor add to the Victorian scene. Winding in and out of the landscape, finely-detailed foot-long locomotives chug along railway tracks, tooting their horns and delivering faux freight and passengers to their holiday destinations. Trains have been a nostalgic addition to the Garden’s holiday flower show since 2003, harkening back to the seasonal storefront window displays of yester-year.The 2009 “Gardenland Express” holiday flower and train show is sponsored by CBIZ & Mayer Hoffman McCann, P.C.; Central States Coca-Cola Bottling Company; Miss Marian L. Herr; Hobby Station; and Mr. and Mrs. William R. Orthwein, Jr.  Admission to “Gardenland Express” is $5 for ages three and over, in addition to general Garden admission ($8 adults; $4 St. Louis City and County residents; free for children age 12 and under). Garden members and their children are free.

Starting in November, purchase tickets in advance at www.mobot.org/tickets.asp.The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in south St. Louis, easily accessible from Interstate 44 at the Vandeventer exit. Free parking is available on-site and at two blocks west at the corner of Shaw and Vandeventer.For general information, visit www.mobot.org or call the recorded event line at (314) 577‑9400 or toll-free 1 (800) 642-8842. Starting in early November, catch a glimpse of the show installation in progress online at www.mobot.org/hort; click on “Activities and Events.” The Missouri Botanical Garden is the oldest continually operating botanical garden in the nation, celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2009. Missouri Botanical Garden: Green for 150 Years.

[Garden Calendar Coordinator]

FLOAT AWAY TO FRANCE WITH A VISIT TO THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN’S 2010 ORCHID SHOW

WHAT: 92nd annual Orchid Show
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 30 through Sunday, Mar. 28 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd., south St. Louis
COST: $5 plus Garden admission ($8 adults; $4 St. Louis City/County residents; free children ages 12 and under). Free Garden members
INFO: http://www.mobot.org; (314) 577-9400, 1 (800) 642-8842 toll free

Be whisked away on a sophisticated French escape this winter with a visit to the 92nd annual Orchid Show at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Visitors will experience a butterfly’s view of paradise: a lush garden of curvilinear design, filled with hundreds of fresh-blooming orchids from the Garden’s historic collection. The 2010 Orchid Show debuts Saturday, Jan. 30 and is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Sunday, Mar. 28. Show admission is $5, in addition to regular Garden admission ($8 adults, $4 St. Louis City and County residents, free children ages 12 and under). Garden members are free.

The Garden maintains one of the nation’s largest orchid collections, with over 8,100 individual orchid plants in hundreds of varieties. The Orchid Show is the only time of year when a sizeable selection of plants from the collection is brought out en masse for public view. Shades of warm yellows, energetic oranges, pleasing plums and rosy reds mingle with passionate plums and winter whites reflected in the Cattleyas, Cymbidiums, Oncidiums and other orchids displayed from head to toe in a garden of greenery.

Enter the “Butterfly’s Garden” through the Piper Lobby, which morphs into the faux Monarch Café for the show. Stroll through this tiny French lobby to discover the 5,000-square-foot Orthwein Floral Display Hall, completely transformed into a French-inspired streetscape and temporary “garden within a garden.” Saunter beneath streetlamps along the curvy rue du jardin. Meander past the storefront of a quaint flower shop and alongside a rising image of Paris’s monumental Eiffel Tower. Aloft throughout the garden, find dozens of over-sized model butterflies covered with botanical surface treatments. Decorative fleurs de lis finials and ornamental obelisks accent the sophisticated scene, which showcases 700 to 800 individual blooming orchids at any one time.

Each year, the Garden’s Orchid Show is carefully constructed from the ground up by a team of horticulturists led by Scace and long-time orchid grower Babs Wagner. Winter-blooming orchids comprise about 60- to 70-percent of the Garden’s prized collection, which concentrates on plants that can tolerate extremes in St. Louis temperatures. Throughout the duration of the eight-week show, orchids will be continually rotated out and replaced with fresh blooms as different cultivars come into flower, offering new sights and smells with each repeat visit.

Admission to the Orchid Show is $5 per person (ages three and over), in addition to Garden admission ($8 adults; $4 residents of St. Louis City or County; free children ages 12 and under). Garden members are admitted free. Photographers are welcome to use hand-held cameras to capture the show for personal enjoyment, but tripod and monopod usage is not permitted indoors.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in south St. Louis, easily accessible from Interstate 44 at the Vandeventer exit. Free parking is available on-site at the west lot and at two blocks west at the corner of Shaw and Vandeventer.

For general information, visit http://www.mobot.org or call the recorded event line at (314) 577‑9400 or toll-free 1 (800) 642-8842. 

[Justin -- BHG Editor]

March Morpho Mania returns to the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, offering visitors an experience like no other. Throughout the month of March, step inside the tropical conservatory to be immersed in more than 3,000 iridescent blue morpho butterflies in free flight, ten times the usual number!

“To be surrounded by this concentration of blue morphos is truly an awe-inspiring experience,” said Joe Norton, director of the Butterfly House. “We don’t know of anywhere else where you will encounter this many of these incredible butterflies at any one time. It’s certainly a month not to be missed!”

Now in its third year, the popular event has been expanded to meet visitor demand. Guests can enjoy a total immersion experience from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, Mar. 2 through 31 (closed Mondays). The Butterfly House will stock its display with approximately twice the number of tropical blue morphos as last year, and three times the number from its inaugural event in 2008.

“With this volume of butterflies, the conservatory will constantly be filled with action,” said Norton.

You can’t ordinarily catch a glimpse of Common Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides) butterflies in the U.S., as the species is only native to Central and South America. They are a visitor favorite at the Butterfly House, easily identified by the bright blue wings which are used to establish territory, signal to mates, and fool predators in their native habitat. The brilliant blue isn’t actually a colored pigment at all, but rather the effect of refracted light on their scaled wings, making the color appear to change depending on the angle of view. At roost, the mottled brown underside of the butterflies’ closed wings helps them to blend in with their surroundings, once again fooling predators who mistake their spots for animal eyes. When open, the wingspan of the Common Blue Morpho can reach up to eight inches.

What appears to be a random flight pattern is actually a purposeful activity. Males cruise about during the day to establish a territory and attract females. If another male invades the space, he is soon chased away. At night, the butterflies roost on the underside of large leaves and branches in the forest understory. When hungry, blue morphos feast on such delicacies as rotting fruit, tree sap, dung and dead animal carcass. At the Butterfly House, the animals’ vegetarian diet mainly consists of bananas and other fruits presented on hanging feeding plates.

The Common Blue Morpho butterflies on display during March Morpho Mania all hail from one butterfly farming operation in Costa Rica called El Bosque Nuevo. This farming effort represents an alternative choice to more damaging forms of agriculture, and also allows for the restoration of native habitat, increasing the potential for species of native animals and plants to survive in the wild.

Throughout the month, visitors will learn about the critical role butterflies play in nature, and how the Butterfly House is participating in this particular conservation effort in Costa Rica. Each weekend from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., enjoy activities designed for all ages focused on different aspects of the country. Saturday and Sunday, Mar. 6 and 7, learn about the mysterious stone sculptures of Costa Rica’s eastern Caribbean coast. Activities on Mar. 13 and 14 will delve into the significant global loss of amphibians and how it has impacted the frog populations of Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. Mar. 20 and 21 will focus on the Guanacaste Region and the “jewels” of Costa Rica, its blue morpho butterflies. Mar. 27 and 28 features games from the Central Valley.

The 3,000 Common Blue Morphos aren’t the only frequent flyers visitors will encounter inside the 80-degree, 8,000-square-foot glass conservatory. Approximately 1,000 other tropical butterflies representing over 60 of the world’s species are also on display daily. Spot the Orange Barred Tiger, Gold Rim Swallowtail, Scarlet Mormon, Green Banded Peacock, Magnificent Owl and more flitting about the lush tropical greenery and waterfalls.

Step into the exhibit hall to encounter dozens of other living insect and arachnid displays. See a fluorescing Desert Hairy Scorpion, colorful Jungle Nymphs and Yellow Taxi Cab Beetles, Black Widow and Brown Recluse spiders, a colony of 3,000 Orange Head Roaches and more.

Stop by the Madame Butterfly Gift Shop to browse for butterfly-inspired gifts, educational toys, books and souvenirs for all ages.

The Butterfly House is located at 15193 Olive Blvd. at Faust Park in Chesterfield, Mo., easily accessible from Interstate 64 at exit #19B. Hours through Memorial Day are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays (closed Mondays). The last ticket is sold 30 min. prior to closing each day.

Admission is $6 for adults (ages 13 to 64), $4.50 for seniors (ages 65 and over), and $4 for children (ages three to 12). Children ages two and under and Missouri Botanical Garden members are free.

Visitors are welcome to take snapshots for their own personal use using a hand-held camera only; please, no tripods, monopods or external flash equipment.

For more information, visit www.butterflyhouse.org or call (636) 530-0076.

[susandorris2004]

A Master Gardener Garden Tour and Plant Sale

Saturday May 1, 2010 from 9:00am - 12:00pm

University of Missouri Extension

260 Brown Rd
St. Peters, Missouri 63376 Get Directions

Bedding Plants, Herbs, Vegetable Plants, Unusual Varieties for sale at great prices. Free tour of the gardens demonstrates how to grow excellence in your garden. Master Gardeners on site to answer your questions. Come early for best selection.


Directions http://extension.missouri.edu/stcharles/location.shtml

Phone Number:
(636) 970-3000

Website: http://extension.missouri.edu/stcharles/mastergardener/gardentourplantsale.shtml