Missouri Prairie Foundation

Thank you for visiting our CoMoGives page!

The Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) -- founded in Columbia in 1966 by a small group of conservation professionals and volunteers -- protects and restores prairie and other native grassland communities through land acquisition, management, education, and research. Temperate grasslands, like Missouri's tallgrass prairies, are some of the most endangered ecosystems in the world. What began 58 years ago as an all-volunteer advocacy group has now grown into a nationally accredited land trust that owns and manages more than 4,900 acres across the state. These beautiful prairies are carefully stewarded and open to the public to enjoy.

MPF also promotes the use of native plants in developed landscapes through the Grow Native! program. Grow Native! helps protect and restore biodiversity by building conservation awareness of native plants and their effective use in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Native plants are adapted to our Missouri climate and soils and furnish vital food and habitat for songbirds, butterflies, and pollinators. They also can help conserve water resources, manage stormwater runoff, and store carbon. Some even make great food for us! Through collaboration with individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and other community partners, Grow Native! aims to further expand the adoption of native plant landscaping across the lower Midwest to benefit wildlife and people.

With a small but mighty staff and dedicated volunteers, Grow Native! carries out robust outreach and educational programming with many native plant resources available to all, for free. 

These resources include:

- Webinars on a wide variety of native landscaping topics

- Online native plant database with 300+ native plants

- Top 10 native plant lists and landscape plans

- Detailed guidance for native gardening and maintenance

- Information about establishing native plantings from seed

- Recipes for native edible plants and a native companion planting guide for fruits and vegetables

- Grow Native! Resource Guide with a directory of native plant suppliers and service providers

Donations made through CoMoGives will support the Grow Native! program, with the goal of continuing to provide quality native plant information and educational opportunities for the community. Thank you for your support!

Photo credits: Banner - American beautyberry, by Mervin Wallace. Below, first row - Rose verbena in bloom at the Southern Boone County Public Library in Ashland, a Grow Native! Garden of Excellence, by Carol Davit; Students observing pipevine swallowtail caterpillars on Dutchman's pipevine by Carol Davit; Monarch butterfly visiting butterfly milkweed at Columbia City Hall, a Grow Native! Garden of Excellence, by Danielle Fox; American robin enjoying the fruit of a native serviceberry shrub by Mervin Wallace. Below, second row - Lincoln University Cooperative Extension staff and students leading a tour at the LU Native Plant Outdoor Laboratory in Jefferson City, a Grow Native! Garden of Excellence, by Jenny Lawrence; Native bee visiting eastern redbud flowers by Ed Spevak; Shoppers visiting Grow Native! vendors at the MPF-hosted plant sales at Bradford Research Farm outside of Columbia by Emily Gustafson; Students getting up-close with monarch caterpillars and native plants during a school presentation by MPF Board Member Doug Helmers and Amanda McColpin.