“Kirkwood In Bloom” Contributes To Special Tree Planting Event

Kirkwood in BLOOM, in association with the 2016 Kirkwood Earth Day Festival celebrating “The Beauty of the Bees,” will contribute a Wildfire black tupelo tree to be planted as part of Kirkwood’s annual Arbor Day tree planting.

For times and location please continue reading below.

WHEN: Saturday, April 16, 2016, 9:00am

WHERE: Downtown Kirkwood, MO at the Argonne Avenue landscape median across from the historic Kirkwood Train Station

IN ASSOCIATION WITH: The 2016 Kirkwood Earth Day Festival celebrating “The Beauty of the Bees”

From the Kirkwood in Bloom press release:

Kirkwood in BLOOM is pleased to announce the contribution of a landscape-sized Wildfire black tupelo tree to be planted as part of Kirkwood’s annual Arbor Day tree planting.  The Arbor Day tree planting event is produced by the Kirkwood Urban Forestry Commission and hosted by Downtown Kirkwood Special Business District.

The Wildfire black tupelo, a cultivated selection of a canopy tree species native to areas south of the Missouri River, is highly adaptable to urban landscape conditions.   The tree’s new foliage in the spring emerges bronze-red to reddish purple, transitioning to lustrous deep green color during the summer months, and returning to striking red color in autumn.  The small fruit produced by the Black tupelo is a highly desirable food source for songbirds and rarely appears on the ground, thus making the tree a highly desirable street tree.

A special component of Kirkwood’s 2016 Arbor Day tree planting is the recent removal of an invasive callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) tree, commonly referred to as “Bradford pear”, from an area located immediately adjacent to Wildfire black tupelo planting site.  The callery pear now appears on the Top Ten List of the most invasive exotic plants on the increase in Missouri as published by the Missouri Invasive Exotic Plant Species Task Force, an initiative of the Missouri Foundation’s Grow Native! program.  Exotic plants appearing on the Top Ten List are considered to be invaders of natural areas and suppressors of native plants.  For more information about invasive exotic plants in Missouri, visit www.moinvasives.org.

Kirkwood in BLOOM is a citizen inspired and managed initiative to enhance the quality and preserve the heritage of public landscapes in Kirkwood, MO.  This community initiative enjoys the support of community leadership as well as the Kirkwood business community and a variety of civic service organizations. For more about Kirkwood in BLOOM: www.kirkwoodinbloom.org