Author Archives: vickstersvine

Memorial Day memories

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Iris 'Batik'

Memorial Day is nearing. First begun as remembrance after the Civil War, today’s Memorial Day more often is celebrated as the kick-off for summer. To be sure, there are still those who will visit cemeteries and decorate loved ones’ grave sites with flowers but more often these days it means a day off work and a cook-out.

As a kid, I remember trucking a little red wagon with Mason jars of iris and peonies to sell at our plat’s entrance street. In the late 60s and early 70s we were WAY out in the county on St. Rt. 48 right on the county line of Montgomery and Warren Counties. Even so, there were people who stopped to purchase flowers from a little skinny kid with a wagon of flowers. I always think of those days when my ‘flags’ and ‘pineys’ are in bloom.

My backyard nature notes:

Wren Housebuilding 101

Sadly, the robin’s nest has apparently been raided by a raccoon and the orioles have moved on to a better neighborhood. I enjoyed the gift of one whole day to spy on a bay-breasted warbler (a first for me) before it continued on its South-America-winter-to-Canada-summer journey where it will make a new family. A wren is now trying to set up house in the same bluebird box that I removed 3 house sparrow nest attempts. Saturday, Keith found a Midland painted turtle out by the mailbox. Realizing that he wasn’t merely waiting to be picked up by the mailman, I relocated him to the woodlot behind my house where there is a small pond. Though not totally an aquatic turtle, the middies eat their food underwater and need to be near a source of water.

Midland painted turtle

Season for garden tours

There are several garden tours to highlight in this issue of the Vine:

Wogoman's hosta garden

Friday-Saturday, May 27 & 28: Glenda’s Garden. Gene and Glenda Wogoman, members of the Miami Valley Hosta Society will have their garden tour/hosta sale. Friday hours are 12-8 pm. Saturday hours are 10 am to 6 pm. The address is: 7620 Halderman Rd., West Alexandria, OH 45381.

June 1-5: Schnormeier Gardens Open House (Gambier, OH). Remember, it is only open to the public once a year! Check it out HERE.

Saturday, June 18: Osborn Historical District Garden Tours. Hours: 11 am to 5 pm. Look for garden tour signs at participating homes in and around the Osborn Historic District in Fairborn, OH. Questions? Call Debbie Downs at 937-754-1500.

Educational/Sales opportunities

These are all great events to check out:

June 11: 9 am to noon, “Gardening With Native Plants” workshop,  Sieben Hall, sponsored by the Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC) at Bergamo Center (4400 Shakertown Rd., Beavercreek OH 45430). $35, register early, space is limited.

June 18:  8 am to 1 pm, Native Plant Sale, sponsored by the Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC) at Bergamo Center (4400 Shakertown Rd., Beavercreek OH 45430)

July 8-10: Midwest Native Plant Conference (Bergamo Center, 4400 Shakertown Rd., Dayton OH 45430)

Wahkeena’s Hike for Health

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Pink Lady's Slipper Orchid (Cypripedium reginae)

This past Saturday, I finally took the advice I hear often: take a hike! So I did. Actually, it was a fundraiser called Hike For Health. A hike for health that benefited the walker and also raised monies for the OAGC (Ohio Association of Garden Clubs) Foundation. I chose to hike at the Wahkeena Nature Preserve in Fairfield County south of Lancaster, OH. Talk about a gem in the wild, Wahkeena sparkles!

Amazing sights included the native Pink Lady’s Slipper Orchid and the Showy Orchis as well as the Flame Azalea, all of which were in bloom. Using my cell phone’s ringtone, I managed to call in not one, but two Ovenbirds who ended up having a territory spat because of me. I also called in a Tufted Titmouse by whistling. In fact, the titmouse came within about 6 feet and apparently wanted me to feed it. It was the highlight of the day. Enjoy the photos. If anyone has some identification on the fungi, let me know and I’ll add captions.

Flame Azalea buds (Rhododendron calendulaceum)

Flame Azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum)

A bumble bee giving me a high-five

Squawroot (Conopholis americana) A non-photosynthesizing parasitc plant of oak roots

Devil's Urn (Urnula craterium)

Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

Local events:

Be sure to check out other events at the Events Calendar page tab at the top of this page.

My garden club, the Here & There Garden Club, will be holding its annual Plant Sale this Saturday, May 21, from 9 am to 1 pm at 5200 Bigger Road, Kettering OH 45440.

College Hill Garden Club will hold its annual plant sale May 19-21 at 40 Carson Ave, Dayton OH 45415.

The Mercer-Smith Historical Park is giving a free presentation and holding an Open House demonstration. “Heritage Plants in a Frontier Garden” will be shared this Saturday, May 21. The presentation is at 10:30 am in the Fairborn Library Meeting Room (1 E. Main St., Fairborn OH) and the Open House runs from 11 am to 3 pm at Mercer-Smith Historical Park (corner of First & Middle Streets, Fairborn OH). Learn some of the ways that plants, seeds and gardening techniques of the early 1800s differ from those of modern day.


Something new every day

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Grassland crawfish mud chimney

I’ve been out in the yard quite a bit now that the rain has let up. When I was a kid, the outdoors was my playground, the backyard woods was my jungle gym and I fancied myself as a young Euelle Gibbons. Needless to say, I never did quite end up catching my supper, but I tried! I was reminded of the time when my kid sister Carla (I think) poked her fingers in one of the grassland crawfish mud chimneys and promptly found out someone lived in there. With all this rain, it’s no surprise that the crawfish are again constructing their mud piles in my yard. If you are mowing, you’ll want to watch out for them so that you don’t damage your mower blade.

Cardinal in the Red Buckeye tree (Go Bucks!)With an observant eye and ear, I’ve seen and heard so much! I saw an orchard oriole and a yellow warbler. I found I have an American robin’s nest right off of my patio and that there are at least 2 male house wrens vying for the same house.  A Carolina wren has been trying to make a nest in our Uncle Bill’s game (known to the rest of you as Corn Hole) that is hung up in the garage. A Northern Cardinal has a nest in the neighbor’s Colorado blue spruce tree. A garter snake startled me as I mowed today; luckily he escaped without a Toro haircut!


Baby grasshopper

It’s not just the out of doors that is budding with new life. I found tens of teensy weensy baby grasshoppers at the family room patio door. On the INSIDE. I’m guessing that they hatched from one of the pots I brought in from last year. They are no larger than 1/4 of an inch though it is hard to tell the scale in my photo. It is quite tricky getting them outside without hurting them but I’d rather have them OUTSIDE than inside!

Osmocote $10 rebate

If you use Osmocote, be sure to check out this $10 rebate on a 3-lb container of indoor/outdoor Osmocote. My rebate check is already being processed and the container will only cost me $2.97 after rebate. Yay! I love good deals. (Offer expires June 30).

Ding dong: May Day!

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When I was a kid, May 1st would find us kids making paper cones with handles out of construction paper. We would then head out the back door for the great mysterious woods behind our house and pick some wildflowers. Spring beauties, violets, some of mom’s late daffodils, dandelions, stuff like that. We wrapped the base of the stems in a wet paper towel, wrapped the wet paper towel with aluminum foil and then placed our home-made mini bouquet in the paper cone ‘vase’.

Once assembled we got to do the fun part: we would take our ‘vases’, stealthily sneak to our neighbors’ front door, hang the vase on the door knob, ring the door bell and run away laughing like fools the whole time. I guess you could say it was a reverse act of vandalism where you actually WANTED to get tagged! I hadn’t made a May Day bouquet for years so today’s effort was fun!

African Violets, O my!

The African Violet Society of Dayton (AVSD) is holding its annual Spring Display and Sale. Yee haw! If you want to see some fine examples of the Gesneriad plant family, head over to Town & Country Shopping Center (300 E. Stroop Rd., Kettering OH – corner of Stroop & Far Hills Roads) this coming Friday and Saturday, May 6 & 7. Plants from commercial growers and AVSD members, leaves, cuttings and potting soil will be for sale. AVSD members will be on hand to answer growing questions. This is a free event and open to the public. Friday hours are 10 am to 9 pm. Saturday’s hours are 10 am to 4 pm.

Nest cam updates

VA bald eagles: The three eaglets were removed from the nest the day after their mother was killed by jet plane. They have been relocated to the Wildlife Center of Virgina and anticipate being released sometime in August. Though I haven’t seen it up yet, it looks like there will be a cam set up at the Wildlife Center.

Phoebe the Allens Hummingbird: Phoebe wasted no time in laying two more eggs after her last chicks fledged. The first chick hatched this past Thursday and the 2nd chick fell out of the nest yesterday. It was returned to the nest, slowly weakened, was removed and taken to a rehabber.

Sales Alerts

Grandma’s Gardens: Through May 8: 25% off roses, tropicals, flowering shrubs, glazed pottery; $5 off hanging baskets

Knollwood Garden Center: Four varieties of peonies are on sale for $14.99 (regularly $24.99); geranium sale starts Thursday, May 5. Zonal geraniums in 4.5″ pots will be $3.99 (regularly $4.99). Trophy Taker daylilies arrive on Thursday but are not on sale.

Andy’s Garden: $12.99 pansy, petunia & alyssum flats; 25% off trees, shrubs, perennials

Think all flowers smell good? Think again!

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Amorphophallus titanum

What is nearly six-feet tall, smells like rotting flesh and, yet, is drawing in the crowds like a horticultural version of Justin Bieber? Ok, maybe that’s a bit over the top… but still! An Amorphophallus titanum is came into bloom last Saturday at The Ohio State University’s greenhouse in Columbus, Ohio and is really charming the crowds. This rare plant from the Indonesian rain forest is a sight,and smell to remember. The bloom’s fragrance is its key to attracting the right pollinators. I grow a smaller version called Amorphophallus konjac. Not into using the Latin name? My friends and family affectionately call the plants Mr. Stinky or Harry Butler after the Dayton-TV personality who gave me my first plant.  You can see a time-lapse video of the voodoo lily in Columbus opening HERE.

Here's my shopping cart and the damage I did. Errr, I mean the treasures I found.

Knollwood’s 2nd Ladies’ Night Out

Knollwood Garden Center Beavercreek, OH) held their second Ladies’ Night Out tonight. The first was back in December and judging by all the cars in the parking lot it must have been a success because I had to park out in the ‘back 40’! Bruning’s Wine Cellar and Christopher’s Restaurant & Catering were on site to please the crowd and Knollwood staff was at the beck and call. It was a pleasurable way to get a jump on spring.

Sales Alerts

The record setting rains in southern Ohio are causing many businesses to retool their spring sales. Grandma’s Gardens, south of Centerville, is extending their $11.99 sale on flats of impatiens and begonias through Sunday, May 1. Yippee! Check with your local garden center as their publicized sales may also have been extended.

Tragic Nest Cam News

If you have checked out some of the nest cam links I have listed on the right, you may have visited the bald eagle nest cam located at the  Norfolk (VA) Botanical Garden. Sadly, Viner Barb passed along word that a jet landing at Norfolk International Airport struck and killed the female eagle early this morning. To the relief of many on-line viewers, the male returned to the nest with a fish early this evening. Only time will tell what happens next.

Happy 226th Birthday, John James Audubon (1785-1851)

Please visit HERE to read about the amazing life of John Jame Audubon. I can’t do him justice in a short post. He overcame adversity (illegitimate son of a French sea captain) and exemplifies the spirit of young America. Mr. Audubon, you made the world a better place!

Happy Earth Day

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The first Earth Day ‘teach-in’ in 1970 saw 20 million environmental supporters gather all across the U.S. By 1990, participation had grown to over 180 nations. The brainchild of U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, Earth Day was modeled after the anti-Vietnam war protests, called ‘teach-ins’. By the end of 1970, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency was born.

I can remember my youthful zeal in support of one of those first Earth Days: I decided to boycot the morning school bus ride and rode my bike instead. It was a rainy day and I took my faithful steed, a rehabbed English 3-speed with no fenders. Any experienced bike rider will know water and no fenders aren’t a good combination and should be having a good chuckle about now. I tried my darndest to avoid running over the earthworms on the road and my legs, feet and backside ended up being soaked. So much for making a statement. I never claimed to be a fashionista.

Emerald Ash Borer program

Thais Reiff, Greene County Master Gardener EAB Specialist, will be give a free program, “Emerald Ash Borer for Homeowners”, on Wednesday, April 27th at 6:30 pm at the Greene County Extension Office (100 Fairground Rd. in Xenia OH 45385.) For more info, call 937-372-9971 or email the extension office at greenemgv@gmail.com.

Schnormeier Gardens - Gambier, OH

Schnormeier Garden Tour

June 1-5 is your once-a-year opportunity to tour 75 acres of exquisite gardens nestled in the rolling hills of Central Ohio.  Schnormeier Gardens of Gambier, Ohio, has a distinct Asian flavor and features a variety of plantings rich in color and texture accented by larger boulders, stone walls, waterfalls, unique sculptures and structures.

Ted and Ann Schnormeier will open their spectacular private gardens to the public from Wednesday, June 1 through Sunday, June 5, 2011 from 10 am to 4 pm. Admission is free. The gardens are rarely open to the public, and this Open House represents the only opportunity this year to visit and enjoy this remarkable site.

Sales alerts

May Fair Plant Sale 2011: 10 am to 4 pm, April 30 and 12-3 pm, May 1. Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark (1301 E. Siebenthaler, Dayton OH) Features perennials, annuals and herbs. http://www.metroparks.org/plantsales

Wildflower and Native Plant Sale: 10 am to 2 pm, April 30.Cox Arboretum & Gardens MetroPark (6733 Springboro Pike, Dayton OH) http://www.metroparks.org/plantsales

$10 rebate on Osmocote: Purchase Osmocote’s 3 lb. container of Outdoor & Indoor Plant Food and get $10 back with a mail-in rebate offer. Check it out HERE.

$10 off $50 order from Burpee: Just shop at http://www.burpee.com and enter coupon code HORT5 at the check-out.

Spring Hill Nursery: Thanks to a tip from Viner Nancy, she reports that the mail-order garden center business located in Tipp City (110 West Elm St., Tipp City, OH 45371) often offers over-run sales on various items. This week’s feature is their $.99 sale.


I have the Carolinas on my mind

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Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

I just got back from a trip to the Carolinas. Both of them actually. First stop was to the Asheville, NC area where the 15s volleyball team that the hubby coaches played in a tournament. (They placed 3rd out of 28 teams! You can read more HERE.) Then we wandered down to Rock Hill, SC and visited with my kid sister for a smidge. That gave us the excuse to  check out the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, a wonderful place I learned about a few years back. If you are ever in the Charlotte, NC area – you’ll want to plan a stop. And if you are a member of the American Horticulture Society, you’ll enjoy free admission!

Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron sp.)

I have yet another story of how dangerous gardening can be. At least for me …. THIS time it involves a trip to an Urgent Care in South Carolina! Last Wednesday night I had been clearing an area of ivy (Hedra helix), knowing full well that poison ivy had been sighted there last year. I was covered with long sleeves and gloves and only saw one vine that remotely looked like PI. However, itching on the bottom of my forearm started in a 2 inch patch on Thursday morning. Friday evening it advanced to about 4″ long with raised blisters. Saturday, the blisters started leaking and my bottom of my forearm was swollen. Sunday, the redness started moving to the top of the arm from wrist to elbow. Monday: Urgent Care and steroids. Sigh… I think I’ll have a scar for a while but at least I am on the healing side of the equation now.

Ladies’ Night Out

Knollwood Garden Center is holding a Ladies’ Night Out, Tuesday, April 26 from 6-8 pm. Bruning’s Wine Cellar and Christopher’s Catering will be on site. I stopped in at Knollwood today and found it bursting in a riot of color so Tuesday night should be fun!

Hosta Auction

The Miami Valley Hosta Society is holding its annual plant auction on Tuesday, May 10, at  at Polen Farm (5099 Bigger Rd., Kettering, OH). The preview starts at 6 pm and the auction begins at 6:30 pm. About 150 items for your gardens will be auctioned off. They include many hostas, other plants and garden art donated by members and garden centers.  The night is free and open to the public so bring a friend. Call (937) 833-3278 with questions.

Sales alerts

Grandma’s Gardens: Thursday-Saturday, April 21-23: Impatiens and begonias are $11.99/flat.

Meadowview Growers: Thursday-Saturday, April 21-23: Petunia flats: buy one, get one half price.

Get ready, set, SHOP!

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I love sales and this weekend looks like it will be a great opportunity to get out there and do some damage at our local garden centers!

Knollwood Garden Center’s 30th annual Garden Party

April 16 & 17

Look for fantastic specials throughout the store. Garden Party specials include: ‘Winter Gem’ Boxwood 50% off (2 gal., reg. $34.99); 20% off: all quart-sized perennials, creeping phlox, grass seed, trees, KnockOut roses, wind chimes, pottery, birdbaths and tropical houseplants. The Beavercreek Wetlands Association will be operating a food booth with hot dogs, BBQ sandwiches, drinks and more. A BIG shout-out THANK YOU to Knollwood for underwriting the cost of the food at the booth! All proceeds from the food booth go to support the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association and its conservation efforts right here in our own community.

Grandma’s Gardens Perennial Party

April 15-17

All perennials (with the exception of roses) and trees are 25% off. Pansies and violas are 20% off. Celebrate Cinco de Mayo at 6 pm , Thursday, May 5 for the Mary Higgan’s Potting Party. $35 a person includes all the materials, plants and supplies to Make and Take a finished mixed pot with Mary Higgans. Call Donna at 937-885-2740 to register.

Stockslagers Garden Center

April 16-24
Stockslagers, west of New Lebanon, starts their spring sale April 16-24. Hanging baskets are sale priced starting at $9.99 and up. Bedding geraniums are in a three count cellpack for $.99 each. Mix and match the colors. Present their ad in today’s Neighborhood section of the Dayton Daily News for 20% off.

Marvin’s Organic Gardens’ 4th annual thinkGREEN event

April 23

This is a fun and educational event for the whole family and includes music, food, activities, door prizes, lectures, vendors and more.


Till we meet again

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White-throated sparrow

Some of us who live in Ohio year-round  may find it hard to believe that anyone or anything would want to spend winters here let alone consider it a balmy vacation destination, yet that is exactly what some of our feathered friends do. The recent mild weather has allowed a welcome spring breeze to come in though open windows. Riding the perfumed wind comes the melodic “Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada” song of the white-throated sparrow. You can listen to its sweet song HERE.

I was very surprised to hear sparrow’s song this morning for I know he’ll be packing it up and heading north to Canada for summer breeding. Other winter visitors to Ohio include the dark-eyed junco, pine siskins, long-eared owls, red-breasted nuthatches and more. You can follow the occurrence progress of many birds  HERE. Safe journeys, friends. I’ll see you again come winter.

NOTE: Get your hummingbird feeders out. They have already been spotted in Ohio. Follow their 2011 migration HERE.

 

Invasive wildflowers

Lesser celandine

Dense mat of lesser celandine

On the other side of the coin are visitors that have overstayed their welcome. Case in point is the Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) also known as the fig buttercup. Not to be confused with our native marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), this non-native invasive vernal plant forms large, dense patches in floodplain forests and some upland sites, displacing many native plant species, especially those with the similar spring-flowering life cycle.  Because it emerges well in advance of the native species, it has a developmental advantage which allows it to establish and overtake areas rapidly. (Sounds like the Amur honeysuckle!) After flowering, the above-ground foliage begins to die back and are mostly gone by June. Learn more here.

Worm update

My worms were no worse for wear considering their vermicomposting road trip to the Licking County Master Gardener Conference in Newark, OH last Saturday. In fact, a handful of them now have a new home somewhere up that way. The keynote speaker at the event was Jim McCormac who spoke on the often misunderstood group of plants: Goldenrods. If you get the opportunity to hear Jim speak, on any subject, GO. You won’t regret it. Check out his blog HERE.


Let’s get the party started

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Robin Williams is quoted as saying, “Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s Party!'” Well, here in Ohio – we’re starting to get down! At least in the southern part. I was up in Cleveland last weekend and, sadly, winter still has a grip there.

OAGC’s Hike for Health

Wahkeena Nature Preserve's Nature Center

I recently visited Wahkeena Nature Preserve in Fairfield County south of Lancaster OH in preparation for the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs Foundation’s Hike for Health day on May 14. OAGC’s members are accepting pledges to raise money for the OAGC Foundation’s charitable endeavors on this day of awareness. (Email me if you would like to support me with a pledge. I’d be grateful for your support.) A side benefit is the bettering of the health of the walkers as they walk the trails at Wahkeena or other areas closer to their home.

Spring’s party has already started at Wahkeena

Long-tailed salamander

It was a great day for a short hike with Wahkeena’s staff, site manager Tom Shisler and Robyn Wright Strauss. We spotted the newly arrived Louisiana Waterthrush and even some Pine Siskins who had yet to depart for their summer grounds up north. We also heard the Yellow Throated Warbler. Always with an ear for new birdsong, they both bolted to attention when a new sound split the air. The funny part? It was only my cell phone going off – which has the ringer of an Ovenbird singing. It was a hoot.

Though the days of salamander hanky-panky are behind us, evidence of their antics were abundant. Tom knew right where to look for salamanders and when he overturned a rock by the spring, sure enough, there was a long-tailed salamander.

Salamander egg mass

Down at one of the man-made vernal pools funded by OAGC, Tom and Robin gently lifted up some of the egg masses for viewing. Frog and toad masses were present as well and is a sign that spring is well underway.

The Canada goose couple were already on the nest. Tom has had to unclog the pond’s overflow as the beaver have been busy trying to plug up that leak in THEIR pond! Sadly, I must note that the center’s hawk recently passed away. It was estimated that she was over 23 years old. Plans are already underway to have another rehabilitated and unreleasable hawk move in to Wahkeena.

Baby salamanders

If you’ve never been to Wahkeena, I encourage you to take the trip to this wonderful preserve. Willed to the Ohio Historical Society by Carmen Warner, an OAGC member, Wahkeena has long been a destination for the organization’s members. Entrance fee to OAGC members is FREE. All others are $5/car.

We have babies!

Decorah, Iowa bald eagle nest cam

Surely the bald eagle nest cam in Decorah, Iowa has captured everyone’s attention. With three mouths to feed the parents are kept very busy. The nest cam show nature’s basic instinct: survival. The babies are being fed anything from rabbit, crow, muskrat, fish and who knows what else. Yumm! The baby down will be replaced with darker, medium-grey second down when they reach about 9-11 days of age. Juvenile feathers will start to appear when they eagles are around 24 days of age.

Well, I must be off. I’m taking my worms on the road for a Master Gardener program on vermicomposting tomorrow in Newark, OH. Later!