Today we are helping launch April as Ohio Native Plant Month, with a post about how this became Ohio law. In a few days, we’ll share an interview with Hope Taft, former Ohio first lady, who not only helped make this happen, but has long been a champion of Ohio native plants and natural areas.
It takes more than trowels and watering cans to make a gardening statement. For April to become Ohio Native Plant Month, ideas, conversations, meetings, legislative hearings, political action, and the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine were part of the mix.
Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)
Trillium sessile
Woods poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)
White trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
The purpose is to increase public awareness of Ohio’s native plants, and the many benefits they provide to pollinators, Ohio’s economy, and health of Ohio’s environment.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine with Hope Taft (far left) and Ohio Master Gardeners
One of the behind-the-scenes champions is Hope Taft, wife of former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and “mother” of the Heritage Garden at the Governor’s Residence in Columbus. It’s the only one in the country featuring a landscape showcasing the state’s native plants and vignettes of its principal ecosystems.
The idea for native plant month sprouted around three years ago when she learned Texas planned a native plant week. She said, “This struck me as a great way to broaden the impact of the Heritage Garden and increase the use of native plants in residential settings.”
However, it stayed in her memory bank because “…. my background told me it would be a lot of work to get the legislature to go along and even more to have a group of like-minded organizations to do it without supporting legislation.”
Eventually she met Kathryn Cochran Wiggam, wife of state Rep. Scott Wiggam of the Ohio House of Reresentatives, and daughter of Ken Cochran, retired director of Secrest Arboretum. She is a member of the Garden Club of Akron, part of the Garden Club of America. Another memory deposited.
Eventually, several memories and meetings resulted in action. Nancy Linz, the Zone X horticulture chair of the Garden Club of America, Nathan Johnson, director of Public Lands for the Ohio Environmental Council, and Hope worked out a plan to get the facts and information needed to present it to the legislature. She said, “The stars were aligning!”
We surveyed every garden club, associated group and green industry member we could think offor the best month, she said. April was chosen because a wide variety of groups across Ohio could participate and nurseries could be stocked with native plants “when the public is most interested in their own yards.”
Rep. Scott Wiggam and Sen. Bob Hackett guided the plan through the legislature. Committee hearings were required. After making many trips to Columbus to testify in the House and Senate committees, getting school children, green industry representatives, and garden club association representatives to testify, and encourage many others to write letters, the bill was signed into law July 18, 2019,” she said.
The group isn’t finished. The trio is working to form a nonprofit organization, develop a website,www.ohionativeplantmonth.org, and encourage use of information there. “Nancy is the driving force behind Ohio Native Plant Month and hopes it will get national traction,” she said.
Recently the group received notice the Montgomery County Commissioners, which includes Dayton, issued a proclamation honoring Ohio Native Pant Month. This is important, Hope said. It puts the local government on records supporter of using native plants.
Another way to promote Ohio plants, she said, is for local beautification groups to add “use of natives” as a criteria in selecting outstanding gardens.
While the COVID-19 crisis forced cancellation of native plant events in April, the Ohio Native Plant Month website will list new events, provide updates, give information on invasive plants, and show tallies of Ohio tree plantings to reach the United Nations Trillion Tree Campaign, www.trilliontreecampagin.org, to plant a trillion trees by 2050.
They also will provide information on adding Ohio native plant pollinator gardens to home landscapes and using Ohio natives in existing landscape plantings.
Professional Conferences and Trade Shows = Plants, People and Gardens
By Debra Knapke
One of the joys of my profession is being surrounded by plants. Discovery of “new” plants is a main occupation at the professional meetings and tradeshows that I attend throughout the year. These meetings are filled with anticipation, excitement, revelation, and, for lack of a better word: plant lust.
Two recent conferences re-affirmed my third choice of career in horticulture. In July, Columbus, Ohio hosts Cultivate. This four-day event, organized by AmericanHort, is the largest Horticulture-Greenhouse-Landscape Trade Show and Educational Short Course in the United States. It offers an international assemblage of companies and an amazing array of plants and products. I take lots of pictures and notes to remind myself of what I want to use in my courses and design work, and what must be tried this year or next.
Below is a very small sample (out of 89 images) of the variety of what I saw in June.
Strange Plants for Special Situations;
Imagine rows and rows of tables holding new plants for 2016. There is something for everyone! Many were snapping pictures of the above spiny specimen. Dyckias (Dyckia brevifolia) look like they are either from outer space or from the deep ocean. They require lean and dry soils and will “melt” during an extended wet spell. Last year and this year my plants had to return to the greenhouse during our rainy spells.
All I could think was –The bold puckered leaves and deep maroon inflorescences of Dracula celosia are just begging to be combined with a fine to medium silver foliaged plant. Not usually an admirer of celosia, I realized that I was feeling a bit of plant lust for this audacious annual. Dracula will be in one of my containers next year; possibly with dusty miller or one of the silvery helichrysums (Helichysum petiolare).
A Beautiful Blender
Soft yellow flowers combined with dark green to maroon foliage placed in part to medium shade is like a breath of cool air similar to the winter wind that this plant was named for: Mistral Yellow begonia. I am currently growing the orange selection in my garden; next year I will grow yellow.
Plants in Combination
Sunflowers (Helianthus Vincent Choice) in combination with lisianthus (Eustoma grandifloruim ‘Black Pearl’ and ‘Rosanne’) make a luscious combination in a vase. Plant lust hit again…
Talented designers compete in several categories. One category is: here is your plant, create an arrangement around it for a center piece, a mantlepiece or a bridal bouquet. The plant this year was one of the tender hen and chicks (Echeveria hybrid). This is not your grandmother’s bridal bouquet. Carrying on our current love affair with succulents in the home and garden, many framed displays of succulents were scattered around the trade show. This “picture” was one of three set up along one of the primary cross-paths in the show. I was trying to think where a four by four foot display would fit in my living room. The other two easels were mixes of succulents, grasses and ferns. Note the potted plants close to the center of the picture. These turmeric plants (Curcuma hybrid) were selected for their gorgeous flowers. I grew turmeric years ago thinking that I would harvest and dry the rhizome for use in the kitchen. The flowers were beautiful, but not as free-flowering as the new hybrids. Note to self: another plant that will be grown next season.
Proven Winners sets up booths that showed how their plants could be used on decks and porches. While you might not want as many plants in the above two “idea rooms”, it definitely makes you think of fall display possibilities; and then, there is next year…
Lastly, here is the perfect garden: buy everything in bloom, arrange, plant, add water, and sit back and enjoy with a glass of wine in hand.
A million blossoms transform Cincinnati into a floral capital this weekend
By Michael Leach
The Cincinnati Flower Show’s orchids, bird of paradise, jasmine, gardenia, zinnias and hundreds of other types of flowers delight visitors through Sunday (April 17) in park along the Ohio River downtown.
Not far from there, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden amazes visitors with the splendor of 107,000 tulips in full bloom. Under the brilliant sun, the satiny blossoms glow like stained-glass flowers.
Blogmate Teresa Woodard, Diana Lockwood, The Columbus Dispatch garden writer and a Garden Writers Association newbie, and I were fortunate to attend a tour of both venues Wednesday with other GWA members. Part of the fun at the show was having Kevin O’Dell, of Kendrick & O’Dell Landscaping, as tour director. He’s one of the show’s organizers and long-time driving force.
At the zoo, Scott Beuerlein and Stephen Foltz pointed out highlights.
the Midwest’s largest green industry convention hosted by the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, Jan. 11-13. She will present “The Garden Aesthetic” on Tuesday and “Edible Native Plants” on Wednesday. She also will present “Garden Design Informed by Ecology & Place” at the pre-conference event — the P.L.A.N.T. Seminar hosted by the Perennial Plant Association and the Ohio State Master Gardener Volunteers.
As a member of ONLA’s education committee, Debra says this year’s speaker line-up is exceptional thanks to the work of Lisa Larson, ONLA’s education director. Speakers include book author Kerry Mendez, economist Charlie Hall, master plantsman Kelly Norris, Jeni Britton Bauer — founder of Jeni’s Ice Cream, Bill Hendricks of Klyn Nursery, Susan Weber of Integrity Sustainable Planning & Design, and a series of presentations from horticulturists from the country’s top public gardens.
CENTS (Central Environmental Nursery and Tradeshow) is an annual convention hosted by the (ONLA). ONLA is a high-energy association where landscape, nursery, greenhouse, arbor, garden center, turf and pest management professionals can meet, learn, network, buy and sell the goods and services vital to their success.
The plant-buying frenzy is about to begin, and there’s no better place for one-of-a-kind plants and great gardening advice than a public garden’s plant sale. Besides, the sales generate significant income for botanic gardens, arboreta and plant societies.
There’s a month-long series of sales throughout the Midwest. Many feature auctions, pre-sale party nights, workshops and book signings. To get first dibs on plants, check out the pre-sale events typically offered to members. No doubt, the membership privilege is well worth the $25-$50 annual dues.
Also, come with questions. Many of the volunteers have first-hand experience growing the plants for sale. So, don’t be afraid to ask for their favorite tomato plant, native shade tree or miniature varieties. The only danger is you may end up with a trunk full of wonderful plants.
The plant-buying frenzy is about to begin, and there’s no better place for one-of-a-kind plants and great gardening advice than a public garden’s plant sale. Besides, the sales generate significant income for botanic gardens, arboreta and plant societies.
There’s a month-long series of sales throughout the Midwest. Many feature auctions, pre-sale party nights, workshops and book signings. To get first dibs on plants, check out the pre-sale events typically offered to members. No doubt, the membership privilege is well worth the $25-$50 annual dues.
Also, come with questions. Many of the volunteers have first-hand experience growing the plants for sale. So, don’t be afraid to ask for their favorite tomato plant, native shade tree or miniature varieties. The only danger is you may end up with a trunk full of wonderful plants.
While there are many places to shop, this year, we’re highlighting the Native Plant Sale at Aullwood Audobon Center in Dayton, Ohio. I loved revisiting the late conservationist Marie Aull’s woodland gardens, while doing a story for the recent issue of Country Gardensmagazine.
At Aullwood’s natives sale, you’ll find 100 different species — from woodland wildflowers like celandine poppies to prairie favorites like compass plant and milkweeds to wetland stars like cardinal flower. They’ll also have ornamental grasses like little bluestem and native trees and shrubs such as flowering dogwood, sumac and spicebush. To save time, submit a pre-order form by April 7, and orders will be ready for pick up on April 11 or 12. If you pick up on April 11, you also have shopping privileges at the plant rescue sale featuring trilliums, bloodroots, Virginia bluebells and more. After shopping, be sure to see the spring ephemerals starting to bloom at Aullwood Gardens.
Sunflowers (Helianthus Vincent Choice) in combination with lisianthus (Eustoma grandifloruim ‘Black Pearl’ and ‘Rosanne’) make a luscious combination in a vase. Plant lust hit again…
Carrying on our current love affair with succulents in the home and garden, many framed displays of succulents were scattered around the trade show. This “picture” was one of three set up along one of the primary cross-paths in the show. I was trying to think where a four by four foot display would fit in my living room.
The other two easels were mixes of succulents, grasses and ferns. Note the potted plants close to the center of the picture. These turmeric plants (Curcuma hybrid) were selected for their gorgeous flowers. I grew turmeric years ago thinking that I would harvest and dry the rhizome for use in the kitchen. The flowers were beautiful, but not as free-flowering as the new hybrids. Note to self: another plant that will be grown next season.
