by GardenLover | May 7, 2018 | Gardens to Drive
Visit a Public Garden on Public Gardens Day
By Micheal Leach
Public gardens sparkle with enough delightful facets to rival an engagement ring. A bona fide plant geek, such as myself, is expected to say such a thing. Other people sing praises of these treasures, too, even if they don’t know a trowel from a trug.
Yet many people have no clue. The parks, gardens, arboretums and botanic collections are hidden in plain sight. They don’t think about them, much less visit, unless a garden geek relative or friend comes to town.
The labyrinth at Chadwick Arboretum
The American Public Gardens Association (APGA) aims to change this by creating more awareness of these places. There’s even a day designated as Public Gardens Day, Friday May 11.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clq53kxibRs&w=560&h=315]
I’ll confess, National Public Gardens Day isn’t noted on my calendar, and it’s probably missing from yours as well. A press release from The Ohio State University Chadwick Arboretum & Learning Gardens, in Columbus, was my wake-up call. Casey Sclar, executive director of the APGA is making an appearance at Chadwick’s annual fund- raising plant sale May 10-12.
Steven Still garden at Chadwick Arboretum
Perhaps this post will stir some interest in public gardens in your part of the Midwest and elsewhere — and inspire your support for the plant sales and other fund raisers that benefit them. Many Midwest towns, small cities and metro areas offer appealing public spaces. Check out this list from APGA.
There’s good reason to support them. In an age where more “woe is me” comes with each new day, nature connections are essential survival tools. Science keeps proving what gardeners and other “outsiders” have always known: Being in nature, working with plants and other outdoor activity is good for you. Even a short walk in a natural setting, whether woods or park, calms pulse and lowers blood pressure.
Woodland Garden at Chadwick Arboretum
Besides Chadwick, there are plenty of cool public gardens in Ohio’s capital. As I reside in suburban Columbus, let me toot our horn on a few of the many spots to see should you come this way. There’s the Columbus Park of Roses, a popular wedding venue and one of the nation’s largest public rose gardens. Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens offers multiple appeals to green thumbs and their friends and families. The Topiary Park downtown even charmed an English garden friend of mine. Inniswood Metro Gardens features an array small gardens. On a grander scale is Dawes Arboretum in nearby Newark. The Japanese garden there is a sure cure for stress.
Besides all these pluses, Sclar reminded me of OSU’s history of horticulture and the entire city of Bexley being an arboretum. While Columbus is only the 15th largest metro area, but it has a “depth of horticulture.”
“The Columbus area has a rich diversity of public garden spaces and served as the site of the 2012 Annual Conference of public garden professionals,” said Joan Thomas of the APGA. “These gardens are doing amazing things and showcase horticultural excellence among public gardens in the U.S.”
Mary Maloney, Chadwick’s executive director, invited Sclar. She is among several central Ohio public gardens representatives active in APGA leadership positions.
Sclar and Maloney are to appear on “All Sides with Ann Fisher”” on WOSU 89.7 FM May 11 as part of the annual Spring Sale and Auction Fundraiser.
Like most public gardens, Chadwick Arboretum is dependent on earned revenues for support. Such support comes from sales, weddings and other activities. About 70 percent of public gardens have corporate events, such as meetings, Sclar said.
By why should the non-gardener care about such gardens?
“They are places for wellness, health, and beauty,” Thomas said. “They provide a welcoming setting for social connection with others, whether walking, taking a class or listening to a concert; they serve as places to mark life occasions; they are a place for mental healing and peace for those needing it (whether veterans, caregivers, those grieving, or those just needing to power down).”
Plus they are excellent places to find what performs best in the local area, Sclar added.
No wonder there’s a day set aside to celebrate these places.
To learn more, check out our friend Diana Lockwood’s article from Sunday’s Columbus Dispatch.
by GardenLover | Apr 24, 2018 | Gardens to Drive
By Teresa Woodard
Giant pumpkins, watermelons and tomatoes may win blue ribbons at the county fair, but some gardeners prize smaller, bite-sized veggies for their big flavor. They’re easy to grow in smaller gardens (even containers), ideal for snacking and may not even make it to the kitchen once harvested in the garden. Here are five bite-sized veggies to try this season.
Cherry tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes are easy to grow and produce an abundance of tomatoes for snacks, salads and roasting. ‘Sungold’ is an exceptional orange cherry tomato variety and a favorite in a recent poll among tomato growers. Other standouts are three All-American Selections award winners. They include Midnight Snack, a black-purple variety with healthy antioxidants; ‘Candyland Red,’ a dark red, sweet flavored variety, and ‘Patio Choice Yellow,’ a new compact variety developed specifically for small spaces and container gardens.
Cucamelons: These oh-so-cute veggies were the darlings of last summer’s Instagram garden posts. Also known as Mexican Sour Gherkin, mouse melon or “Sandita” (little watermelon in Spanish), cucamelons taste like cucumbers with a touch of lemon. They’re grown much like cucumber vines and can be planted in containers or as an edible ornamental vine along a trellis in cottage gardens.
Ground Cherries: These marble-sized, golden fruits taste like pineapple with hints of cherry tomato and vanilla. Their sweet flavor earns them nicknames like “strawberry tomato” and “Cossack pineapple.” Enjoy them in salads, jam, pie, cobbler, sauces or dried like raisins. The fruits drop from the plants when they are ripe, hence the name ground cherry. The only challenge can be getting the seeds to start. For best results, sow indoors in April, cover seed trays and keep the trays warm until the seeds germinate. The top of a refrigerator works well. Transplant the seedlings in the garden after the threat of frost has passed.
‘Cherry Belle’ Radishes: These round, smooth scarlet radishes are ¾ inches in size and have a crisp, white flesh. They grow easily from seed when planted in cool spring weather and are ready to harvest in just 23 days. They are an All-American Selections award winner and beloved for their mild flavor.
‘Sweetie Pie’ Peppers: This 2017 All-American Selections award-winning miniature bell pepper is easy to grow and produces an abundance of peppers even in hot and humid conditions. The attractive plant is well-adapted for containers and small gardens. Fruits can be harvested 60 to 70 days from transplanting either in green or red. These small peppers are 2.5 inches by 3 inches in size and are thick-walled, sweet and flavorful. These peppers can be eaten fresh, grilled, stir-fried or stuffed.
by GardenLover | Apr 9, 2018 | Gardens to Drive
By Michael Leach
When it comes to coping with a variety of weather, Midwesterners take second place to no one on the planet. Sometimes it seems we get almost everything in a few hours.
Because April in my part of the Heartland is mercurial at best, it was with tepid hopes I put the recycled-plastic Adironack chairs on the patio the day before Easter. The forsythia blossoms hadn’t even fully opened. While forsythia blooms don’t guarantee three snows of folklore, more cold weather is certain.
And Easter, no matter its placement on the calendar, rarely matches the pastel scene depicted in ads and greeting cards. While growing up, we never marched in the Easter parade, but were always in uniform if called upon to do so. Despite arctic cold, Mother refused to allow my sister and I to wear winter coats. “They’ll hide your new Easter clothes,” she scolded. How dare we prefer drab, dark coats to a fashion statement. Our numb little fingers gathered the colored eggs hidden around the back yard.
Softball was usually as chilly a proposition as egg hunts. Even early May can bring frosts, freezes and January-like wind chills. Outfield duty meant possible frostbite.
So putting the chairs out practically guaranteed the always crazy April weather would make them mere garden decorations for awhile, not a spot for comforting rest from chores or savoring the beauty of spring flowers on balmy days.
The variety of meteorological offerings that followed, however, was awe inspiring. Monday after Easter, several inches of snow transformed the garden into a Christmas card scene. (Sure hope the white Christmas fans have had their fill of the four-letter “s” word, I growled.) Tuesday brought a quick warm up, rounds of flooding rains, hail, violent winds, and a small tornado touching down at evening rush hour just three miles from home. Fortunately there were no injuries, though this twister damaged buildings and toppled power lines. On Wednesday morning snow flurries were blowing again. At least the snow didn’t stick to pavements. The only atmospheric condition that failed to materialize was pleasant, as in shirtsleeve weather.
There’s something especially depressing about the mixed metaphor of snow-crusted patio furniture. The surreal extends to the daffodils and other flowers, who do imitations of the yoga pose Downward Dog. (Perhaps I need counseling.
Little wonder that St. Louis native and Nobel Prize-winning poet T.S. Eliot penned, “April is the cruelest month …” Such a thought probably arose after enduring a Midwest winter that never wanted to end and an April that was anything but springlike. He eventually moved to temperate England. (But even the Mother Country had cruel snow storms and deadly chills this winter.
Another poet of our region came through the winters and uncertainties of April seeing a brighter side. Jesse Stuart, Kentucky poet laureate, lived in a lovely hollow near the small town of Greenup on the Ohio River.
His poem “Hold April” speaks of the winsome side of this split-personality month.
He tells us to hold on to April because it’s another year
“ … before she comes again
To bring us wind as clean as polished glass
And apple blossoms in soft, silver rain. …
When wild birds sing up flights of windy stair
And bees love alder blossoms by the stream. …
Month of eternal beauty and delight.”
Spring’s delight will return — as always. Hold that hope.
by GardenLover | Mar 13, 2018 | Gardens to Drive
We are excited to announce our upcoming book release, Heartland Gardening: Celebrating the Seasons. We’ll launch the book on Sunday, March 18 at 2 p.m. at our talk at Inniswood Metro Gardens in Westerville, Ohio.
Our new book celebrates gardening in the Midwest with a collection of our best blog posts. We’ve assembled gardening lessons and reflective essays and woven them together with beautiful images and illustrations. The book leads readers through the region’s heralded seasons, offering tips for favorite plants, recipes for beloved edibles, plant design ideas and advice for top garden destinations. It’s a great tribute to Midwest gardening and an excellent gift for gardening friends.
To register for the “Gardening in the Heartland” event, visit Inniswood.
Tune in for Debra’s pea planting tips and recipes. https://anchor.fm/teresa40/episodes/Favorite-Edible-Peas-e1blk7