Grimm’s Gardens believes that knowing where your natives come from is important. We are grateful for all the work that Elliot and Applied Ecological Services, Inc. have put into tracking and labeling their native plant sources. This is why we chose this company to supply most of our native plants.
Name:
Elliot Duemler
Company:
Applied Ecological Services, Inc.
Who is Applied Ecological Services, Inc. and what do they do?
AES is the parent company of Taylor Creek Restoration Nurseries. AES is a broad based environmental consulting and construction firm. Our nurseries focus on producing local ecotype native plants and seed for large landscape projects.
We define a Native plant as:
A native plant is a plant that was established here in N. America prior to European settlement.
Where do your native plants come from?
Our plants are grown from as local ecotype seed as we can get. To achieve this much of what we grow is propagated from seed hand collected off of untilled prairie remnants in the Kansas City area. If those seeds aren’t available we buy seed from the nearest sources possible.
What being a good steward of the land means to me:
A good land steward to me is someone who maintains the health of their land and does not abuse it. This does not necessarily mean everyone needs to only have native landscapes, but they need to respect the land and give it time to rest or recover from the practices implemented on the land. Some examples of good stewardship to me are: Rotational grazing, maintaining wildlife and pollinator habitat, cover cropping and no till seeding, CRP or other set aside…etc to name a few.
My first memorable experience with native plants began when…
As a child I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and she enjoyed being active outside. She loves taking walks in local parks and natural areas. On these walks she would always point out the beautiful wildflowers, and knew most of their names. She would always remind me,
“Elliott we don’t pick the wildflowers, we want to leave them there for other people to enjoy.”
What are your favorite plants for the Kansas/Nebraska/Missouri Tri-State area?
One of my favorite plants in the great plains is Wild Blue Indigo, Baptisia australis var. Minor. My favorite milkweed is purple milkweed, Asclepias purpurescens. It is absolutely amazing seeing this plant in its natural habitat.
Learn more about Applied Ecological Services, Inc. and Taylor Creek Restoration Nurseries at their website.
