The book-of-the-week is from Grow Native! – the native plant marketing and education program of the Missouri Prairie Foundation. The books is available as a PDF from their website. It was authored by Daniel Shaw and Rusty Schmidt and published in February 2025.

My yard is sloped - higher in front, lower in back so my main concern about stormwater is to keep the sides of the house where the slope is steepest with sufficient vegetation to avoid erosion and control slumping. Over the past few years, I have allowed deeper rooted native plants (pokeweed, pawpaw, witch hazel, asters, and sumac) to grow on the slope; this book helped me choose some new ones to add!

I did intentionally plant a buttonbush a couple of years ago and it was immediate decapitated (by a squirrel?) so I know I will need a cage if I try that one again!

Native Plants for Stormwater Management Projects - Species Selection for the Lower Midwest