Terri and I have done presentations about asters, goldenrods, and coneflowers to several groups. We heard they were helpful, so we took sections of the presentation and created a series of videos. The series includes: Part 1: Overview, Classification, the Asteraceae Family (Length ~ 6:16) Part 2: Asters (Length ~ 10:25) Part 3: Goldenrods (Length…
Category: Plants
Starting Seeds in Winter Using Totes and Seedling Flats
Winter Sowing in milk jugs has been enjoyable and successful here for the past several years. Having a seed-starting project in January is akin to browsing the seed catalogs – an opportunity to plan for, and dream about, the next growing season, with the added benefit of actually working with seeds and planting mix. While…
Coneflowers, Asters and Goldenrods
A presentation at Cedar Bog Nature PreserveSaturday August 10 from 10 am to 11:30 am Cost $5.00 (Cedar Bog Association and Ohio History Connection members free) Event Facebook Post Our presentation will cover: Cedar Bog Nature Preserve980 Woodburn RoadUrbana, OH 43078 Photos by Randy Litchfield unless otherwise noted© Randy Litchfield, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
Host Plants for Caterpillars
There’s a good reason to choose keystone plants for the landscape – they are crucial to the foodweb in an ecosystem. The foliage (for caterpillars) or pollen (for bees) support the largest number of these insect species, creating the best chance of high biodiversity in our gardens. Keystone Plants The top keystone genera (closely related…
A Tangled Tale: Vines
There is a group of plants that is often neglected… vines. These plants can fulfill several functions in a landscape design as well as provide ecological function. There are a number of native vines that can be used in place of invasive or potentially invasive vine species. Vines need to be used wisely because even…
April is Ohio Native Plant Month…
… and this serves as an annual reminder of the importance of native plants. Perhaps even more important, April 2024 is National Native Plant Month! This designation allows us to renew our commitment to the removal of non-native invasive plant species, and the planting of beneficial native species. And it provides a platform for the…
It’s Spring! Oh No… Weeds and Invasives!
Like everyone else, we’re excited about the coming of spring! Terri recently posted about the early shoots of perennials and the season of spring wildflowers emerging. Bluebirds and other birds are busy and spring peepers are raising their voices. Seeing everything greening up feels so good! Then we see them… weeds and invasive plants! Early…
Spring Wildflowers and our State Nature Preserves
Not only are most native plants pushing their way up, the spring ephemerals are starting to bloom! Every Friday from March through mid-May, ODNR publishes the Wildflower Bloom Report. The report is an open invitation to visit a state nature preserve and see some of these fleeting blooms in their forest homes. While the trees…
Look Down!
A couple of weeks ago we had 8-10” of snow. A concrete block on the concrete patio outside the kitchen window was covered with 10” of snow. Snow in the yard looked to be closer to 5”. The reason is that the ground had warmed up considerably before the snow fell and was holding its…
Things Seem Early This Year – Phenology
People routinely speculate about whether plants are leafing out and blooming earlier or later than usual. When leaves and blooms emerge varies a lot relative to our human calendar. However, plants and insects mark time differently than we do. To understand this, we need to consider “phenology” and “growing degree days” (GDD). Phenology The USA…
Catchfly Commons 