Does there come a point in everyone's career where a bunch of their mentors retire at once? I have felt that way recently. My coworkers at Shaw Nature Reserve, Terri Brandt and James Trager and also the director, John Beher. My friend Tim Wood who helped me land my first independent landscaping job. Sam Faith, who has mentored me in my volunteer interests in outdoor education. It is hard not to feel uprooted as the people I'm used to conversing with regularly find new interests. It is nice to have a support network of native plant nerds to bounce questions off. I guess this means it is my turn to become the mentor to someone just getting started in native plant landscaping. How does one become a mentor? If you are a mentor do you even know it? Having mentors was so valuable to me in my career so far, keeping me on track, encouraging me to push myself to do more, giving me the courage to move beyond my comfort zone. I want to give that same opportunity to someone else. Maybe only for the selfish reason of seeing the native plant movement continue beyond when I am no longer able to help.

One of my favorite ways to wind down after a hard day is to have a margarita out on our deck and watch the sun set. Shortly after sunset is a time that we call bat 30. The bats come out at dusk and we can watch their silhouettes as they do loopdeloops across our yard. Their flight pattern is a predictable wide circle around the garden with little darts off in any direction to snatch up an unsuspecting insect. Usually we see about 4 bats at a time but it is hard to tell. Sometimes they swoop so close that we can hear the air as they rush by. I'm guessing when they swoop low over me I was just saved from a mosquito bite. Common backyard bats are the big brown bat which often lives in peoples attics or garages and the red bat which lives in trees under bark. I was lucky enough to be part of a bat survey where we monitored the calls of the bats as they flew around the yard at night. I recorded calls from not only the big brown and the red bat but also the endangered Indiana bat. I was really excited to find out that my garden is providing habitat for an endangered species. Probably my Indiana bats were part of the colony that over winters in cliff cave but in the summer forages in a wider area, including my garden. To help attract bats to our yard we added two bat houses that we mounted on either side of our chimney. So far no bats have moved into the houses but I guess that just means that there is plenty of excellent bat habitat in the area and they don't need our house. We leave the houses up because we want the bats to have a place to live if their tree falls down or someone fixes the hole in their attic. Bat house designs are available from Bat Conservation International or ready to go houses can be bought at many wildflower markets. Personally, I think bats are pretty cute. I have never had one get in my hair although I have had a few fly very close. I have heard them referred to as sky puppies which is fitting with their funny little faces and fury bodies. They are so acrobatic in the sky and so much fun to watch. I also enjoy the fact that I know they are eating mosquitoes and other bugs in my yard. They are my favorite garden mammal and they are welcome in my backyard any time.

It is always so exciting to see the first green leaves pop out of the spring soil. A little walk around my garden and I saw spring beauty, trout lily, rue anemone, Dutchmen's britches, blood root, and tooth wort showing some leaves. Identifying flowers without blooms is always more challenging and leaves are not even shown in many wildflower ID guides. Each spring is like a quiz to see which plants I remember and how quickly their names and and an image of their bloom pops into my head. Spring beauty has very thin leaves and the nodding buds on a stalk in between. Trout lily is one of the easier ones since the leaves are thick and wide and covered with brown splotches just like a trout. Rue anemone leaves are tiny and there is usually a whole bunch of them in a colony together. Dutchmen's britches has feathery leaves. Blood root leaves are one of my favorite because they come out in a tight swirl that slowly unfurls into a large many lobbed leaf. Tooth wort has flower stalks like spring beauty and leaves like a very slender red maple. Another favorite of mine is the wild ginger because they remind me of little ears peaking out of the ground so I whisper to them that it is spring.

As I read Doug Tallamy's new book "Nature's Best Hope" I think about how great it would be if this book was in the hands of our local law and policy makers. I want to send a copy to the weed ordinance enforcers, the crew that clears the power lines, my county park superintendent, and my neighbors. I know there are some people who won't bother to read it but most people do care and only need the right information provided to them to become educated citizens that make decisions that protect nature. Like Tallamy's last book "Bringing Nature Home" this new book also encourages us that our best chance at saving nature as we know it is to start in our own yard. We often are discouraged when we here reports about declining populations of monarchs, bees, and that all insects are vanishing at an alarming rate. A study released a few months ago claims that 25% of north american birds, that is 3 billion, have disappeared in the last 50 years. We need to think global and act local because each of us has influence over a piece of this earth. If all private landowners were to take care of their own property by removing invasives and planting native plants we could make large parcels of ground friendly to biodiversity. Even if we all planted just one native tree in our quarter acre properties it would make a huge difference to habitat availability for migrating birds. In "Nature's Best Hope" Tallamy outlines a ten step process for each of us to do our part in the creation of what he calls Homegrown National Park. This book will give you hope and an action plan as well as several good talking point for the next time you see your neighbor. So I encourage everyone to buy a copy of this new book, read it yourself and then pass it on to someone who needs to read it, someone outside of your native plant circle. Give it to your preacher, your council member, and the president of your neighborhood association. Now I'm looking at my bookshelf and I have so many books I love. I should loan them all out so they can have as big of an influence on someone else as they have had on me. Let the books be read! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43212849-nature-s-best-hope

When I was a kid I had a poster called Roadside Wildflowers of Kansas. I would stare at it as I lay in bed and memorize the flowers. I wanted to have a name for the plants I saw out in nature. I knew I loved the plants even before I knew their name but once I had the name I could share with others. As a kid I wanted to share everything I experienced and asked even more questions to understand every little mystery. I know that many of my friends have had similar experiences of finding a love and curiosity about nature when they were very young. Take some time to think back to your first nature experiences and what you found wonderful and mysterious and peaked your curiosity. What made you first fall in love with the outdoors? As a community we need to make sure that children are still having nature experiences. We need kids to learn to love plants early in life. We protect what we love. Take a kid outside and help them find wonder in nature.

I have no idea how to quilt but I went to a quilting presentation recently because it was called Sew Native which sounded interesting. It was a great presentation about how many quilt patterns are inspired by nature and how easy it is to invent a new quilt pattern just by looking around outside. She had a beautiful quilt block that was based on a whichhazel flower with four crinkly yellow petals. It made me want to make a note this winter to go out in the snow and take a careful look at those tiny flowers. Many flower and other plant parts are very geometric and are easy to copy on graph paper for other types of projects. Her presentation did not inspire me to start quilting but to be more mindful of including nature in my craft projects. Our gardens are full of inspiration for art if we just go out and look. Maybe I can make some cool art based on a seed box flower.

I'm sorry to tell you that your butterfly bush is not a native plant. This news is sometimes shocking but still true. However, the jury is still out on whether it is an invasive or just a harmless ornamental. I haven't noticed butterfly bush invading woodlots and natural areas the way that bush honeysuckle does. In my garden it does reseed itself around the yard. A weedy shrub that only germinates in cultivated areas is not a threat to the environment, only to our gardens. Last summer on my way to dinner I drove through Crondelet park and just happened to see a shrub clinging to the side of an abandoned building. At first I thought it must be a honeysuckle growing up there in such an inhospitable habitat but on closer inspection it had purple flowers. So I got out of my car and took some photos of the butterfly bush in it's strange habitat. The side of a building in not a cultivated space but this shrub was obviously thriving and ready to reproduce. Have you noticed any butterfly bush that have escaped cultivation? Should we be worried about it invading natural areas? Should we be using it in our landscapes?

We like to put plants into categories. Categorizing a plant under one of the above categories can help us decide if we want to add that species to our yard or not. Understanding how a category is defined can help give meaning to the label. Additionally, knowing that the label is subjective to the experience of the gardener can add flexibility to your choice of plants. A native plant is a species that is local to this area. Native can be subject to how large of an area one considers to be local and what period of time we are looking at. Usually the area considered is the state of Missouri and the time period is when European settlers first came to the area because that is the first detailed record available of the flora. However, in the St Louis area it makes more sense to consider east central Missouri and west central Illinois to be the local area. Exotic plants are non native plants. Many exotic plants can not withstand our climate and die during the winter. An exotic plant is also a plant out of place, one without natural predators. Exotic plants that are able to handle the extreme climate of Missouri often earn the title exotic invasive because they take over our natural areas without any control to stop their reproduction. The invasive plant is the type to avoid. Being categorized as invasive is a big warning label that you do not want this plant in your yard. Even if you have an invasive plant in your garden that is well behaved it still can be harming natural areas if a bird picks up a seed and deposits it in a new place. Invasive plants are the biggest environmental threat to our existing nature reserves. Stop the spread of invasive species by eliminating them from our home gardens and educating friends and neighbors to do the same. Aggressive plants can be garden worthy if they receive enough care. Aggressive plants are often found in nature colonizing recently disturbed sites. They are the healers of natural areas and give way to more established plants over time. In our gardens aggressive plants can be problematic because a garden area is constantly being disturbed with our obsessive tinkering. Methods for gardening with aggressive plants include dead heading, root barriers, isolation, keeping low in the watershed, and pairing with equally aggressive plants. Limit opportunities for seed dispersal and root travel. Be careful to keep your composting area clear of viable plant parts. Categories like aggressive can be very subjective to the experience of the gardener.

Did you know that local St Louis streams have been measured to have salt concentrations higher then sea water? This is a major problem for our local ecosystems because the freshwater critters in the creak can not withstand high salt levels. If the critters all die there is no food for the fish and birds that eat them. The stream becomes out of balance and can cause algae blooms. Another bad side effect is more mosquitoes because there will be fewer predators of mosquito aquatic larvae. Dragonfly and damselfly larvae that live in our local streams are sensitive to stream pollutants. These high salt levels usually occur in winter when roadways are salted in preparation for an upcoming ice storm. As the snow and ice melt, all that salt goes into the storm sewers and flows into the creek. One of the worst sources of stream contamination is from road salt piles that are left outside uncovered. If you see an uncovered salt pile report it to  the sewer district and they will get a team out to get the problem resolved. Ongoing research in St Louis County involves citizen scientists across St Louis that measure water quality throughout the winter. I joined the monitoring group a few years ago and adopted my local stream and go out once a week to monitor which sometimes involves breaking the ice to get a sample. One benefit I get from this weekly trip to the creek is a chance to take in the beauty of the ice formations at the edge of the water and occasional visits from ducks and other wildlife. It is easy to forget to stop and enjoy the serenity of the outdoors in winter when I'm trying to keep my fingers from freezing. There are several things you can do to help keep salt out of our creeks. Use only as much salt as you need on your driveway and sidewalks and try switching to using sand or cat litter instead. When you visit a large parking lot at your school, church, or gym speak to the staff about the impact of salt on the local stream. Talk to your community about using brine instead of salt on streets because it is less harmful and is also usually cheaper. Too much salt can also kill lawns, rust cars, and damage roads.

On this snow day I'm enjoying all the photos posted online of gardens covered in snow. What makes the native garden so beautiful with fresh snow? The diversity of textures and structures are perfectly silhouetted with a layer of fluffy snow. Bare branched trees become works of art. Icicles hang from seed heads and grass stalks. Hydrangea is particularity beautiful with snow capped seed heads. Gardeners that have already cleaned up dead stems are missing out on these suspended cloud puffs in their garden. Coneflower seeds also makes a nice surface for collecting snow. The morning after a snow fall is a telling time to find bird and other wildlife tracks. A particular treasure is the feather imprint of a hawk's wings in the snow as it lands on it's prey. Snow tells the favorite trails of the garden and reveals the entrance to winter dens. Bird feeders are always popular spots on snow days and it is easy to spot the birds against a white background. Plants that hold their berries through winter like the  maroon berries of beauty berry add pops of color to the limited color palette of winter. The color shines even brighter when covered in a layer of ice. Winter blooming yellow Witchhazel is lovely with a dusting a snow. I admire the hardy little bees that venture out to pollinate the flowers. When preparing the garden for winter beauty be sure to leave sturdy plants standing. Clumps of arching grasses will become frozen ice fountains. Trees, shrubs, and garden art provide the architecture of the garden when all the paths become invisible.

A friend was getting rid of their outdoor garden train set and village. I'm not into trains but the miniature village looked interesting. So now I have 5 buildings, a gazebo, and a water tower that are all about a foot tall. I often think of my garden from the perspective of the creatures I see using it, the birds, voles, snakes, and insects. To them it is a lush jungle and this little village, I hope, will enhance that perspective. I plan to nestle the little buildings right between the plants. Maybe they will even be mostly hidden in the plants so a visitor will catch a glimpse of the building and have to take a second look. I imagine my garden critters will occupy the village soon. Mud dauber nests under the roofs, slugs beneath the porch, and spiderwebs in the gazebo. It will be fun to watch who moves in.

When I'm putting the garden to bed I keep my eye out for plants with decoration potential. For a framework, cut back vines can be twisted together to form a hoop or nest that can be hung up as a wreath or placed in the garden bed. Young flexible suckering shoots are easy to bend into woven baskets or tie other material together. Last years wreath frame or an old hose or bike wheel can even form the backbone of a decoration. After a sturdy frame is built add some evergreen boughs from an Eastern red ceder, pine, holly, or other evergreen that needs to be trimmed. Weave in some dried grass with curly tips or fluffy seeds for texture. Pine cones, berries, seed heads, sturdy dried leaves, feathers, nuts, and interesting sticks can be attached with string. Arrange the decoration to match the garden style with repetition, symmetry, and always some wildness. Be careful using seeds in the decoration that might germinate in an unwanted place. One year I ended up with a small forest of rattlesnake master at my doorstep. A natural wreath on the front door reminds us of the garden even when the weather makes outdoor experiences unpleasant. These small pieces of art beatify the garden and provide small areas of habitat for insects and nesting material for birds. A 100% natural wreath can be composted when it has reached the end of it's attractive period but not the end of it's life. Be creative, work with nature, build waste free, enjoy.