Wild Flowers -- A Better Garden

 Today's post is not about my current quilting activity (although I've been piecing every day), it's about native spring wild flowers here in Ohio.  The spring before Covid, I visited the southwest corner of Ohio to participate in a Wild Flower Pilgrimage and have wanted to return each spring since.  Finally this spring, in the company of a friend, I was able to do that. 

I think that first trip was a turning point for me and my home garden because now I just want to fill it with native wild flowers.  Their beauty has won me over and the more I learn about their importance to building a healthy natural habitat that attracts insects and birds, the more fascinated I have become.  I've spent many pleasant hours during Covid viewing webinars about the importance of native habitats and am convinced this is the right direction to go with my home garden.  

So let me show you some of the beauty I enjoyed over the past few days!  It's hard for me to resist a path that begins like this -- greeted by wild blue phlox and lured ahead by Virginia bluebells . . . . 

 . . . . . . . into a landscape created by time and natural events to see breathtaking sights -- some are grand and spectacular while others are subtle and quiet.

This is at Ohio River Bluffs Preserve managed by the Arc of Appalachia, a growing "land trust" in southwestern Ohio that is working to preserve and restore precious remnants of natural habitats.  The preserve is located west of the small town of Manchester, Ohio and overlooks the Ohio River.  It is a remnant of what is believed to have been a twenty-four mile stretch of spectacular spring wildflowers on the steep hillsides and bluffs along the north side of the river.

This is currently the star of the show -- dwarf larkspur!

At the midpoint of the trail we were walking, these striking flowers dominated the hillside as far as we could see in any direction.  This picture looks "lame" but it's the best I can do to convey this marvelous sight.

We even spotted a few light morphs of the species.

It was an new species of wildflower for me and another new one was Blue-eyed Mary (named after me?).  Apparently, this little charmer is an annual and prolific in some places but I've never seen it.

One of the aspects of the areas we visited was how the plants "create" charming little landscapes with no help from a human like this little "white garden".  I know gardeners who work so hard to accomplish this and here is a square foot of diverse plants all "coordinated" in white and green.

We also visited Miller State Nature Preserve about an hour north of the river near the small town of Bainbridge, Ohio in Ross County.  It was a different palette of flowers partly because spring moves north and so some flowers that were finished along the river were at their peak in this river gorge but the soil also influences the plants that thrive there.  Every cranny of the rock face was filled with moss,  tiny ferns, white trillium, Dutchman's breeches, and miterwort -- I defy any landscape architect to create such a dynamic scene.

We found these bellwort almost in full bloom -- the flowers always droop from the end of the stalk and I seldom see them in my area.  I hope I can find a local-to-me native plant grower with them in stock!

In the northeast corner of the state, we rarely see this "toad-shade" trillium.  Those dark red petals never spread wide open and would offer a nice contrast to the large flowered white trilliums that already grow in my garden if my soil conditions permit.

We were also delighted with the cheery blooms on the wood poppies scattered amidst the many shades of  lavender and purple flowers.  I have a small clump in my garden already but now I want more!  And Whipple State Nature Preserve east of Manchester, Ohio is awash in them right now.

One of the plants I added to my garden last year was wild blue phlox -- it was blooming down south but it will be another 10 to 14 days before mine open -- I hope they look this sweet!

Here in Ohio, the state Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife has a series of sixteen nature guides available and one of them is Spring Wildflowers of Ohio.  You can download it as a PDF online HERE, but my local park system has the print versions of them available and I picked one up recently.  Out of the 65 species included in the booklet, we saw 27 in bloom and another dozen or so not yet blooming.  

Happily, I was able to manage my back issues better than I imagined and enjoy myself -- I wasn't sure I could accomplish that.  I came home determined to "wild" up my home landscape some more because it's more beautiful and vibrant than anything I can "create" with carefully tended non-native perennials.  I also believe it will require less maintenance on my part.  The fall leaves can stay, the native shrubs and wildflowers can mingle together, the insects can pollinate the plants, and the birds can harvest the seeds.  The whole effect will be inspiring and calming for me. 

If you aren't in the habit of searching out your local spring wildflowers, I encourage you to give it a try.  You can start with your local park system to see if they have guides or better yet, guided hikes and begin to learn what would work in your garden/yard.  "Google" for wildflower guides for your state.

See if there is a regional native wildflower society -- we have one in Northeast Ohio which conducts a series of six spring wildflower walks beginning this week.  

Wild Ones is a national organization  with local groups that is very active in educating and promoting wilder landscapes and a source of lots of information.  You may have a local "watershed" group or "soil and water" office that can point you to educational opportunities like invasive species removal projects.  I've become a chronic garlic mustard puller over the past few years and come out of every park all spring with as much of it as I can carry as a result of getting educated about the damage it does in native habitats.  I can't get it all but I can make a dent!!

Here is a YouTube link to my local Western Reserve Land Conservancy's videos and there is a series of five titled "Inviting Biodiversity Into Our Gardens" that explains this movement to "wildness at home".  It has been an inspiration this winter along with the series from the Ohio State University Bee Lab programming -- you can find that series and lots of links to useful information HERE.  I was so delighted to see dozens of queen bumble bees foraging this past week looking for nesting sites to start this year's colonies.  I haven't seen any up "north" yet, but am hoping to enjoy that sight in my own garden very soon.

The more I engage with the wild spaces around me, the more I appreciate their beauty and the importance of reestablishing a landscape dominated by native species.  Inspiring my neighbors will likely be the biggest challenge but it's worth spreading the word where ever possible.

I hope you will join me this spring and enjoy the awakening of your local wild spaces and be inspired to invite it into your own home space.

Mary

Signs of Spring

It's a sunny day here in Northeast Ohio so I had a wander around the yard and my favorite park looking for signs of spring.  

I had to push back some leaf litter to get the full view of these charming crocus -- love that yellow cup at the base of each flower!  I'll have to mark this clump and dig it up for separating later this spring -- spread that loveliness around a bit! 

The hellebore feel late but they are coming along and should be in full bloom in another week!

Love snowdrops and have been working for years to plant them all over my gardens -- think this clump might get spread around later this spring, too.

These two iris blooms -- look how determined they are to push through the leaf litter!?!

That pop of color makes me smile!

The pond is already growing algae and looking pretty murky but I'll leave it that way in hopes that an American toad will use it again this year for a breeding ground and tadpole nursery.

I'm very pleased to see these little red shoots -- it means the peonies I transplanted at the wrong time of the year last summer came through the winter!

 I groomed my raised planting trough and planted peas in there -- fingers crossed that they will love it and I'll have fresh peas by the end of May!!

I also set out the straw bales rescued from the trash pickup after Halloween -- they have been fertilized and the April rains will start the rotting process that makes them a good place to plant stuff!!

Curious?  Google "straw bale gardening", because it's a "thing"!

I even hung laundry outside -- it will take all day to dry but ohhhh, the scent when I bring them inside!!

I did a bit of very early plant shopping while visiting family in southeastern Pennsylvania over the weekend and this tray followed me home -- for now, they will just be outside on mild sunny days, but soon, soon -- real dirt!

I'm slowly redecorating my dining room and hallways so the stitching is slow, but I did finish assembling this plus quilt.  The strips were cut 4 1/2" wide and come from a big ugly pile of unwanted solids -- all the greens and blues.

Let me tell you, they look lots better in this quilt than they did on the cutting table!

All of them date from the 1980's and have a gray cast.

I wish I had taken a picture before the cutting started.

It is twin size and will be finished into a quilt to be donated to a resident of a local transitional home.  There's another pile of ugly solids -- all the reds and pinks -- that might have the same destiny!

The woods are still so brown here after a long winter with very little snow -- the only color are the subtle greens of lichen and mosses.

And of course the bird color! 

There are so many bluebirds around this spring -- seems like I see them on every walk and in the most surprising places!  All those nest boxes in the parks have brought them back in force!

Now this guy just got back from the south!!

A rufous sided towhee -- he's a bit early but seems happy to be the first one in the park which means he can secure the same ideal territory he used last summer!!

Now I need to spend the rest of the morning finishing my tax appointment preparations -- necessary!!

I hope you are enjoying the change of seasons in your part of the world.

Winter isn't over, but Spring has started!

Winter is not over here in Northeast Ohio -- early last week, I had to deal with this before I could leave the house. 

My sidekick, Willie, doesn't enjoy the snow as much as he use to, but he'll go outside and follow us around as we shovel paths and fill the bird feeders.

A fresh snowfall always increases the number of birds coming to the feeders and it provided some beautiful photo opportunities this time!

It was a "wet" snow -- perfect for building snowmen and creating inspiring winterscapes like this view of the hemlocks on the edge of the ravine at Penitentiary Glen Park near my home.

The snow stuck to everything and we woke up to a world that looked like it had been sprinkled with powdered sugar.  The next day, the skies cleared and the sun lite up every vista.

The fox squirrels that hang out in my yard took time for a bit of sunbathing.

My red witch hazel was in full bloom and the color still peered out from under a blanket of soft snow.

An afternoon walk at Holden Arboretum was filled with inspiration.  The snow laying on these trees reminded me of how I always outlined shapes before coloring them in during grade school.

The shadows were beautiful and I was particularly fascinated with the lacey pattern created by this tree which was still holding some of last year's leaves.  If you aren't personally acquainted with snow, sometimes it shimmer like diamonds -- snowflakes have to be large and the sun at just the right angle but it's difficult to capture with a camera..

Four days later, warm winds blew into town and melted the snow within hours and pushed the temperatures up into a spring-like range. 

Today there are glimpses of spring all around my gardens.

The full beauty of the witch hazel is revealed and it is glowing in the sunshine.

The snow crocus are blooming in front of the snow shovel.

The Lenten roses have pushed up their flower stalks and I spent a pleasant half hour yesterday pruning away last year's leaves so the flowers will be in the spotlight for the next few weeks.

Most of mine are creamy colors but this beautiful pink one is right in the center of the area where I have them planted.   Deer do not like to eat hellebores and so I'm planting more of them around my gardens.

The other early blooming plant that I love and keep adding to my beds are snowdrops.

The snow will be back on Thursday, 90% chance of snow, 3 to 5 inches and we'll have another chance to enjoy our part of the world in it's winter coat.

I hope your week is off to a beautiful beginning!!

 

Mary Huey