Hillermann Nursery & Florist – With all the rain this early spring , surely you noticed a spot in your yard for a rain garden. A rain garden is a shallow depression designed to capture and soak up storm water runoff. Some of my favorite plants for raingardens are… Hardy Hibiscus, Swamp milkweed, Ligularia Desdemona and The Rocket, Amsonia shinning blue star, Showy goldenrod, Cardinal flower, Blue Lobelia, Turtle head, Copper Iris, Wild bergamot, Lythrum, River birch, Corkscrew Willow, Button bush, River oats grass, Switch grass, Blue arctic Willow, Elderberry, Vernal Witch Hazel, and Wild Hydrangea. So don’t let that rain water go down the drain, turn that water runoff into a Rain garden and invite birds, butterflies and dragonflies into your landscape. From Patty Bragg at Hillermann’s, www.hillermann.com, 636-239-6729, 2601 E. 5th Street, Washington, MO 63090
Greenscapes Gardens, Folks here in “River City” take water for granted, it is treated as a waste product more so than as a valuable resource. Rain gardens add value to water by demonstrating that a wet area in the yard can become a beautiful garden with plants that are beneficial to birds and insects. From Jennifer Schamber, www.greenscapesgardens.com, 314 821-2440, 2832 Barrett Station Rd, Manchester, MO 63021
Ritter Perennials, Almost every yard has a wet area or a swale where the water goes away from the house. Sometimes this area is kept wet from the sump pump. So now we have a way to decorate the trouble spot and let the plants absorb and filter the water. Instead of an eyesore it is now a focal point of beauty! My favorite plants for the rain garden are Iris fulva and virginica, Lobelia cardinalis, asst Carex, Silene regina, the Liatris and Asters. From Barry Ritter, check the website for local retailers, www.ritterperennials.com
Sugar Creek Gardens, Rain gardening is a great way to deal with natural boggy spots in your yard, or any place that collects water after a hard rain. Rather than “dumping” that water through your municipal wastewater treatment system, you can use native plants to collect water through their root systems, naturally filtering and cleaning water. Our favorite water-loving plants for sun include Asclepias tuberosa, butterfly milkweed; Echinacea purpurea, purple coneflower; and Verbena canadensis, rose verbena. Our favorite water-loving plants for shade include Lobelia cardinalis, cardinal flower; Chelone glabra, white turtlehead; and Aesculus pavia, red buckeye. From Kim Reiss, www.sugarcreekgardens.com, 314 965-3070, 1011 N. Woodlawn, Kirkwood, MO 63122