Native Plants, Native Pride!

Episode 4 | Host: Tiffany McCoy | Published: November 22, 2025 | Runtime: 9:40

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About This Episode

If you've been battling the same old weeds and the same tired boxwoods, this episode is for you. Tiffany dives into twenty minutes of fast facts and local stories that will fundamentally change how you view your Missouri landscape. She makes the case for ditching high-maintenance non-natives and embracing the thriving, resilient beauty that defines the Show-Me State — from Missouri's 900+ native bee species to the legend of the Sassafras tree to the forgotten fruit that foragers are rediscovering.

What You'll Learn

• Why Missouri hosts over 900 native bee species — and why they're specialists that need native plants to survive
• The ecological desert hiding in plain sight: your lawn, and what to plant instead (Little Bluestem!)
• Why Monarchs can't survive without Milkweed — and what you can do about it right now
• The legend of the Sassafras tree — from Ozark folk medicine to one of the New World's first exports
• Why Sassafras has THREE different leaf shapes on the same tree and what wildlife depends on it
• The Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) — why you should never cut it back in fall
• The Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) — Missouri's forgotten native fruit and how to grow it

Native Plants Featured

• Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) — drought-tough prairie grass with 10-foot roots
• Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) — the Monarch butterfly's only host plant
• Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) — three leaf shapes, spectacular fall color, Spicebush Swallowtail host
• Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) — goldfinch magnet, leave seed heads standing all winter
• Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) — largest native fruit in North America, forest understory grower

About Your Host

Tiffany McCoy is the host of Show-Me Horticulture and founder of the Show-Me Horticulture pilot farm in northeast Missouri. She is pursuing a B.S. in Sustainable Horticulture at Unity Environmental University and is passionate about connecting people to the food they grow. Every episode is rooted in real Missouri gardens, practical growing advice, and the community that makes local food so meaningful.

Connect With Show-Me Horticulture

Email: showmehorticulture@gmail.com

Instagram & Facebook: @ShowMeHorticulture

Podcast: Spotify & YouTube — search Show-Me Horticulture

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