I think coneflowers are yummy. I heart them. They are sturdy, and chunky, and come in a bunch of lovely colors. They bring wildlife to your yard and are very drought–tolerant thanks to a fabulously deep root system extending 6 feet or so underground. They fit the criteria for anything that is going to stay in my yard for more than one season: I am not going to baby it and it needs to look good in the process.
 

So it has been with great restraint that I’ve allowed others to leaf through the August issue of Fine Gardening magazine (available in our very own library). The cover is plastered with orangey-red coneflowers, enticing you to read the featured article all about “the best of the best” of the genus. And of course they talk about last year’s hottie, ‘Tomato Soup.’ I tried buying this last year from the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes’ plant sale, but they ran out, so I have not been able to obtain this beautiful, red coneflower. Anyone out there have one they want to share?

It’s raining today. And cold. It makes me want to nap. But it is also so beautiful outside right now that it makes me want to garden. I think the colors outside are amazing during this kind of weather and I spend a considerable amount of time staring out windows during spring showers.  I may not want to admit that during the work day, but it’s the truth.  So considering the weather, rain gardens come to mind. If you have an area in your yard that regularly holds standing water, you may want to consider installing a rain garden. Good old Wikipedia says that “a rain garden is a planted depression that allows rainwater runoff from impervious urban areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, and compacted lawn areas the opportunity to be absorbed.” A rain garden prevents soil erosion, decreases the water emptying into storm sewers and looks great in the process. The Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District has fantastic resources on their website for rain garden installation and has a kit with all the plants needed for a 100 square foot garden available for purchase. The manual from their website is the best I’ve seen on rain garden installation.  In our library, we have a book called Rain Gardens: Managing water sustainably in the garden and designed landscape. (Why do all books nowadays have to have such long titles? What gives?) In looking through this book, I realize that I need to be careful about information I take from books. This is potentially a very useful book. In Great Britain. The two authors hail from the UK and give many examples and pictures from rain gardens in Europe, which is all fine and well and good. My problem lies in the chart of rain garden plants at the back of the book. At first, I’m all excited – I love lists! And they tell me exactly what I need to know without a ton of reading. But then I see they recommend purple loosestrife, even noting that it can be incredibly invasive. So why are they recommending it? I would never, ever recommend planting purple loosestrife so this book’s value and credibility decreases tremendously in my opinion.  Lastly, we have just broken ground on our very own rain garden here at the Garden which will be complete by the end of May. It is located adjacent to the Woodland Garden and will be a great visual enticer for you to install one of these beauties in your own landscape. This rain garden is being installed as I type this; stop by the check it out, or stay tuned to this space for enticing documentation of this important new garden.

I promised last time to highlight this book by Joe Lamp’l, our keynote for our upcoming Sustainability Symposium, and I really enjoyed this read. Its best quality: he boils some complex scientific topics down to easy-to-understand levels.  I found so much in here to share that I’m splitting this entry into 2 parts, so please enjoy.

 Part I:

In the chapter on Reducing Garden Chemicals is a very useful section on “…the unintended effect of de-icers in winter.” Useful, because well, we live in Cleveland and we use lots of de-icers. And we should if we don’t want people or pets slipping and falling. But there are many different products out there that can damage plants and soils in various ways. One product he does recommend as a salt-free de-icer is SafePaw™. Good to know!

I am also intrigued by chapter four: Landscaping to Control Runoff.  In the section, “plant trees and shrubs to control erosion” there is a nice little list of helpful trees and shrubs you can use for this purpose including spicebush, serviceberry and larch.  The thinking is that the tree canopy of these plants slows down the rain velocity, stores water on their leaves for a short period of time, and the roots help uptake water from the soil to prevent excessive runoff. In “plant a rain garden” there is once again a helpful list of plants to use in such a plot.  Joe-pye (one of my faves), swamp milkweed (another fave), and Jack-in-the-pulpit make this list. Stay tuned for chapter 7 highlights next time: Gardening to Protect the Ecosystem!

Posted by Renata Brown

A Garden BHAG

Gardening is centered on managing resources and working with the land one possess. Cleveland Botanical Garden believes zero waste is an important means of stewarding our gift of land. Responsible use of money makes a lot of sense to all because it hits home quickest, yet irresponsible use of water, air and earth creates a resource strain felt deeper than an empty wallet . . .just not now. Much can be said and has been written on this point so I will not thump the table too hard here. One other point, though, most do not think about is American waste disposal methods defy what other natural systems suggest. Individuals in natural systems like woodlands or coastal tidal zones create little waste. Their by-products are consumed in some other individuals activiity. Extracting resources, using energy to put in usable form and then burying it, sealed to never be used again makes no sense.

So what are doing to move toward eliminating our dumpsters? It is simple in concept and a tremendous challenge in practice. Everything we need to know in order to zero our waste, we learned in kindergarten. The Garden is following the four R’s: re-use, reduce, recycle and re-think. We are re-thinking our exhibits and horticultural practices to see if we need to purchase or use certain materials. We are, and have been, reusing materials from one exhibit to the next, and we are recycling our organic waste (as compost). We recently instituted a organizational wide staff composting collection system and all the materials from our roof reconstruction was re-used and recycled.

Sustainability is about starting where you are and being a better steward today. Cleveland Botanical Garden seeks progress in ways that are small and large. Most ideas staff implement are simple and quick and further our financial and mission bottom-lines. What are you doing?

Renee Loux’s book on “Easy Green Living" has inspired yet another post. As she reminds us, every little thing we do impacts the planet either negatively or positively. You hear the negative every day, so here are some simple things you can do to positively impact the earth:

1. When you grocery or Christmas shop, take a cloth or canvas bag. Yes we’ve heard this and many of us do it. But think about this: “If every American used just one less grocery bag, it would prevent 187.5 million pounds of waste and save millions of dollars in disposal costs.” That’s all it takes. Just swapping out one bag each time you shop with a reusable tote can make such a big difference. Keep a stash in your car and you’re all set.

2. This holiday season if you are looking to replace your computer, do so with a laptop to save a tremendous amount of energy and electrical costs. Laptops typically use only 25% the energy a desktop computer uses. Example: with the power on and in active mode, a desktop computer uses 126 watts of energy compared to the measly 30 watts used by a laptop. 

Loux also writes about beauty products and some of the hazardous chemicals found in shampoos, face cleaners and toothpastes. I think I’ll leave this post on a happy note and not mention what I just read. But I will next time. Ick .

Posted by Renata Brown

Easy Green Living: The ultimate guide to simple, eco-friendly choices for you and your home
by Renee Loux

 This book is really fun. And, as noted in the title, easy.

I often think “greenies” can do a disservice to their cause by implying that lessening one’s impact on the earth takes a lot of time, money, thought, and effort. Just reading the introduction to engaging book, I breathed easier when the author stated that “green living is a process. It’s not an all-or-nothing game. If you can’t do everything to be green all at once, it’s okay – nobody can.” She encourages you to start small by changing one thing a month such as your dish soap. (Dish soaps commonly contain nonbiodegradable surfactants made of non-renewable petroleum products.) The next month, change something else — like turning your thermostat down 2°F to reduce your energy consumption.

For each chapter (with sections on the kitchen, the bathroom, laundry, and bedroom, to name a few), she lists a resource section so you can locate the items she writes about. For the dish soaps above, one product she recommends is the Method line of products, which I personally use and you can find at Target. It uses naturally derived surfactants, is non-toxic and biodegradable — and smells fabulous!

Book available in our Eleanor Squire Library

Posted by Renata Brown

A botanical garden is in many ways a living museum – a museum of plants. Part of a garden’s mission is to aid the protection and preservation of rare and endangered plants. Botanical gardens also educate and inspire.  I recently came across an article  on Madagascar and found it rather disturbing.

It is always amazing how quickly things can be destroyed and yet how long it takes for them to recover — if they even can. Extinct is forever.  Madagacar had a growing ecotourism base under that country’s last president.  Now that has all changed.  We should consider ourselves lucky to have such an intact slide of Madgascar here in Cleveland. The five native Madagascar baobab trees are a poignant reminder that these striking trees may not exist forever in their homeland. Hopefully, with good care, we’ll at least be able to keep ours for future generations to enjoy and appreciate.

Posted by Joe Mehalik

I took teachers to Dike 14 last night as part of a teacher workshop. What the heck is Dike 14, you ask? It’s a secret little patch of 88 acres at the north end of Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd, near Gordon State Park, located right on our Lake Erie. I took the teachers there to introduce them to this area, to look for plant and animal interactions, and discuss invasive species.

There’s been lots of press this year about the Port relocation and how it would impact this area. Some people are concerned about the move disrupting wildlife that have taken up residence on the Dike as well as the animals that use it as a migration stopover. Coyote, deer, mink, snakes, over 280 different species of birds, and many other creatures have been found here, so a thorough impact analysis needs to happen before final decisions are made. What do you think?

Dike 14 is a nature preserve not open to the public except for opportunities like the teachers had last night and the twice yearly open houses. The next open house is Saturday, September 26 from 7:30 – 2. The Garden will be helping out during the event and hopefully it will be as gorgeous of a day as it is today. Maybe we’ll see you there?

The brilliant purple flowers of New York Ironweed (Vernonia novaboracensis) are a sure sign that summer is winding to a close. This tall, sturdy native perennial flower is said to get its nickname from the “rusty” appearance of its stems and dried flower heads, which persist into fall. It is a wonderful source of nectar for butterflies. I am sure that the Monarch butterflies I see landing on it have crossed the lake from Canada, and are fueling up for their long journey south for the winter.

The Other White Meat?

Go ahead. Get it out of your system. Scream, yell, rant, or write me a nasty note for what I am about to state: water hyacinth is amazing! What, never heard of it? One of the most amazing plants in Hershey Children’s Garden is an aquatic plant called water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). My southeastern neighbors know all about this incredible exotic invasive plant. Originally of the Brazilian Amazon river basin, this amazing aquatic performer creates dense, thick mats of floating photosynthetic surface and impenetrable over two feet thick root systems. One plant can produce over 5,000 seeds and some populations are known to double vegetative growth in six to eighteen days!

Water hyacinth is considered a noxious weed and severe environmental hazard in well over sixty countries around the world. The dense floating mats out compete native fauna for sun, oxygen and nutrients. The absolute dominating blanket of foliage absorbs solar rays and water movement, thus the heating and mixing of water necessary for native fish is prevented. Water craft are also unable to transverse the surface in plant infested areas as the plant material clogs boat props and the list of issues goes on and on.

Some individuals find this information objectionable; however there is more to the story. This environmental hazard has another side (because you know there is always another side): water hyacinth might help to sustain the earth’s future. Though it is one of the world’s most noxious weeds, threatening many fragile habits, this species has great potential. One of its greatest utilities is pollution and water treatment. NASA began researching the use of water hyacinth for sewage treatment in 1975 and over the years more municipalities are taking an interest in treating portions of their daily water flow with hyacinth. Walt Disney World’s EPCOT center treats 100,000 gallons-a-day and San Diego recently approved a million-gallon-a-day facility pilot plant using water hyacinth. The plant absorbs such pollutants such as heavy metals, phosphates and nitrates. Other applications in use or under examination include:

• Hyacinth fiber mixed with jute to create paper,
• Fibers used in rope and yarn,
• Natural gas source for heat or electrical energy production,
• Organic waste turned to fertilizer
• Possible source for livestock feed,
• And could there be more?

Now, how does staff manage this plant? Our cold winters in Cleveland prevent kill water hyacinth at this time. Staff overwinter a bucket’s worth of plants in a greenhouse to return them to the pond in mid-May. The remainder is composted, introducing a rich source of nitrogen to the pile. Please note, if global warming trends continue, this Ohio gardener may change his tune.

So the next time there is a cry about horrible this plant or that plant may be. . .try to look for another side. After all, are plants not gifts to all?