Is that blooming?! Why, yes it is!
Rattlesnake Master is a wildflower native to the Missouri prairie. It was historically used to make cordage, but if you look at the edge of the leaves, you’ll notice “teeth” like a rattlesnake. This unusual flower also provides food for pollinators – the first transportation workers!
Big shoutout to The National Museum of Transportation tour guide Dick Hellwege for keeping us posted on the American Solar Challenge. If you’ve missed it, Principia College, a local liberal arts college in Elsah, Illinois, is competing in the 2022 ASC contest. Principia previously loaned TNMOT their 2008 solar car, which is on display in our Lindburg Auto Building.
Principia received first place in the Formula Sun Grand Prix for single occupant vehicle, which was a 3-day race leading up to the kickoff of the full solar race –University of Kentucky and MIT placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
The ASC 2022 is 1400+ miles of solar racing over eight days along the Oregon Trail sourcing from Independence, Missouri – visit the race website to keep up-to-date on the results through July 16, 2022!
Queen of the Prairie/ Filipendula rubra
By MaryAnn Fink/ The Native Explorer contributor/ Pollinator Junction/ Museum of Transportation
Copyright June 2022
A majestic 6-8′ perennial, Queen Of The Prairie, Filipendula rubra is a beauty in the summer garden.
Her fluffy, baby girl pink flower panicles are reminiscent of cotton candy at the county fair at a distance but up close she is a complex breathtaking beauty.
Her bold leafy foliage makes a wonderful bouquet of green. She is quite capable of capturing an onlooker’s interest in a mixed border but my favorite use for her is as the showpiece in a managed rain garden.
Her delightful plumes are sweetly fragrant. She does like her toes to stay wet so supplemental water is needed in extended dry periods. Her leaves may scorch some in full sun if she is allowed to dry out.
Her care level is an easy/ level one since all she needs is moisture and a cutback after flowering to promote fresh foliage. Her nickname, Meadowsweet, is sooo appropriate.
She is a pollen picnic for pollinators. She is in full bloom now and can be viewed on the creekside of the main path of Pollinator Junction at the Museum of Transportation!
Weekly Report June 2nd 2022
By MaryAnn Fink/ The Native Explorer contributor/ Pollinator Junction/ Museum of Transportation
Pollinator food flowers now blooming at the Museum of Transportation’s Pollinator Junction:
Penstemon digitalis is now in full bloom and is just stunning! She is calling in pollinators from far and wide!
The pollinator tea party is still happening! The Catalpa tree is still flowering! Her large heart shaped leaves feels like the perfect base for her delicate looking flower cups. Somehow she makes me feel like she’s Nature’s perfect hostess serving nectar tea with hundreds of flower cups and leaf saucers! Every petal cup is already tipping outward and sip-ready!
Brown belted bumblebees are visiting the last of our lovely azure blue Baptisia australis.
The first of the purple poppy mallow flowers are blooming and the pale purple coneflowers are starting to bloom. There are a couple nice stands of orange milkweed that are blooming really beautifully and the American holly is in full flower!
The red mulberry fruit is ripening and the Kousa dogwood is still flowering.
The lovely white fluffy flowers of dropwart (Filipendula vulgaris) is flowering (she’s non native but a pollinator food plant AND so very pretty!)
Now for the announcement of the Plein Air Art Event held at The National Museum of Transportation on Saturday, May 21, 2022:
1st Place – Marty Coulter
2nd Place – Konstantin Kublanov
3rd Place – Arleana Hotzmann
We thank all our Plein Air Artists, and especially our judge Allen Kriegshauser, for their participation in our TNMOT Plein Air Art Event and continuing promotion of the fine arts.
Geranium maculatum
By MaryAnn Fink/ The Native Explorer contributor/ Pollinator Junction/ Museum of Transportation
Copyright May 2022
Geranium maculatum’s lavender pink blooms are simple and lovely. Often waiting to dress up in her blooming best untill the breezes have warmed abit, she is fashionably late.
Typically it is mid-spring in Missouri when you will see her in flower, blooming for several weeks. Her flowering period may decrease in years when it warms up quickly in Spring. (When it feels like summer to you-it probably feels like it to your spring plants too!).
Sometimes this geranium is in the shady recess, slowly waving in the wind, other times, on a breezy day, her blooms are bouncing like little children on the school bus. My favorite placement is when she’s amid other relaxed perennials.
Geranium maculatum doesn’t care much if she’s in sun or shade as long as there is enough moisture to support her “alittle too big” leaves. These loose green tresses giving her a gentle casual look.
Maybe because of the sensitivity to air movement and or her lax foliage, she makes me think of a little girl in her mother’s dress, dancing in front of a mirror to a tune only she hears.
Unlike many other spring flowers that quickly go dormant till the next spring, Geranium maculatum sometimes finds enough strength to keep some of her leaves visable for part if not all of the growing season.
Her dome of green slowly expands with the passing of years and sometimes new geranium seedlings will establish in the vicinity. Since she’s a long lived perennial, she dies down for winter and returns with fresh foliage and flowers the following year. She does it all rather nonchalantly as the years pass. I knew a gardener that swore her original geranium was over 20 years old!
Her pink petite saucer-shaped blossoms face up like little satelite dishes. Pretty little veins radiate from the center, acting as runway guides for pollinators.
She supplies BOTH nectar and pollen. Butterflies, bumblebees, cavity nesting bees and ground nesting bees all make food visit to this geranium. An Andrenid bee, Andrena distans, is a specialist pollinator (oligolege) of Geranium maculatum.
There has been some research done on this Missouri native. It seems she has an interesting way to avoid self pollination. The stamens ( boy parts) are arranged in a circle around the center style. Some of them developed sooner than others, extending the opportunity for pollen pick up. (Spring weather can dampen pollen, wash it away and basically affect the pollination enthusiasm of many pollinators)
The stigma ( girl parts) developed after the boys have shared their pollen and have fallen away before making their pollinator play for attention. The flowers can be at all different stages, extending the bloom time and the offering at each flower and all the while preserving gene diversity!
Groom after first flush of flowers start to fade. Trimming this lovely requires a gentle hand so that she can come back into bloom with a minimum down time. A light trimming will just help shape her into a slightly tighter but still loose bundle of leaves.
The NMOT YoPRO Board is an enthusiastic and talented group of diverse young professionals who share a passion for preserving history for the next generations. The purpose of the group is to bring these community leaders together to raise visibility of the Museum, attract a diverse audience, and assist with fundraising and promotional activities that ensure the continued success of The National Museum of Transportation.
Every member of The National Museum of Transportation Young Professionals Board is committed to:
Serving as an enthusiastic advocate for the Museum, networking on behalf
of the organization, and committing to the mission and goal of the organization,
Attending social meetings of the YoPRO Board at least once per quarter,
Contributing expertise to the group ensuring the organizations success,
Assisting with fundraising and promotional activities as defined by the group,
Being a member of The National Museum of Transportation.
The time commitment is estimated at 12-40 hours annually. Age range for YoPRO Board members is 25 – 45 years of age. Goal is to have 30 members on the Board.
To apply for consideration to The National Museum of Transportation Young Professionals Board, please complete the application at the bottom of our About the Museum page. Alternately, if you wish to access a copy of the form you can print and send to the Museum, please go here. Qualifying candidates will be contacted within a week to meet to discuss participation.
Applicants are applying for the Class of 2024. This is a two-year commitment beginning on July 1, 2024.
If you have a question regarding Museum hours, if you can bring leashed dogs to the Museum, can you bring your own food and where it can be eaten on our premises, availability of smoking poles/areas to smoke, spaces to rent, or multiple other questions, you may well find the answer quickly by accessing our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page by going here.
If you have a question not listed, feel free to call our Welcome Desk at 314.965.6212 or write us.
The Missouri-Kansas-Texas #311 (MKT 311) is a classic steam engine and a key piece of American transportation history. Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1890, the engine operated in passenger service for the MKT, or Katy Railroad, for more than 60 years until 1950. Following a decision to end all MKT steam operations in 1953, the #311 became the last remaining of more than 1,000 Katy steam locomotives. All other sister locomotives were scrapped to make way for new technology. Today, it is the only known example of its kind.
The #311 has been on display at The National Museum of Transportation since 1952. Over its long and storied career, the engine was renumbered, rebuilt, and updated several times. Volunteers from the Katy Railroad Historical Society (KRHS) championed the restoration of this engine. In 2019, volunteers received permission from the Museum to begin the careful and detailed cosmetic restoration of this engine. They performed significant research to determine the correct appearance, materials, and techniques to complete this work. Dedicated and talented volunteers completed nearly all work for this project, keeping conservation costs low. Thank you volunteers!
Thirteen Missouri Master Naturalists of the Great Rivers Chapter came out to The National Museum of Transportation (TNMOT) for service and a hike on our glorious 42 acres on Sunday, March 6, 2022.
They tidied up TNMOT’s grounds, collecting trash along the creek and in some gardens. The group anticipates doing another service day in the near future–TNMOT says THANK YOU!
Our gardening staff and volunteers have done an exquisite job of developing areas of our grounds into a pollinary park, nature areas, and a beautiful natural water retention pond. With Spring upon us, the magic is coming back and so will the pollinators for tasty treats. We hope to see you, too, at the Museum with the return of warmer weather.
If you are interested in garden volunteering at TNMOT, please feel free to call April at 847.289.9760 or email Tessa at [email protected].
The National Museum of Transportation receives no governmental funding and relies solely on the generosity of our community to continue preserving the past for future generations.
We would love for you to consider donating toward items or programs that we are in need of funding for!
