Field Guide

Brood XIX emerges this month. These periodical cicadas are the children of the cicadas we saw in 2011. These millions of 13-year-old insects are a force of nature, like oceans, mountains, and big rivers.

A showy mint species that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. It’s a favorite native wildflower for gardening, and it’s useful as an herbal tea and culinary herb.

To speak their name is to sing their song. These sunny summer residents are native to prairies and other grasslands and have adapted to farm fields and pastures.

Did you know these native Missouri wildflowers are related to several familiar houseplants? Elephant ears, calla lilies, peace lilies, and philodendrons are in the same family.