A once abandoned auto repair warehouse in the Central West End that is now an urban plant nursery will host three free public events this month in its “Gardening Gurus” series.
From what’s under the garden to what’s growing and flowering on top, three Missouri experts in home gardening will give free talks in March at Bowood Farms garden center, located at 4605 Olive St., just west of North Taylor.
The series begins with Stewart Clark speaking on how to “Un-Mole Your Garden” at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 6. His “I Hate Moles Because …” essay contest is a popular annual event and selling tool for his St. Louis-based line of Sweeney’s mole-and-gopher repellent products.
Stewart will come to Bowood Farms, with live mole in hand, to talk about techniques for ridding your own garden of these subterranean pests. (Ask him about other pests; he has a technique or product for nearly everything.)
Then at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10 Alan Branhagen will speak on “Best Fruits for Your Home Garden.” The Missouri man whose new garden of apples, peaches, cherries, lemons, limes and figs prompted author Rosalind Creasy to dub it “the largest edible landscape in the country” is making a first appearance in St. Louis at Bowood Farms.
Branhagen is horticulture director at the new 12-acre Heartland Harvest Garden, part Kansas City’s botanical gem, Powell Gardens. He will show images of all manner of fruiting plants, and talk about how to grow them here (along with companion plantings, as well as best-for-Missouri vegetables and herbs.) Available for sale that day only will be the bare-root fruit trees that he will be talking about.
Finally, Karen “Mimo” Davis will speak about “Best Flowering Plants for Your Cutting Garden” at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 20. A local farmers’ market’s most popular cut-flower grower, Davis is now back in St. Louis working as Lincoln University’s Horticulture Regional Educator. She will discuss the best perennials and annuals for growing to bring cut flowers into your home.
A native of New York, Mimo Davis produces specialty cut flowers from Wild Thang Farm near Ashland, Mo. “The name has done a lot for the business,” she says. “When you put a smile on people’s face — be it at the farmers market or the florist shop — you’re already in their pocketbook.” Contact Davis at WildThang Farms, 14150 S. Bob Veach Road, Ashland, MO 65010; or e-mail WildThangFarms@aol.com.
Bowood Farms is located at 4605 Olive Street in the Central West End. For more information, call (314) 454-6868 or visit www.bowoodfarms.com.
