You’ll find more information on both Flora for Fauna’s current projects and upcoming work here.
Past projects
In October, 2023, Flora for Fauna, a Missouri Botanical Garden master gardener, parents and students of Kol Rinah Congregation Sunday school, located in Clayton, Missouri, planted two each of the native blooming shrubs Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis and Rose Mallow, Hibiscus moscheutos, on the congregation’s grounds at the bottom of a water retention area. Forest ReLeaf of Missouri provided the plants as an in-kind grant, as well as plant tags and culture information. Flora for Fauna provided the compost. This past summer, students, congregants and staff enjoyed the blooms and the pollinators attracted to the flowers. The plants did a great job of absorbing excess rain water directed to the retention area!
Current Projects
Moosylvania Marketing, an independent advertising and marketing agency located at 7303 Marietta Avenue in Maplewood, MO, is currently working with us on four native plant gardens on it’s grounds. The first project, completed in June 2024, consists of three native plant gardens planted adjacent to Marshall Road. Moosylvania employees volunteered to help plant the gardens. Check out the fantastic video Moosylvania created below! In October, 2024 Flora for Fauna completed a grant application for funding through the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District’s Small Grants Program to install a fourth native plant garden, planned for the spring of 2025.
ABOUT THE MARSHALL SIDE PROJECT
See it in action!
Plan Details
Plants included in the above design:
2. Bristle-leaved sedge, Carex eburnean
4. Dwarf crested iris, Iris cristata
6. Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica
7. New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus americanus
8. Smooth hydrangea, Hydrangea arborescens
9. Wild columbine, Aquilegia canadensis
10. Golden ragword, Packera aurea
11. Wild sweet William, Phlox divaricata
12. White-tinged sedge, Carex albicans
13. Indian Pink, Spigelia marilandica
14. Littleflower alumroot, Heuchera parviflora
15. Broad Leaf Goldenrod, Solidago flexicaulis
16. Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana
Plants included in the above design:
1. Redbud, Cercis canadensis
2. Ostrich fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris
3. Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica
4. White-tinged sedge, Carex albicans
5. Broad Leaf Goldenrod, Solidago flexicaulis
6. Wild sweet William, Phlox divaricata
Future Projects
An upcoming project is planned at Kol Rinah Congregation at 7701 Maryland Ave in Clayton, Missouri for the spring of 2025. We hope to receive funding for this project through the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District’s Small Grants Program. The project is located at Kol Rinah’s interior courtyard. The site has a steep slope and bare ground which has caused erosion and water to enter the building’s basement. The native plants shown below should help stop the erosion. A few blooming native plants will delight the children that attend Kol Rinah’s Early Childhood education program, whose windows look out onto the site.
Plants included in the above design:
1. River birch, Betula nigra [already existing on site]
2. Wild columbine, Aquilegia canadensis
3. Golden ragword, Packera aurea
4. Broad Leaf Goldenrod, Solidago flexicaulis
5. Crested iris, Iris cristata
6. White-tinged sedge, Carex albicans
7. Bristle-leaved sedge, Carex eburnean
Lift for Life Academy
Several upcoming projects are planned for Lift for Life Academy, a Title 1, K-12 charter school with an enrollment of nearly 900 students located at 1920 South 7th Street in St. Louis, for spring or summer of 2025. On November 12, 2024 we completed a Department of Energy B.U.I.L.T. grant application for a new, insulated roof for the school. In 2025, Flora for Fauna will be working with the Missouri Department of Conservation, the City of St. Louis Forestry Division, Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, and the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District’s Rainscaping Small Grants Program to remove invasive species, install structural soil, and plant numerous native Missouri trees and shrubs at the school. We have also planned a pollinator garden for the elementary school students.
Miriam School
Flora for Fauna is working with Miriam School and Learning Center, the premier educational hub for children with learning differences in the St. Louis area, to create a sensory garden featuring native flowering plants, grasses, sedges, shrubs, and trees at their high school. Engaging with the natural environment can help reduce stress, anxiety, and help children build emotional resilience. Sensory gardens are valuable resources for children with autism, anxiety disorders, and ADHD. We hope to obtain an in-kind grant of native trees and shrubs from our partner Forest ReLeaf of Missouri. We are applying for funds from the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District’s Rainscaping Small Grants Program to purpose other plants and planting materials. Lastly, we plan to ask native garden clubs for donations of native plant seedlings. We hope to have the garden installed in time for the 2025-2026 school year. Part of the garden will feature occupational therapy equipment for the students’ use.
