NEKC Native Garden Collective Kicks Off With the Budd Park Esplanade Native Planting Project

A small band of gardeners in Kansas City's Historic Northeast is growing organically around a simple idea: improving the neighborhood through the beauty and ecological benefits of native plants.

The effort began with a conversation.

During an Indian Mound Neighborhood Association meeting last November, Kay Hopkins and I discovered a shared interest. Kay, an association board member with training in the Master Naturalist program, and I, a longtime Master Gardener, quickly found ourselves discussing ways to bring more beauty and biodiversity to our neighborhood. Our conversation soon turned to native plants.

The questions came naturally. Where could we begin? How could a handful of neighbors make a meaningful impact?

A few days later, we walked from my home on North Van Brunt Boulevard to explore a potential site near Budd Park. Along the way, we talked about gathering a small group of like-minded gardeners who shared an interest in native plants, conservation, and community beautification.

The site we examined would have required more resources than we could realistically provide. As Kay later observed, it "needed more than we could offer." Yet the idea itself continued to grow.

Before: Budd Park Esplanade, circular island midway between Van Brunt Boulevard and Budd Park. This is the first phase of a comprehensive concept for the esplanade.

On Super Bowl Sunday, six people gathered around Kay's dining room table to brainstorm possibilities. Together, we discussed projects, developed a mission, and searched for a path forward.

That afternoon, the NEKC Native Garden Collective was born.

The group's mission is to foster appreciation, conservation, and use of Kansas City's native plants to beautify our neighborhoods, support biodiversity, and create habitat for wildlife. Through education, public and private gardening projects, and partnerships with local organizations, the Collective hopes to demonstrate how native landscapes can strengthen both ecological health and community connections.

To our delight, we are discovering that the Indian Mound neighborhood is fertile ground for such an effort.