Even with our warmer than average temperatures this spring, I’ve seen the usual spring butterflies flitting around the garden, including: cabbage whites, red admirals, spring azures and mourning cloaks.

What are they feeding on this time of year and what can you plant to draw them in? The mourning cloaks actually do not feed on flower nectar like the other butterflies I mentioned. They tend to feed on sugary tree sap. I know some of you are already saying, "Why would I want to have cabbage white butterflies in my garden?"

Yes, I know they’ll eat some of your leafy vegetables, but seriously, are they really horrible pests? NO! And if you think they are, just spray the caterpillars with a little soapy water and that’ll take care of them. So, plant creeping phlox, Himalayan primrose (Primula denticulata) and Siberian bugloss (Brunnera sp.) and you’ll attract these lovely spring butterflies to your yard.

Primula denticulata

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod

Dive In And Ask

Hi, my name is Josh, and I am a dumpster gardener. I am always asking other staff gardeners if they have plants they are planning on composting.  I like to brag about how much of the Children’s Garden’s annual plantings are started from seed. I also love to brag about how much fun it is to convince others that they would have a grand old time creating wonderful container arrangements in the garden.

There are some advantages and disadvantages to dumpster gardening. Consider these things in advance:

• Ask yourself, "Why is my gardening friend smiling at me ohh so sweetly as they hand me that extra zucchini plant?" Your "find" might be really aggressive or a tremendous self-seeder (not necessarily a bad thing). I planted columbine in one place hoping it would spread.
• Is the plant diseased? You can often nurse a sick plant back to health, but is it really worth all that extra work?
• You usually end up with the same types of plants as your neighbors.

Despite these risks, I highly recommend peaking into your fellow green thumbs’ yards and asking, "Hey what are you doing with that plant right there?" 

Posted Josh Steffen

Whew! The season is getting away from us. The first spring flowers were delayed by somewhat cooler than normal early spring weather. Everything has made up for lost time in the last two weeks. It was hard to know where to point the camera for a while. This year I think there was a lot of overlap of early- and mid-spring blooming species. The large-flowered white trillium were right on schedule, however. They are just past their peak, but still gleaming in many corners of the Woodland Garden ravine. They were named Ohio’s official state wildflower in 1988, because they are found in all 88 counties.

The Garden is participating in a nationwide study called Project Budburst, which collects information on flower and leaf emergence dates all around the country. It’s a “citizen science” project, which means all kinds of people, especially school biology classes, are encouraged to record and contribute data for the study. The data will be useful in studying the impact of climate change on plant life.

Pictured above: Large-flowered trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

Posted by Ann McCulloh

Removing Some of the Guesswork in Gardening

I recently joined a Dahlia society, because I like the plant so much. My success with Dahlias was part luck since I didn’t always follow the recommended growing requirements. Since then, I’ve come to learn that a wealth of information about Dahlias is available online. Instead of settling for what the local garden center has in stock, online resources can help you find the right colors, sizes and varieties of plants needed in your garden. And, of course, they can also link you up with a supplier.

For instance, I needed some bold reds and yellows for a tropical display this summer. I visited the American Dahlia Society website and used the search engine. I was able to select plants by flower color, size and shape. I was also able to narrow my search to proven winners that have won a minimum number of awards.  Martinique, for instance, has 4 to 6" dark red blooms in the semi-cactus flower form.  Now that’s a red! 

The Perennial Plant Association lists all of its “Plants of the Year” on its website. These are also no-brainer plants that have won accolades because they are tough performers year after year.

The online resources are endless. When I re-seeded my front lawn last fall, I was able to search online for the blend of grass seed that best fit my need for wear tolerance and drought resistance.

But don’t bypass your local garden center altogether. Tell them about the award-winning and proven varieties that you are finding online and encourage them to stock them. It is in their best interest to keep customers satisfied by selling reliable plants.

Posted by Bob Rensel

Just the other night, my husband and I watched 10 or so deer frolic in the front yard, outside our deer fence. The important part of that last sentence was ‘outside our deer fence.’ As gardeners living in eastern Cuyahoga County, aka deer country, we have no choice but to have a fence. Otherwise, we would essentially have no real garden to tend.

Here at Cleveland Botanical Garden, our visitors constantly ask us which plants are most deer resistant. Again, deer resistant is the key word, as deer will eat almost anything if desperate enough. Here is a good list to consult.

To wonder if deer will actually ever make it to the Garden here in University Circle scares me. I know they aren’t far. We frequently see them in Shaker and Cleveland Heights, and I feel sorry for them. Whether or not you think that humans are to blame for the burgeoning deer population, the fact remains that they are here to stay and it is up to us to manage them.

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod 

Plain Dealer Night Picture Editor Jon Fobes has a new floral slideshow that you can check out at cleveland.com. He snapped some of the photos here at the Garden!

A Tribute to My Mother

The redbuds are blooming quite prolifically in the Children’s Garden woodland at the moment, and they remind me of my mom. One of my mother’s favorite spring moments is the sight of redbud trees blooming throughout the Michigan countryside, and she has passed that love onto her son.

My mother and father both profoundly influenced their son’s interest in all things beautiful and natural. I came to appreciate gardening and eventually chose a horticulture career through the nasty chore of taking care of our yard.

Never underestimate your influence upon your children. One comment from you and your children may grow up to make the world a better place to live.

Posted by Josh Steffen

Like most people, I look forward to warm weather for a thousand reasons. One of the many anticipated spring pleasures is sun-dried laundry, with its uniquely clean scent. It’s absolutely un-replicated by any fragrance or homecare product with “linen” in the name. And the thought that I’m sparing a few more grams of coal or natural gas gives me a clean, pure feeling on the inside, too.

Another occasion of springtime bliss is the ever-changing, often fleeting parade of woodland wildflower blooms. Referrred to as “spring ephemerals,” they mostly live up to their reputation. These flowers emerge from the leaf litter in deciduous woodlands, astonish us with their delicacy and variety of form, then wilt and subside within the space of a week or two. The trees leaf out, the forest darkens and the display is done untill next year. Fortunately, there’s a bit of succession, with (for instance) bloodroot and hepatica appearing earlier than others.

Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) is one of those spring ephemerals, and rarer than some. There is only one place in the Garden where it seems to thrive, and that’s in the Woodland Garden near the giant Medusa’s head sculpture. Greek mythology and sparkling clean pantaloons – a funny but charming combination. The plant is native to North American woodlands, in the same family as the various bleeding-hearts. It’s blooming now and will probably continue until mid-May.

Some neighborhoods frown on homely displays of washing on the line, but we find it perfectly acceptable here in the Woodland ravine!

Posted by Ann McCulloh

I’ve learned from experience that some plants will flop on me if not supported. It is disheartening to wake up in the morning after a stormy night to find the dahlias beaten down and broken. One year, my peonies came into bloom just before a rainstorm hit. At least I got to enjoy the blooms for a couple hours.

While we are glad to see growers develop plants with bigger and more prolific blooms, we also have to be prepared to support the added weight that the stems might not be able to bear in rain and windstorms.

Instead of using commercial stakes that might stand out in a landscape, let me suggest a natural look when staking. My favorite stake source is from the arrow wood Viburnum stems. I thin and cut these back every year. And as the common name indicates, these branches are long and straight.  Because of the opposite branching structure, they also provide a nice Y-support for caging in a plant that might want to flop. I circle my peonies with them, and they virtually disappear as the peonies grow into and through them. But they do the job.

As an added benefit, sometimes the stakes that I use from tree and shrub cuttings will leaf out themselves and might even flower. So, consider recycling the branches you prune in the spring and put them to work in your yard throughout the summer.

Posted by Bob Rensel 

This past weekend, I visited Cincinnati and it was around 86°. Not surprisingly, plants there are a bit ahead of the ones here in Northeast Ohio. Many of the daffodils were on their way out or had completely finished blooming. Unfortunately, I saw what many people do to their daffodil foliage - they tie it up and fold it over to make the plant look tidy and presumably to hurry dormancy.

Well, unless you actually want a weaker daffodil next spring, don’t tie up the foliage. Remember, the blades are still actively photosynthesizing and providing energy to the bulb and the roots for next year’s flower. By wadding up the leaves, you decrease the surface area that the sun reaches, thus eventually weakening your future flower. It really makes no sense to me. Is it really that horrible to let the foliage yellow on its own before cutting it off? Do the right thing for your daffodils - don’t tie them up and they’ll continue to provide you with years of pretty spring flowers.

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod

Narcissus ‘Kaydee’