Monthly Archives: March 2012

Snow in March

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pansy potSpring sure came to Ohio in a rush. Most of the things in my yard are about 2-3 weeks ahead of time. The twist is that the snow that hit my garden last week didn’t need freezing temperatures. The ‘snow’ that fell consisted of the flower petals from my weeping cherry.

Take a moment and check out the Nest Cam Links below on the right. Two of the Decorah, Iowa Bald Eagle chicks have arrived and everyone is anxiously waiting for the third egg to hatch, possibly today. You have the best seat in the house – and, yes, that is a squirrel carcass on the edge of the nest. I added a new nest cam today: it’s a Great Blue Heron nest in New York. On to the rest of the news….

The Dayton Aviation Heritage National Park is offering a great program this Sunday, April 1 from 1-2:30 pm at the  Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center (located on Wright Brothers Hill, 2380 Memorial Road opposite the Wright Memorial, off Kauffman Road and State Route 444, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, 45433). “Bark, Buds and Tree Buddies Spring I.D. Program ” is a free family-friendly program where one can learn how to identify trees in the spring using the many clues found: bark, shape, habit, twig structure and more. Call 937-425-0008 for more information.

Bluestone Perrenials is offering 15% off to friends and members of The Ohio Association of Garden Clubs through May 1. Just key in the code E2OAGC528 on your order.

Aullwood Audubon Center’s Native Plant Sale will be April 14 from 10 am to 4 pm. Check out over 100 species of native trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses. Check out their 2012 plant sale brochure. Call 937-890-7380 with questions.

The Columbus Museum of Art‘s annual Art in Bloom will take place April 19-22. There will be a Floral Design Workshop with Garden Club of Ohio’s 2nd VP Lynn Fronk on Friday, April 20 at 2 pm. Cost is $50. Check out the whole schedule HERE.

Schnormeier Gardens has announced the date for their annual Open House Tour. The dates are June 6-10 from 10 am to 4 pm. Located in central Ohio outside Gambier, this private 50 acre garden’s focal point is a spectacular Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home. Other structures on the property include a Japanese teahouse, garden house, Chinese pavilion and arched bridge. The gardens have a distinct Asian flavor and feature rare conifers and unique sculptures. This will be your ONLY chance to visit this AMAZING garden this year. Check out the website HERE.

Fencerow folly

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When we built our house in 1992, we had a fencerow that separated our backyard from the 5-acre home lot behind us. Nothing unusual grew in the fencerow: thorny wild floribunda roses were plentiful. Somewhere in the last 20 years the roses bushes went the by-and-by and the invasive Amur bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) took its place with a hyperdrive growth habit. Having enough of losing my backyard to these gigantic shade-killing, tree wannabes, I am fighting back with a handsaw, a saws-all and a soon to arrive chainsaw. The largest beast is nearly 5 feet in circumference at the base!

Last year the power line maintenance crew came through and took a scoop out of the middle of the row. That only aggravated the honeysuckle enough to send up gazillions of 4-6′ sprouts in retaliation. I asked the work crew to take it all (por favor) but was turned down. This removal process is turning out to be quite the stress reliever. Nothing like a power tool to bring a smile to one’s face.

A field of Callery Pear trees gone wild around the 25 mile marked on I-75. (Photo by Joe Boggs, Asst. Professor OSU and OSU Extension of Hamilton County, OH)

I should be grateful that my horticultural foe is the Amur honeysuckle and not the Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana). You can’t miss them right now – they are everywhere man did not plant them. You say, “I thought the flowering pear was sterile.” The National Park Service notes, “While some plant genotypes are self-incompatible, meaning they require cross pollination from another genotype in order to set seed, others can pollinate themselves. Different genotypes growing near each other (e.g., within about 300 ft.) can cross-pollinate and produce fruit with viable seed.” Apparently, that’s how we got to where we are.

Once established Callery pear forms dense thickets that push out other plants including native species that can’t tolerate the deep shade or compete with pear for water, soil and space. To make matters worse, they have thorns and even crowd out the Amur honeysuckle!

What to do? First: do NOT plant Callery pear or any Callery pear cultivars including the well known Bradford pear. Second: cut down or pull out any volunteers that sprout on your property. Some alternative trees to consider for landscape use include: common serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea), Allegheny serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis), shadbush or juneberry (Amelanchier arborea, Amelanchier laevis), alternate-leaved dogwood (Cornus alternifolia), blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium), or cockspur hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli).

Read more about the Callery pear at this Ohio Division of Natural Resources Division of Forestry’s PDF: Weed of the month on Callery Pear.

Sign Humor

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Out and about yesterday and stopped by Meadow View Growers in New Carlisle. Someone there has a great sense of humor! Check out their road-side sign.

Actually I wanted to see for myself one of the more unusual sales that I’ve run across. Here is a shot of their Perennial Plug Sale flyer – it’s a very popular sale.

Spring flowers available

Knollwood Garden Center has some great spring ephemerals and native plants in supply right now. Noteworthy plants include Trillium (Trillium spp.), Virginia Blue Bells (Mertensia virginica), Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris), Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium) and Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum). Their Pansy-Palooza sale (20% off all pansies) runs March 22-28.

Dayton Home and Garden Show

Don’t forget about the Dayton Home and Garden Show this weekend, March 23-25 at the Dayton Convention Center. Read more about ticket discounts and the seminar schedule from my earlier post HERE.

Nest Cams

Check out the various bird Nest Cams (links found on the right). I just added a Red-tailed Hawk cam that is hosted by  Cornell University. The Decorah, Iowa bald eagles’s first egg is set to hatch possibly this Sunday. Little Phoebe, the Allens Hummingbird in California, is on the nest again having already raised two clutches since last November.

Small Wonders

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Miniature designs must be less than 5" in any direction

I had a great day in Chillicothe (OH) yesterday sharing a Miniature/Small floral design program with the Story Place Garden Club of Region 9. What is the difference between as small or miniature floral design, you ask? The Ohio Association of Garden Clubs’ Exhibitors’ and Judges’ Schools teach that a Miniature design can be no larger than 5″ in any direction. A Small design is larger than 5″ but no larger than 12″ in any direction. Getting the right scale and proportion is the most important part of creating these lilliputian beauties. Sometimes it’s not easy but it is FUN! When you get the scale right, it is hard to tell if you are looking at a five inch or a 40 inch floral design.

Lots of sales news to report:

Our friends at Bluestone Perennials in Madison (OH) is a family owned Ohio-grown mail-order business. They have many great sale offerings for spring of 2012; some up to 50% off. Check out the deals at www.bluestoneperennials.com

If you haven’t subscribed to Knollwood Garden Center’s (Beavercreek) email newsletter, you should. (Sign up on their home page.) You’ll get a heads up on the specials and also the schedule of their wonderful gardening seminars. For instance, this week email customers are being rewarded with four special days (Thursday-Sunday, March 15-18 ONLY) to redeem their Bonus Bucks. The next opportunity to redeem Bonus Bucks will be in June. They are also offering a drawing for free tickets to the Dayton Home and Garden Show (an $8 value). Don’t forget the Dayton Home and Garden Show is offering entrance discounts. Check them out HERE.

Grandma’s Gardens (Waynesville) is offering 20% off the regular price of everything Thursday-Sunday, March 15-18 in their Spring Preview Sale. They, too, have an email group for customers. Sign up HERE.

Tomorrow (March 16) is the last day to sign up for Siebenthaler’s (Centerville and Beavercreek) Frequent Gardener Card for the discounted price of $15. Starting Saturday, March 17, the price goes up to the full $25 price.

Marvin’s Organic Gardens (Lebanon) is now open weekends.

‘Leaf’ a Legacy – Plant a tree….or a couple hundred trees

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Here in southwest Ohio, there are many threats to our forests. Imported pests such as the Emerald Ash Borer and the Asian Longhorn Beetle are on track to economically impact Ohio to the tune of billions of dollars. This doesn’t even take into account the tremendous void the loss of millions of trees will leave in an already fragile ecosystem.

Five Rivers MetroPark is offering a way to preserve our natural heritage in their “‘Leaf’ a Legacy” reforestation effort. They can’t do it alone and are asking for help with restoring our forests in the Dayton area. Since last year,  many tree mommas and daddies were caring for tree seedlings. Now it is time to get about 10,000 tree seedlings planted. There are several Seedling Saturday dates (times are 9 am – noon): Saturday,  March 17 (at both Carriage Hill & Germantown), Saturday, March 24 (Carriage Hill & Sugarcreek), Saturday, March 31 (Germantown & Weslyan).

Additional Seedling Planting dates (times are 1- 4 pm): Monday, March 12 (Carriage Hill), Sunday, March 18 (Carriage Hill ), and Monday, March 26 (Germantown) RSVP directly to yvonne.dunphe@metroparks.org for the chosen dates and indicate the location. You will receive a confirmation email with more specifics.

Did you know? The freshwater mussel has a very unique life cycle. Unlike oysters and clams, their life cycle includes a short parasitic stage attached to the fins or gills of a host fish. After the eggs are fertilized by a male, the  larvae (called glochidia) develop a while in the gills of the female mussel and are later expelled. The floating glochidia attach to the gills or the fins of a host fish where they develop 1-4 weeks before dropping off and settling in the stream bed to mature. Mussels have great value as an indicator of a biome’s health and play an important part of the natural purification process. I knew that mussels were different – I just never knew that they had such an unusual life cycle!

Hosta Society Meeting

The Miami Valley Hosta Society’s meeting Tuesday, March 13 will feature speaker Chris Wilhoit who will speak on Arisaema (Jack-In-The-Pulpit) and offer an unusual plant buying opportunity. The meeting is at 7 pm, at the Cox Arboretum, on St. Rt. 741 north of the Dayton Mall area.

A walk on the wild side

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American Kestrel (photo by Roger Garber)

I hope I never lose the burning desire to learn more about natural history. I knew that Mother Nature could be quite the designer but I learned some new things at the Wildlife Diversity Conference this week. Things that tell me she has quite a few more tricks hiding up her sleeve. From discovering how nonnative earthworms are detrimentally impacting our forests to learning what is down in a terrestrial crayfish tunnel….It was great. Sponsored by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife, this annual conference draws nearly 1000 people to hear researchers who are tops in their fields. Consider attending next year. You won’t regret it.

Perhaps you’ve heard it said, “Tell me something I don’t know.” I’ll try to add a new snippet in my posts that just may give the reader something to ponder. Something to demonstrate just how magnificent the natural world is. Here we go:

American Kestrel (photo by Roger Garber)

Did You Know? The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) is the smallest of our falcons. About the size of a Mourning Dove, they can frequently be seen sitting on a power line or telephone wire or hovering over a field just waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting meadow vole or grasshopper. It goes without saying that raptors (hawks, falcons, eagles and owls) have great eyesight but here’s something even more unusual. Because kestrels can see ultraviolet light, and because vole urine reflects that color, it’s possible that kestrels can follow vole urine trails to potential prey. Go figure! Thank you to our friend Roger Garber who kindly provided some of his spectacular photos for this post.

Arc of Appalachia Wildflower Pilgrimage

Now in its sixth consecutive year, the popular Wildflower Pilgrimage is a weekend event hosted in southern Ohio celebrating one of Earth’s greatest natural spectacles – the grand showcase of wildflowers gracing the world’s temperate forests in the spring. Located at the southern edge of the glacial advance, and also occupying the edge of the Appalachian foothills, this region has one of the richest wildflower displays to be found in America’s Eastern Forest. The Wildflower Pilgrimage is timed to catch the blooming of many of the showiest species and will be held April 20-22. Check it out HERE.

Area garden centers gear up for spring season

The area garden centers are BURSTING with a riot of colors and fresh new ideas to get you in their doors and out in your garden. Grandma’s Gardens and Landscaping (Centerville/Waynesville) is celebrating with their Spring Preview Open House March 9-11. Knollwood Garden Center (Beavercreek) has already started their spring series of seminars. This Saturday, March 10 at 10 am is “Spring Tonic: Early Vegetable Gardening”. Call the store to register at 937-426-0861. Meadow View Growers (New Carlisle) also has a list of upcoming seminars. Check them out HERE. Siebenthaler’s (Centerville) is having a Potato Planting Party. Check it out HERE.