From the Roots Up: Why Empowered Came to Forrest Keeling Nursery
When Empowered, hosted by Meg Ryan, set out to explore innovative solutions that help communities build a more resilient future, it found one in an unexpected place: a native plant nursery in Elsberry, Missouri.
For nearly 80 years, Forrest Keeling Nursery has worked to restore ecosystems, one tree at a time. Along the way, the nursery has helped advance restoration, urban forestry, conservation, agroforestry, specialty crops, and sustainable landscape practices throughout North America.
Filmed at FKN’s headquarters, the Empowered segment explores a growing idea reshaping how communities think about landscapes:
Native plants are not simply landscape elements —
they are essential infrastructure.
Native trees and plant communities cool cities, improve water quality, restore habitat, rebuild soil health, support biodiversity, and strengthen resilience in both rural and urban environments. Increasingly, they are recognized not only for their beauty but also for the measurable environmental, social, and economic benefits they provide.
The program highlights Forrest Keeling’s patented Root Production Method® (RPM), commitment to seed provenance, and decades of experience producing native plants selected for unsurpassed performance in their planting locations.
Just as importantly, the story reflects a broader shift taking place across the country. Communities, conservation organizations, researchers, land managers, developers, and designers are rethinking how landscapes function—and recognizing the important role native plants play in creating healthier, more resilient places to live, work, and grow.
The invitation to appear on Empowered reflects a growing recognition that the future of resilient landscapes depends not only on what we build above ground—but on what grows beneath it.
Native plants are infrastructure.
The Future of resilient landscapes will be rooted in natives.
