And still lots of color to see – although the landscape there are a lot of different greens to see – but I know most don’t want to look at a color so boringly natural as green so where are the highlights this week?

The Daweswood House has Renaissance Vanhoutte spirea blooming heavily.  And just east of the house is the Park Woods where lots of rhododendron are strutting.

In the North End some flowering dogwood still show colorful bracts but are quickly coming to an end.   Around the Dawes Memorial there are more exclamation points like the golden weeping European beech.  This upright weeper glows like a lighthouse.  Also making color in North End are doublefile viburnum, a 12’ redvein enkianthus (tallest I’ve seen) with cream and pink bell-like flowers.  A hybrid dogwood called Aurora® is in flower east of the memorial as well as a variegated flowering dogwood called Homan’s Golden with yellow and green leaves.

The buckeye and horse-chestnut collection is NOW!  Brilliant pink, red, white flowers spikes on rounded forms.  Quite the view.  A red horse-chestnut (A. x carnea) having more pink than red flowers, at the top of Pershing Avenue brightens this area well.

The Azalea Glen located just south of the Visitor Center is close to peak.  Many colors and hues with lots of opportunity for brilliant close ups or fantastic landscape pictures with rhododendron and azalea.  One azalea blooming now is a bright orange selection called Gibraltar.  There are few who don’t admire it and many ask its name.

Near the parking Japanese Garden parking lot and out in the Magnolia area are small shrubby trees called oriental photinia.  White flowers, small but covered top to bottom.

The flowering shrub collection is spotted throughout with viburnum, lilac, and Winter King one of the better hawthorns.  Top of hill before reaching Pershing Avenue the shiny leaf yellowhorn is still in color showing cool weather is great for flower longevity – just not too cool!

Not flowering  but the foliage of Amur maackia shimmers in the morning light with silver gray leaves. Quite the contrast against all those other boring greens.

The post Blooming Now – 5/14/13 appeared first on Dawes Arboretum.

It’s greener than last week, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other colors to see.  A fine viewing example is from Center Point looking down the hill.  Some heirloom apples still in bloom, underline beautiful view to Daweswood House.  Summer House overhead trellis is ablaze with blue flowers of Kentucky wisteria.

Center Point has Tinkerbelle ™ lilac about to burst bloom.  Littleleaf lilac types are better in my opinion than common lilac because not subject to powdery mildew or borer and are every bit as fragrant.  Look & smell down trail leading to Event Terrace – sides adorned full-bloom Burkwood viburnum!

Bottom of hill, grassy flat area, is All Seasons Garden used for events, but color is still rampant with red buckeye, redbuds, Carolina silverbells.  This area has the largest and certainly
most impressive ivy-leaf maples (Acer cissifolium) I’ve ever seen!

For any not familiar with the North End, shame on you!  This section has some of oldest collection trees as well as huge native oak, maple, beech and ash (still) as dominant canopy.  Beneath are rare maples since we’re part of the NAPCC maple group.   Driving North End Auto Tour you’ll see flowering “islands.”   Two now are pearlbush and Carollina silverbell with another being Dawes Memorial.  Pink and white flowering dogwood, Japanese kerria, Japanese maples, bright red azaleas and dark purple European beech leaves make this a spectacular area.

Magnolia flowers at Daweswood House are replaced by yellow flowering Scotch rose and brilliant lavender of Korean azalea, one of my favorites. Rhododendron yedoense var. poukahanense, Korean azalea, is almost as fun to say as it is beautiful to look at.  Also showing are Tina Sargent crab apples on standards lining Bertie’s Garden and a large, light yellow tree peony along the north side of the house.

Speaking of azaleas, the Azalea Glen lives up to its name this time of year—this year no exception.  Yellow, pink, lavender, purple and various shades of red create a color kaleidoscope for your perusing pleasure.

Now’s the time to visit our National collection of buckeyes and horse-chestnuts, most just coming in flower with some still to open.  Continue uphill to visit beech collection.  Beech leaf colors, textures and various plant habits won’t fail to please.  Old buckeye collection is near Rare Tree area and is alive with color as well, not just the buckeyes but Japanese maple interspersed throughout.  Now is the time to see the “17” Ohio buckeyes.

For visual and “scentual” pleasure visit Flowering Shrub area— viburnum, lilac, dogwood and crab apples take the show.  The crab apple collection has petals falling, some faded, but still worth a drive through.  Among most showy now is Chinese snowball viburnum with huge flower heads.

Near Pershing Avenue intersection with short loop connector is a rarely seen but highly desirable small tree saddled with the sad moniker shineyleaf yellowhorn.  White flowers, some with yellow centers, others with red cover.  Literature says they make good cut flowers but I prefer them on the tree.

I’ve always thought the most read label on grounds is Tamarix along road in Magnolias—at least when it’s in flower—as it is now.  The small pink flowers coat this shrubby mass in a cloud which causes cars to stop and someone run to see what the label says.  Someone finally selected this mass for a Legacy label, making it easier for seekers to find.

A native plant with dark purple flowers is paw paw, very pretty especially if back-lighted by early morning sun.  These occur natively in the woods and along trails.  Another U.S. native, chokeberry is flowering now and if you drive through Rare Tree area now you will never question why this plant is high on recommended landscape plant lists!

The post Blooms Journal – 5/6/13 appeared first on Dawes Arboretum.

I love spring! The Japanese Garden in particular embodies my love of nature and horticulture. The garden is ablaze with various colors of green, red, pink with a freshness only found this time of year. The reflections in the pond during early hours is outstanding and mosses along path are probably at their peak.

Speaking of peak, crab apples are just a couple days away from theirs. The collection is beautiful and with warmer temperature this PM smell should be very noticeable. Dawes Lake is resplendent with mature crabs making their show. And, as predicted, ‘Louisa’ is simply a mound of pink! Of all things – Ottawa forsythia is still in full bloom just north of the lake. Others are gone.

Orchard between History Complex and Visitors Center is also colorful as are two David crab apples that form an arch over trail from Center Point. It’s unfortunate they are susceptible to bacterium that causes fireblight because branches that die seem only those forming arch.

A trip through North End will have one enjoying very nice pink dogwoods around the Dawes Memorial, along with double-flowering kerria called ‘Geisha’. The sugar maples continue their covering of light green flowers and along with them have joined the oaks. Never think of oak as being an ornamental flowering tree but certainly covered this year. The variegated English oak just behind the stone gates is very attractive – even before white and green variegated leaves emerge.

Head to the overlook northwest of the Visitors Center and location of sun dial for a very nice view of pink, white and red crab apples in the foreground of a glacial river bed.

A few outstanding flowering plants by color are – pinks: Rhododendron ‘Pana’ & ‘Olga Mezitt’, the royal azalea (Rhododendron schlippenbachii), Hally Jolivette and Kwanzan Japanese flowering cherries; yellow: Magnolia ‘Maxine Merrill’; white: flowering dogwood (especially in the flowering shrub collection where they have essentially replaced the beautiful flowering of serviceberry); pinkish lavender of redbud where weeping selection Lavender Twist and variegated selection ‘Silver Cloud’ steal the show.

I mentioned smell earlier – lilac shrubs continue their flowering march and their fragrance will soon be joined by that of some of the early viburnum all located near each other in the flowering shrub collection.

Another favorite fragrance of mine each year is yellow flowers of buffalo currant, Ribes odoratum, located along the path from Center Point along with honey scented Fothergilla. Like a ritual, some plants just must be smelled each year.

The post Blooms Journal – 4/30/2013 appeared first on Dawes Arboretum.

Blooming Now – April 25, 2013!

Well, bit of frost over weekend did a number on some of last week’s flower show.

Most magnolias with flowers out are browned at worst, spotted at best. Color nice from the car, but get close to take a picture? Forget it. Good news is those that weren’t open yet will still bloom.

Serviceberry around grounds in full flower – Flowering Shrub Collection on Hawthorn Hill looks wonderful. You can’t miss seeing a beautiful specimen just after passing through the Stone Gates.

Forsythia are mostly still nice. Foliage has emerged on some but Orchard down hill from Visitors Center is still a sea of yellow.

Daweswood House magnolia flowers are mush but nearby PJM rhododendron still making a show and an early spirea, (Grefsheim) is in full bloom. Weeping cherries across pond from Daweswood House still look nice. Shows what a bit of water will do for frost protection. Others around the grounds are toast except those at Dawsewood House and along Dawes Lake.

Not many get excited by sugar maples blooming. Guess I’m odd that way. They are HEAVY in flower and look like light green clouds from a distance. Shantung maple from China also very noticeable in Azalea Glen with yellow-green flowers covering the tree. I even took some pictures.

Flowering dogwood bracts (yes, showy things are bracts and actual flowers small cluster in centers) are beginning to show color. While not full size or color yet, you can tell white ones from red already.

Other cherries & plums now flowering are Hally Jolivette flowering cherry, a plant some could make an argument either way for its being a shrub or a small tree. Light pink flowers with a darker center are quite pretty. Look for these on hillside north of Visitors Center. On Hawthorn Hill is native Mexican plum covered in its white flowers while also cloaked in spring splendor is another native, hortulan plum. This can be seen along the Auto Tour next the Hedge Letters. It is a progeny from a former State Champion that was here at Dawes.

The Callery pear are in flower – unfortunate since seeds of these trees are being spread by birds everywhere. Look along interstates now – white flowering trees you see are Callery pear. Most have not been planted by man.

This is mostly about blooming things but new foliage on Japanese maples in North End, Rare Trees, Azalea Glen, Japanese Garden and near Visitors Center make these trees look as if in bloom. Red, orange, dark reddish purple really stand out now.

Crab apples area posed for a great year. Louisa, a semi-weeping selection southeast corner of Dawes Lake is simply loaded with buds. A few of the early forms, Chilko, Strawberry Parfait, Baskatong and the hybrid micromalus are already in bloom. Next week should be peak for them.

Pieris in aptly named Pieris Collection Area are still looking none-the-worse for wear even with frost. In Flowering Shrub Collection is early lilac Betsy Rose a white flower selection with typical fragrance. And if you are a “fragrance connoisseur” be sure not to miss passing the nose over the flowers of Viburnum x burwoodii selections!

A rarely seen native shrub with bright yellow flowers along stems is swamp-privet (Forestiera acuminata) – NOT a privet however. I think with shearing it could be used for hedges like privet. Another great plant saddled with a lousy common name.

Soon to be making a hit will be the buckeyes and horse-chestnuts. Their small, unopened panicles, while not yet colorful, can be seen sticking upright above the new foliage.

Till next week.

The post Blooms Journal – 4/25/2013 appeared first on Dawes Arboretum.

Blooming Now – April 16, 2013!

• The witch-hazels are done. I guess 4 months of blooming was enough.
• Most cherries are in full bloom – Japanese Garden and Dawes Lake are spectacular now. The large trees in flower at the west end of the Garden are Accolade flowering cherry while the smaller pink ones to the north are Sargent cherries.
• Forsythia is still in full bloom. The Orchard and down hill from the sundial are a fairyland.
• Early rhododendron in the Azalea Glen, around Dawes Memorial and Daweswood house are very colorful.
• Magnolia are in full bloom and outstanding this year! The magnolia area near Rare Tree Collection is very bright and cheery but then magnolias are spotted around the grounds here and there as well. As temperature warms fragrance will be another fabulous feature. Butterflies magnolia is a yellow flowering form on north side of Daweswood House whose buds are swelled but not quite open – but when it does….
• Winter-hazel (Corylopsis) in Witch-hazel area and Azalea Glen are still resplendent.
• The Pieris collection area north of Rare Trees is very nice and most are still in full bloom.
• The redbuds are beginning to emerge and in a few days will be open. A nice tree out toward the Event Terrace and others can be seen as well in near the Entrance, Buckeye collection, Visitors Center and All Season Garden.
• The bright yellow flowers of Cornelian-cherry dogwood are done for another year but the flowering dogwoods are showing buds that will probably be open next week.
• The flowering shrub collection (Hawthorn Hill) is colorful with flowering plum, Okame flowering cherry (darker and almost finished but still pretty). Serviceberry are just about out which will light up that garden’s hillside like a beacon.

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Spring is here—hooray!  No really, March 20th is the first day of spring!  You know, the time of year where temperatures won’t drop below 40 degrees at night and will reach at least 60 degrees daily, right?  Ha, I can dream.  Any Ohioan knows that we should still expect a roller coaster of weather conditions for most of spring.  However, the plants in the gardens are full of activity and need care regardless of whether or not the outdoor conditions are to my liking.

The gardens demand a lot of attention, especially this time of year.  At Dawes, the foliage from perennials that served as winter interest in the garden now looks shaggy and beat.  There are small hints of life emerging at the base of some perennials (fooled by the 70 degrees we experienced in early March, I suspect) which alert me that it’s time to remove the old foliage to make way for the new.

Despite the unpredictability of the weather, this is my favorite season.  My mind is fresh with new ideas and the gardens are getting a fresh start as well.  Some perennials will be divided and moved to different locations, new gardens will be gleaming with the newest perennials on the market and other gardens completely removed. I am especially looking forward to watching the Sensory Garden (behind the Visitor’s Center deck) evolve during its first full growing season.  This garden will have visitors exploring plants with their sense of touch, smell and taste as they stroll through—a treat for children and adults alike!

Finally, in order to stay ahead of the craziness springtime typically brings, I set a number of gardening goals each month that I know need to be done in order to achieve prolific flower beds.  Generally maintenance-oriented, these goals help keep weeds in check and plants healthy and thriving.

My “Garden Goals” for this month: cut down ornamental grasses and spread weed pre-emergent throughout the gardens—must get ahead of that pesky bittercress (see photo), I’ve seen it flowering in some of my gardens already!  Oy vey!

Keep tabs on this blog to find out what gardening goals will be set for April.  I’ll be back soon with more secrets from the garden!

Bittercress picture source: Purdue University Extension

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The sugar moon shone brightly all the way to the forest floor.  The previous day’s snow showers had clung to the windward side of the tallest tree trunks.  The snow had melted midday but by midnight was refrozen.  It glistened as if the forest were celebrating its 100th birthday with cool-lit wooden candles.

Winter had not yet revolved to spring.  Already the great horned owls were caring for their young, winging steaming morsels back to the nest in the regular intervals that a newborn requires.

A smaller-than-microscopic sugar molecule rested in a root just a foot or two beneath the forest floor.  By this time of year, its subsurface respite was no warmer than the frosty leaf bed at the surface.

Months ago in August, the sugar was produced in a fresh green leaf way up in the canopy of the forest.  On that partly sunny day, a stoma pore lay open on the underside of the leaf.  Carbon dioxide gas released by a passing car wafted up the pore.  As water traveled the up-only xylem tube elevator from the roots, through the trunk, to the leaves, to transpiring in the air, the gas snagged the water.  After their chemical dance in the green chlorophyll light, the sugar was created and a puff of oxygen exited through the pore.  This sugar maple tree had already produced its helicopter seeds for the season and had already grown a thick ring.  The sugar energy was not put to immediate use and remained in the leaf until the cool of autumn tightened the tubes of the treetop.  Under the pressure, the sugar sank down through the phloem tubes inside the bark and rested the winter in the root bed.

As dark rolled to light on this wintry day in March, the shadows of the tree trunks remained long.  The sun, still low in the sky, shined most constant on the trees’ southern bark.  The glaze on the treetops melted to the tune of a drip, drip.  With the ice gone, the black-brown of the trunks readily soaked up the warmth of the sunshine.  The wood and every tiny space within expanded.  The sugar began to rise, drawn back up the straw of phloem tubes.

The buzz of a power drill vibrated the sugar in its watery home.  The sugar continued its steady rise up the trunk of the maple tree, just inside the bark layer.  It rose about four feet off of the forest floor.  Meeting a fork in the road, so to speak, it jutted off to the side toward the light at the end of a spile tunnel.  It paused in filtered daylight at the end of a metal platform.  Other sugar molecules in this tiny bath backed up behind it.  When the crowd became too large, they all dove into the bag of sap below with a plink.

All day the bag expanded as more sugar joined the cold bath.  Late afternoon brought the hum of a gasoline motor and the crunch of tires on snow.  The bag was lifted off of the spile and dumped into a large barrel, rocked by the running motor beneath.  The sugar sloshed back and forth as the vehicle coasted downhill.  It paused at the porch of a one-room log cabin.  A trail of chimney smoke and a billowing of white steam revealed the cabin’s occupancy.

The sugar kept tumbling as it went from one barrel to another and then to a metal bucket.  The sugar joined its neighbors in a waterfall toward a steaming pan.  It immediately began to vibrate in the warmth.  It glided past other molecules in the hot bath, becoming more and more crowded and less and less colorless as the water bath evaporated as steam.  It was released from the commotion through a spout and put into yet another bucket, to be whisked away and processed further.

Later, when its temperature had cooled considerably, the sugar syrup was transferred again from container to container and sent back to the cabin on a Saturday afternoon.  It was slurped through parted lips and found itself in a dark tube once again.

by Beth Spieles, Interpretive Educator

Maple Cheesecake

Easy cheesecake is rich with the flavor of maple syrup. Since it is the main flavoring ingredient, make an effort to use real maple syrup and not imitation. 

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Crust:

1-1/2 cups graham cracker or vanilla wafer crumbs

5 Tablespoons butter, melted

2 Tablespoons sugar

Filling:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Topping:

1 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup water

1 egg, beaten

1-1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation:

To make the crust, combine the graham cracker or vanilla wafer crumbs, sugar and butter. Mix well. Press into a 9-inch pie pan. Chill the crust while you make the filling.

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the condensed milk, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons maple syrup. Beat well. Pour into the prepared pie crust. Chill for several hours.

To make the topping, bring the 1 cup maple syrup and 1/2 cup water to a boil. Mix together the egg and cornstarch. Add a little bit of the boiling syrup to the mixture so the egg does not cook before before incorporating it all together. Stir and cook until the syrup is thickened. Spread over the cream cheese filling.

Garnish with the chopped walnuts. Keep refrigerated until served.

Yield: Serves 8.

Submitted by Jennilyn Haer, Volunteer Coordinator.  Recipe from homecooking.about.com.

The post A Day in the Life of Maple Sugar appeared first on Dawes Arboretum.

Grafting is an ancient form of asexual or clonal propagation whereby two distinct plants are joined together to form one unique plant. The lower portion of every graft is termed the rootstock or understock. This usually consists of a seedling grown for this purpose that is botanically similar to the above portion of the graft. The above portion of every graft is referred to as the scion and may originally consist of a tiny, single bud or a stem several inches in length. The point at which the rootstock and scion are joined together is called the graft union. Grafters refer to a successful graft as a “take.” New grafted plants incorporate desirable characteristics of rootstock and scion.

Grafting is a time consuming and expensive method of reproducing plants that requires considerable skill in handling the grafting knife and experience in the aftercare of young grafts. In addition to the expense of labor, rootstock must be grown or purchased and cared for throughout the growing season in preparation for winter grafting. With the exception of bud grafting, grafting is performed during the winter months and into early spring while temperatures are cool and scions remain in a dormant condition. Young grafts, therefore, require a heated structure or greenhouse to maintain a suitable environment for healing and growth of scions.

Because of the expense involved in grafting, grafted plants command a higher market price than plants reproduced through seed or by cuttings. With this mind, grafting is never the most efficacious method or method of choice but is done only when other cheaper and easier methods cannot be employed. For example, virtually all nut species like oaks (Quercus sp.) and beech (Fagus sp.) must still be clonally propagated via grafting.

Prior to advances in the techniques of cutting production beginning with the advent of mist and fog systems and, most recently, the use of micropropagation to reproduce difficult to root taxa, grafting played an integral role in most wholesale nurseries. However, today it plays only a minor role, and only a small number of quality grafters exist worldwide and remain largely employed by specialty nurseries featuring rare and unusual plants. It is truly becoming a lost art form.

Much more will be discussed during the class, and I entreat readers to sign up early and discover the immense satisfaction of performing this relic art of plant propagation.

Rich Larson, Propagator

The post A Chance to Dabble in the Art of Grafting appeared first on Dawes Arboretum.

Lucky for all of us, there’s a way to take the hard work out of autumn while going “green” at the same time.  Instead of burning your leaves or bagging them and paying someone to throw them away, try mulching them.  Leaves contain phosphorus which encourages strong root development and resilience during winter.  Along with providing nutrients for your grass, mulched leaves help the soil retain moisture, protecting your yard from dry stretches next summer.  Not only does this make sure your grass is always greener, it means less wasteful watering later.

Mulching leaves is simple.  All you have to do is mow over them with whatever mower you have handy.  Don’t let the leaves pile up for too long before you mow, however, as a thick layer can smother the grass.  Once you start, it may take several passes to chop the leaves to a small enough size.  After the leaves are nicely sliced and diced, the worms and other insects take over the process.  As they break down the leaves, the energy and nutrients are released back into the lawn making it healthier than ever.

Don’t throw around money for fertilizer, instead throw around leaves and try this organic way to strengthen your yard this autumn.

The post Autumn Mulching appeared first on Dawes Arboretum.

Plastics

Plastic jugs stick around a landfill for one million years.  Plastic bags, like those used at the grocery store, could be on Earth for 20 to 1,000 years!

Paper Products

Newspapers take about six weeks to decompose, sheets of paper and paper towels two to four weeks, and some paper products over two months.

Metals

Aluminum cans could wait 80 to 200 years before completely decomposing.  Each soda can you toss could live longer than you do!  If recycled, it only takes around six weeks before it could be reused.

Glass

It can take over 500 years for glass to break down in a landfill, and over one million years in a body of water.

Styrofoam never decomposes.  It will be on Earth forever.

The post The Life Cycle of Trash appeared first on Dawes Arboretum.