Dayton "Dirt" - March 22, 2013

At last it’s spring and the weather is back to “normal” compared to last year. On March 24th of last year while we were unloading 3½ truckloads of nursery stock, temperatures soared to near 90ºF in the one trailer as it was the last to be unloaded that day with the outside temperature of an unheard of 85ºF! Surprisingly no damage was evident on any of the plants even days after they experienced the “sweat box”. This past week we’ve been receiving stock and pulling nursery stock from our storage houses at a feverish pace. Another operation in full swing is the potting of roses, perennials, trees, shrubs and young plants in the greenhouse that we rooted from cuttings this past month. I have to say that all of us at the nursery are under less stress than last year because of the cooler weather as it keeps customers at bay until we are able to properly display our “wares” and enables us to do the production chore in which timing is so critical. I must admit, I am tired of winter. A few days of 40º - 50º would have been nice and wouldn’t have pushed out the plants too far ahead. Que sera sera. Tomorrow on “Ready, Set, Grow” will be Eric Hessel of the Landmark Company that markets and sells Sweet Peet and other innovative garden products. I have used the Sweet Peet product myself and have had excellent results but I must confess that I know little of the other products that the “Sweet Peet” people make. I’ll be sure to grill Eric on the program about their new things. Start enjoying the spring and remember, April is only 10 days away! Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - March 8, 2013

The lawn seminar was packed with old and new information thanks to Mark Laube of the Oliger Seed Company of Akron. Mark’s knowledge of lawns is amazing and he was able to present lawn care in a rather simple organized fashion that almost anyone can understand and perform. The focus today is on practices in the home that are sustainable and lawns are certainly an area that in the past have not contributed to sustainability due to multiple applications of fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides. To me, it was refreshing that Mark addressed some of these unsustainable practices. Although we’ve been open a week and the store is not really busy with sales, there’s a flurry of activity behind the scenes in the planting of annual flowers, thousands of perennials and bare-root roses. We’ve even received a truck load of balled and burlapped trees and are looking forward to the big ship week of March 18th that is an unloading affair all day! Our last seminar for the winter series is tomorrow with the topic of “what’s new”. There is not enough time to discuss all the new plants for 2013 even if the photos were scrolled through at a rate of one per minute for 2 hours! There will be a “juicy” door prize for someone if his or her name is drawn out of a hat. Remember, only 13 days left until spring! Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - March 1, 2013

Since it’s only 3 weeks until the vernal equinox (spring), it will be depressing to some when the late winter cold and snow sets in. Well do I remember the early spring of 1982 when we started to set out our nursery stock only to get hammered by deep snow and cold starting the 5th week of April! Even as recent as 2005, April 28th saw the deposit of four inches of snow. Conversely, the weather that opened spring of 2012 was quite a disaster in that the growth and blooming of plants was forced out too early and, lest we forget, the lack of poorly needed rainfall. Cynthia Drukenbrod’s program “Made in the Shade” was more informative than her usual wonderful presentation as it included solutions to the demise of shade impatiens due to the nasty disease downy mildew. Cynthia is a spokesperson for the Cleveland Botanical Garden that is well known for its theme gardens, huge conservatory and educational programs all in the heart of what I call the knowledge circle of the east side of Cleveland because of Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Museum of Art . Tomorrow’s program will be on lawn care with Mark Laube of Oliger Seed Company of Akron. Mark has been in the turf grass management for years after graduating from the Agricultural Technical Institute in the early seventies. Join us at the nursery on Saturday, March 2nd at 11 a.m. for a glimpse at the “secrets” of affordable lawn care. Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - February 22, 2013

Today marks the 281st birthday of George Washington, surveyor, military man, statesman (president) and farmer. I just marvel when I think that if Washington had his way, he would have loved to spend all his time at his home Mt. Vernon to farm after the war. Washington did experiment with crop rotation and composting manure as he was wise enough to know that the soil needed tending to be productive. Farmers today know the importance of caring for the land as they now routinely rotate their crops and are active in planting cover crops in order to build the tilth of the productive soil. Lately, the farms in western Ohio along the Maumee River basin are thought to contribute up to 40% of the nutrient pollution to Lake Erie which is right up there with the overflow of the Detroit sewage treatment. It seems that the runoff from the larger than average Ohio farms contains nutrients which contribute to algae bloom in the Lake. The state government is now working with farmers to reduce the runoff that results from applying chemical fertilizer and manure on the fields frozen over in wintertime. Runoff from the urbanized areas is also to blame for major pollution of creeks, streams, rivers and lakes and hopefully will not escape the reduction of runoff needed from these areas too. As always, Carol Zeh’s program on Hummingbirds was a smash hit. Just what is it about these amazing creatures by which most of us seemed to be entranced? The wonders of the natural world are all around us that we normally take for granted. Taking time to learn about these wonders and time for reflection would for sure serve us all well. Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - February 15, 2013

The “magic” date is finally here; that is the date in which the average daily temperatures begin to rise signaling the beginning of the end of winter and the anticipated commencement of spring. I’m thankful that at least so far we have had somewhat adequate snow and rain and the temperatures have not been overly warm or too cold placing stress on trees and shrubs as had happened last year with the too warm winter followed by a too warm and dry spring. Things are popping in the greenhouse full of annual flowers from cuttings we have been taking from stock plants since December and from the cuttings of flowering plants that we had shipped in from Costa Rica and Guatemalan greenhouses. The light levels of the February sun are increasingly brighter channeling energy to the plants and the longer day length is starting to have a drastic effect too. Last week’s seminar, Whimsy in the Garden, was well received with the largest attendance in our seminar series so far this year. Michelle Riley, the speaker, demonstrated a variety of ways to accomplish the Whimsey aspect of gardening from the extreme and expensive, to the more suttle and inexpensive, utilizing everyday articles that any homeowner might have on hand that would normally end up in the landfill. Tomorrow will be our most entertaining speaker, Carol Zeh, with her program on Hummingbirds. Last year we had to refuse last minute requests for some to attend due to overcrowding. Please call before coming to the seminar as many are already signed up and we may fill the limit again this year by today or early Saturday morning. See you at the seminar at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Dayton "Dirt" - February 8, 2013

February 8th blog Last Saturday, the presentation given by Denise Ellsworth generated a number of questions from the audience and so much so that the seminar could easily have gone on for another hour! One fact that I found fascinating was Denise’s statement about honeybees and their communication. It seems that a worker bee that finds a particular kind of nectar and pollen will communicate with her sisters who in turn seek out the same. For example, in an orchard of multiple types of fruit trees in bloom at the same time, one particular group of bees might work the apple trees only with another group working the pears and so on. The exchange of pollen between flower of a particular species is so important that without insect cross pollination, one third of the foods that are so popular today would simply disappear. It reminds me of one of my professor’s statements in Agronomy class at ATI that without spiders helping to control insects, scientists estimate that food production would drop by one third! I’m looking forward to this Saturday’s seminar on Gardening with Whimsy by Michelle Riley as Michelle will yet reveal a whole different dimension to the garden and the landscape that will give even more pleasure to the human brain. Come join us at 11 a.m. in the Owl Barn on February 9th for Michelle’s informative talk. See you soon! Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - February 1, 2013

The first seminar of the winter series seemed to go on without a hitch. The invasive species that I did speak about was more than enough to fill the two hour time slot but so many more I would have presented only if there had been more time. Greg Snowden of the Davey Tree Company was on hand to elaborate especially on the question of invasive plants as he is an inspector of wetlands monitoring these constructed wetlands to be sure that they comply with the federal standards before they may be sold to an entity needing credits to offset the destruction of a wetland area somewhere else. Greg did mention an invasive species of grass called phragmites australis that is extremely aggressive to the point that shoots will come up through a four inch layer of freshly laid asphalt! In order to check out this monster grass you only have to go to the Interstate 76, Barber Road exit where you’ll see it growing in abundance. Tomorrow our honored speaker will be Denise Ellsworth, Honeybee and Native Pollinator Program Director of the Department of Entomology at Ohio State University. Denise has addressed many audiences including the Master Gardeners of Summit County about a wide variety of subjects. The subject at the Owl Barn tomorrow at 11 a.m. will be Pollinators - what some of them are and their importance in the natural world and our own lives. The rooting of cuttings and subsequent transplanting of all kinds of annual flowers just goes on and on especially right now with geraniums and New Guinea Impatiens. I had stated in earlier blogs, Impatiens are going to be a puzzle because of the high incident of downy mildew that caused the collapse of many plants late last summer and fall. Part of the answer to planting Impatiens in flats (Impatiens walleriana) instead are the Sun Harmony Impatiens that are resistant to downy mildew. Unfortunately the Sun Harmony Impatiens are more expensive as they must be grown from cuttings instead of a seed like Impatien walleriana. The bright side is that the Sun Harmony grow’s well when planted farther apart such as 18 inches on center which would make them more economical then one would think. Dress warmly and come to the seminar tomorrow! Tom