It is a bit late to post a reflection on 2023, but here goes! Last year was a very good one for us! Here are some highlights…

Public Engagement

In March, the garden was featured in Ohio Magazine (“How to Plant a Native Ohio Garden”). Terri did a couple of presentations. One was “Gardening for Pollinators” for Stratford Ecological Center and the other “Sustainable Beauty and Biodiversity: Gardening with Native Plants” for the Powell Area Garden Club.

Over a hundred people attended our open garden over the weekend of Saturday July 8th and Sunday July 9th. The Sunday open garden was sponsored by Delaware County Master Gardeners Volunteers. We are very thankful for their help in preparing the garden and hosting. Several small groups and individuals visited for informal garden tours in the following weeks.

Our nursery beds were used to propagate native plants for the Asbury United Methodist Church (Delaware, OH) plant sale fundraiser. The Native Plant Propagation Committee of Delaware County Master Gardeners gleaned plants from nursery beds and the landscape for their annual plant sale.

Website and Blog Launch

At the beginning of August, we launched Catchfly Commons and it was well received! Since its launch, the site has had 596 unique visitors and 3,549 views. Fifteen people subscribe to the blog. Thus far we have posted 28 blog articles (one a week). We also created a Facebook page to which blog entries are also posted. We are very thankful for the graphic design of our logo by Patti Sharpe, a Marion area artist and Delaware County Master Gardener Volunteer.

Buillding the site was good for us. It caused us to reflect on what we have done over the years and on the reasons for doing it. This really gave us a new perspective and honed our intentionality. Writing the blog entries helps us be more conscious of what is happening in the landscape, of our practices, of ways we can support the efforts of others, and of research to expand our understanding. The posts also help my photography because now I am looking for shots that help convey an idea and tell stories about Catchfly Commons. Building the site also fed our nerd selves! We hope the site serves you well too!

Mothing… Finally

After wishing for a couple of years, I finally did a couple nights of mothing in our landscape. They were fun experiences! Between them I got some good photos and notably increased our catalogue of moth species present. The nighttime caterpillar hunt with our adult daughter was also a wonderful time of sharing and discovery.

Awe with Grandson

The year also included many, many hours of delight with our grandson playing and exploring the garden. From hunting caterpillars, to munching cherry tomatoes and peppers, to digging sweet potatoes, to playing in the leaves, to just plain wandering and wondering… we encountered Eden with him!

Interconnected Gathering

Looking back at 2023, it seems our description of what we experience in our landscape, Catchfly Commons, is apt:

“The garden is an interconnected place of native plants, creatures, land, and watershed. It is also an informal gathering place and demonstration garden for people interested in biodiverse landscapes. It is a commons for nature and humans.”

2024

We look forward to a good 2024! Winter sowing, dormant treen pruning, and hardscape projects await as does our anticipation of seeing how 2023 plantings will fare.

May 2024 be a year when the plants and relationships in the places you dwell blossom and flourish with rich blessings for all!

The 2024 public open garden will be on Saturday July 13th!

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Photos by Randy Litchfield unless otherwise noted
© Randy Litchfield, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)