by GardenLover | Apr 17, 2013 | Gardens to Drive, Misc.
By Michael Leach
When my sister and I were little and driving Mother crazy with noisy indoor play, she’d shout, “You kids need to go outside and get the stink blowed off.” Turns out she was right, as mothers usually are. Except she had no idea of the benefits of being outside. There’s more than room to run and a dose of Vitamin D awaiting. In recent years concerns about the lack of nature in children’s lives are topics of articles and books, such as Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle. Evidence links “unnatural” lifestyles to disturbing childhood trends, such as obesity, attention disorders and depression.
To help get the stink blowed off, I’m launching a new campaign called You H.A.V.E. to Garden. Gardening positively affects you in four significant ways: Your health, attitude, property value and environment. I’ll look at these areas in future posts. Meanwhile, we need to start using science to persuade non-gardeners to take up the trowel and fight for a healthier, saner world by working with plants. I think this is especially important for the “green” industry of commercial horticulture. We all tend to be more enthralled with new varieties and gardening trends, than promoting the benefits of literally greening the world. Something tells me Gen Xers are more excited by the idea of cleaning the air with plants, than the newest variety of pansy I’m trying this spring.
Even a miniscule amount of gardening affects people in positive ways. According to the America in Bloom, the October 2008 issue of HortTechnology cites a study of 90 patients recovering from an appendectomy. Half the patients were randomly assigned to hospital rooms with plants during their post-op recovery. Patients with plants had significantly less pain medication, pain anxiety and fatigue. They also had lower blood pressure readings and heart rates, plus higher satisfaction with their recovery rooms than their counterparts in the control group without plants in their rooms. They also said the plants were the most positive quality of their rooms (93 percent). The patients without plants said watching television was the most favorable aspect of their rooms (91 percent).
If you choose the right houseplants, your air will be less likely to harbor various pollutants such formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide from indoor air according to NASA studies. Some are almost foolproof to grow, such as Chinese evergreen, Aglaonema commutatum, peace lily, Spathiphyllum wallisii, Dracaena fragrans; sago palm, Cycas revoluta, and bamboo palm, Chamaedorea seifrizii.
But there’s more. Outside the home, trees, shrubs and other plants are touted for their ability to remove carbon — plus create oxygen. Not to mention the benefits of a landscape for enhancing the value of your home’s curb appeal and energy savings through wind breaks and shade. Even if we garden enthusiasts can’t quote studies and statistics, we know our passion for plants is good for what ails us. Maybe that’s why, despite the aches and pains of a day of garden work, we can hardly wait to go out and start again tomorrow.
by GardenLover | Apr 4, 2013 | Gardens to Drive
Daffodils to fill our hearts
By Michael Leach
The most dependable and numerous spring-flowering bulbs in my garden are daffodils. Despite planting hundreds, there are never enough. When I see them blossom, how can I not think of the poet Wordsworth, the most articulate of the legions of daffodil lovers past and present? My heart, too, fills with pleasure at the sight of “a host of golden daffodils.”
For us narcissi-philes there are several places to revel in this diverse family of plants. Among the American Daffodil Society’s official daffodil display gardens are several in the Midwest. These include: Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL; Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO; Fellows Riverside Gardens- Mill Creek Metro Parks, Youngstown, OH; Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum, Cincinnati, OH; Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA.
For serious enthusiasts, there’s the American Daffodil Society’s (ADS) convention, April 11-14 in 
Columbus. Teresa Woodard also wrote a feature on Jill Griesse, the conference chairperson and her ADS daffodil display garden in Granville. See the current issue of Ohio Magazine.
The Midwest Daffodil Society Show is April 27 and 28 at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
by GardenLover | Mar 17, 2013 | Gardens to Drive
By Teresa Woodard
It’s no blarney. Emerald green is the hot color this spring and not just for St. Patrick’s Day. Pantone, the creative industry’s color authority, has designated this radiant jewel tone as the 2013 color of the year in its Fashion Color Report.
“The most abundant hue in nature, the human eye sees more green than any other color in the spectrum,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “As it has throughout history, multifaceted Emerald continues to sparkle and fascinate. Symbolically, Emerald brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation, which is so important in today’s complex world. This powerful and universally-appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and home interiors.”
In the green gardening world, it’s easy to be fashionable this year. Still, here are a few ways to update your outdoor spaces with this lush green color:
- Emerald foliage: Be lavish with green foliage favorites like hostas, ferns, heucheras, canna lilies and begonias. Plant them in mass or fill up containers in monochromatic color schemes.
- Emerald flowers: When it comes to flowers, green is harder to find. Look for Zinnia ‘Envy’, Bells of Ireland (Moluccella laevis), Gladiolius ‘Green Star’, Helleborus ‘Green Gambler’, Alocasia ‘Green Velvet’, Hydrangea ‘Limelight’, and Echinacea purpurea ‘Green Jewel’.
- Emerald accessories: Dress up porches and patios with pillows in trendy green trellis patterns or oversized botanical and flame stitch prints. Try spray painting a chair or bench emerald green. Shop for green pots or candles in recycled wine bottles. Even create a table top mosaic in emerald jewel tone tiles.
by GardenLover | Feb 25, 2013 | Gardens to Drive, Trendspotting
Michael Leach helps find many of the speakers and programs for the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens Stage and the Backyard Patio Stage at the Central Ohio Home & Garden Show. It shouldn’t be surprising that the bloggers will be appearing.
Teresa Woodard presents “Spring Salad Bowl” at 1 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 26) on the patio stage.
Michael leads tours of several show gardens at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday (Feb. 26 and 27). He explains some of the basic terms and techniques landscape designers use, while taking time to smell the hyacinths along the way. The caliber of design and execution seems especially high this year.
Heartland Garden Bloggers: Teresa Woodard, Michael Leach and Debra Knapke
Debra Knapke, Teresa and Michael present “Midwest Garden Trends, Tips and More” at 3 p.m. Sunday (March 3). So come with your garden questions and we’ll try to answer them.
This sneak preview of spring also offers an appearance by the Property Brothers from HGTV, demos by chefs from throughout central Ohio, and new home and garden products.
by GardenLover | Dec 6, 2012 | Gardens to Drive
Decking the garden with shrubs of holly
Ilex opaca ‘Brilliance’
By Teresa Woodard
I’ve always been a fan of holly (Ilex), especially clipping backyard bushes to use for Christmas decorations, but it wasn’t until I visited Holly Hill at Dawes Arboretum did I gain a richer appreciation for the many varieties and landscape uses.
Here, curator Rich Larson, cares for a 10-acre collection of 200 cultivars, ranging in size from a three-foot spreading dwarf shrub to a 30-foot American holly tree. The leaves may be shiny dark green with spiny edges, variegated in cream and green, or elongated and spineless. Some are evergreen while other deciduous ones lose their leaves to reveal showy berries clinging to their stems in winter. Many of the berries are traditional red while others are orange, yellow, black and even white. 
An official test site for the American Holly Society, Dawes started its collection in 1956 when its then head horticulturist Al Cook planted the first ones. Over the next four decades, the Dawes staff has grown and evaluated some 200 varieties and has learned which ones are best suited for Midwestern growing conditions. So if you’re looking to add holly to your landscape or just want to admire these seasonal favorites, checkout the holly collections at Dawes or one of these other public gardens:
Ilex verticillata ‘Sparkleberry’
Ilex decidua ‘Finch’s Gold’
Ilex opaca ‘Chief Paduke’
Holly Hill at Dawes Arboretum
by GardenLover | Nov 14, 2012 | Gardens to Drive
“Spring Beauty” by Andrew Wyeth
By Teresa Woodard
Artist Andrew Wyeth may not have been a gardener, but his poetic painting reminds me of the beauty of fallen leaves and the valuable role they play in protecting plants in winter, conserving moisture in the ground, keeping soil cool and returning rich humus and nutrients to the soil as they decompose. After years of raking big sycamore leaves in my backyard as a kid, I was glad to learn later from a gardening friend, Jane Rogers, that my woodland wildflowers are better off if I don’t rake the leaves. Additionally, plantsman David Voyles, showed me the results of using leaf mulch (“gardener’s gold”) in my vegetable garden. When I was first establishing the garden, we would order leaf mulch from a mulch supplier, but now I beg my neighbors to deliver a load of shredded leaves that they vacuum from their wooded lawn. I cover the vegetable beds with the leaf mulch and by spring they’re ready to turn into the soil. So remember Wyeth’s promise of spring as you crunch through the leaves this season.
By Michael Leach
