Rain Barrel Workshop – September 23

Every time it rains, I am reminded that we still have two downspouts coming off of our home that don’t empty into rain barrels. We do have long plastic, flexible hoses at the ends of our downspouts, so we can direct the water  where we want it, allowing it to soak into our yard rather than adding to stormwater runoff. But I would much rather capture as much of that rain as I can, since we use water from our rain barrels to do most of our watering.

My husband and I already know how to make rain barrels, so we will probably run out and buy the parts and make our own. But for those of you who haven’t made one yet, there is a rain barrel workshop coming up on September 23 in Reston (and another one on October 13th in Annandale). Registration is required so click on the link below to register.

What: Rain Barrel Workshop

When: September 23, 2012, 1-3 pm

Where: Walker Nature Education Center, 11450 Glade Drive, Reston, VA 20191

Click here to learn more or to register: Rain Barrel Workshop

Read this post to find out more about rain barrels, as well as how to make your own: The Rain Barrel Response

Bay-wise landscaping program

I love the Master Gardener program. For those who don’t already know, Master Gardeners are volunteers who are trained through the local Extension Service to help people with their gardening questions and problems.

So I really enjoyed reading this article about Melina Meshako,  a Prince George’s County Master Gardener who made some big changes on Joint Base Andrews, a military facility in Prince George’s County.

What was most impressive to me was that Ms. Meshako suggested MD Bay-Wise certification for all the common areas around on-base housing.

MD Bay-Wise Landscaping is a pretty extensive certification program for properties that adhere to certain specification that make their site more eco-friendly, which of course, makes it friendlier to the Bay.

But despite the many requirements of the program, Joint Base Andrews was able to succeed with their certification.

“It was a lot of work. There is a huge list, a 50-point system for becoming Bay-Wise certified, and we did it,” said Liberty Park at Andrews Community Outreach Director Greg Ramirez. “There are 394 acres we’re responsible for, including the common areas and landscaping around housing and Belle Chance, the historic home on Andrews.”

To get your property certified, you have to meet all of the requirements for the appropriate “Yardstick” for certification. You complete “The Yardstick” and contact the Master Gardener program in your county.

I checked out The Yardstick for Homeowners. There are various eco-friendly landscaping practices and you check all of them that apply to your property. Each practice has an “inch” value of 1 – 9 inches. Your property much achieve 36 inches to be certified. For example, you can add one inch for every rain barrel you have installed, 5 inches if you don’t use pesticides, and 9 inches if you don’t have a lawn.

Very cool program! If you want to see how your yard ‘measures up’, you can download the brochure for homeowners here: Bay-Wise Maryland Yardstick

Master Gardener Grows Plants, Awareness

Maryland Bay-Wise Landscape Management

Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Trail

Technically, this isn’t about gardening. It is about farmers. And ice cream.

But its pretty hard to not want to spread the word when you hear about something called Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Trail. I mean, come on, its about fresh, homemade ice cream. In fact, it’s like a scavenger hunt with 7 different stops, all providing mmmmmmmm ice cream. Add them up, and they create the nation’s first farm-based ice-cream trail.

Here’s a little blurb from their flyer:

“Maryland has seven dairy farms that offer fresh, delicious on farm ice cream. Together, they make up the newly minted Maryland Ice Cream Trail. Visit each creamery between June 20 and September 7, and you may be named. . . Maryland’s 2012 Ice Cream Trail Blazer!”

Driving around Maryland eating ice cream……sounds like a win-win situation to me. A win for you, a win for the farmers…and who WOULDN’T want to be named Maryland’s 2012 Ice Cream Trail Blazer?

Here are some more instructions about blazing the trail, with a link to the full pamphlet:

How You Can Be a Trail Blazer! As you travel from creamery to creamery this summer, enjoying Maryland’s Best dairy on a cone (or cup), have this Maryland Ice Cream Trail Passport stamped with each creamery’s Official Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Trail Stamp.

Then, mail your completed passport by September 7, 2012 to Maryland’s Best Ice Cream (address in pamphlet).

All completed passports will go into a large, chocolate covered waffle cone. If we pull yours out, you will win a $50 gift certificate to the creamery of your choice. And incredible bragging rights! Enjoy the trail!

Who (or what) influenced you to be “green”?

I’ve often mentioned on this blog why I started being more eco-friendly in my landscape. The primary reasons are: wildlife and my husband.

I have always liked having birds and butterflies in my yard but until I really started doing some research, I didn’t realize that I would attract a lot more of those critters by getting rid of chemicals (although that one seems really obvious now) and planting native plant species.

As for my husband’s role, he has always been very concerned about the environment, primarily because he likes to fish. He is the one that explained the whole groundwater connection to me. How everything that goes into the ground can end up in the local water supplies, etc.

My husband isn’t a scientist or anything. He’s a builder. And a hunter. And a fisherman. Before I met him, I thought I was the great Bambi-loving environmentalist and he was “the enemy – the hunting/fishing/building destroyer of the environment.”

The first time I saw him nurture an ailing plant, or gently release a fish back into a stream, I realized how dumb it was to ever categorize anyone by their habits or their occupation.

Between the influence of hubby and the hummingbirds, once I started to be a “green gardener” I was pretty much hooked.

Our gardens give us so  much joy, juicy food, fragrant herbs, beautiful birds and butterflies, that just want to keep learning more and more ways to keep things “green”.

So, who (or what) helped influence you to make “green” changes to your yard? Who talked you into your first rain barrel? Or taught you the joys of native plants? Or the pleasures of gardening for butterflies? I would love to share some of your answers.

Favorite Native Plants – A few from our readers

A few more responses trickled in for my request for Favorite Native Plant recommendations. These last few are from some of our Facebook and Twitter friends. I think every one of them mentioned the great value to pollinators of these preferred plants:

Donna Williamson, author of The Virginia Gardener's Companion: An Insider's Guide to Low-Maintenance Gardening in Virginia, mentioned several of her favorites. "Mountain mint is just the best - what a world of pollinators enjoy it! I am growing Pycnanthemum muticum but there are other species that I am not familiar with. And wild senna (Cassia marylandica) and  of course Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) and all the goldenrods!"

Samantha, from the Pollinator Plates project (check out their website) said “One of my favorites is Milkweed (Asclepias sp.) . Obviously, the Monarchs need it, but when it's in bloom, it's a real pollinator party! Mine is always covered in bees."

Brent Bolin, a fellow wildlife lover, listed several favorites: Milkweed (Asclepias sp.) for the monarchs. Ironweed (Vernonia  noveboracensis), because it looks great & wildlife loves it. Various Phlox for color. Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) looks great & attracts birds/bees . Our yard is NWF certified & also certified monarch waystation. Not sure if my white turtlehead (Chelone glabra) is attracting checkerspots yet.” You can learn more about Brent by visiting his blog

Sue Dingwell, who says she has been a native plant nut for years, (and who was also kind enough to share some photos for this post)  mentioned these favorites: "Native flowers to love: columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), golden ragwort (Chrysogonum virginianum), cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), bee balm (Monarda didyma & Monarda bradburiana). Showy fern: cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnomomea). Must have native shrubs: serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea), sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus), viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) and American beautyberry (Calicarpa Americana). The mountain mint is a spreader, but not aggressive and not hard to contain. You will definitely love the energized layer of pollinators that cover this wonderful plant when blooming." In addition to her “native plant nut” monicker, Sue is a Master Naturalist, Master Gardener, member of the Virginia Native Plant Society, and volunteer at River Farm, headquarters of the American Horticultural Society. And she has a really beautiful blog called: cleangreennatives.info

Thanks to everyone who offered their favorites. Hopefully, these suggestions will help you make some of your own decisions when it comes to native plants.

Previous posts in this series:

• Favorite Native Plants – Alex Dencker
• Favorite Native Plants – Thomas Rainer
• Favorite Native Plants – Kathy Jentz
• Favorite Native Plants – Alison Gillespie
• Favorite Native Plants – Steve Bates
• Favorite Native Plants – Marlene Condon
• Favorite Native Plants – Peggy Bowers
• Favorite Native Plants – Keith Tomlinson
• Favorite Native Plants – James Gagliardi & Christine Price-Abelow

The Woods in Your Backyard: Simple Tips for Environmentally Conscious Homeowners

This might be a bit of a drive for some people, but it sounds like a good program:

What: The Woods in Your Backyard: Simple Tips for Environmentally Conscious Homeowners

Where: Cole Cinema, Campus Center, 18952 E. Fisher Rd, St. Mary's City, MD 20686

When: Saturday, August 11, 9:00 am – 12 pm

The St. Mary's Arboretum is pleased to invite the public in for its first 2012-2013 calendar event on Saturday, August 11.  Meet Craig Highfield, Program Manager for Forestry for the Bay, and learn simple techniques useful for small landowners here in Southern Maryland who wish to be good environmental stewards of their properties. 

Owners of even just a few acres can make a positive difference in their environment through planning and implementing simple stewardship practices. By enhancing wooded areas or creating natural areas on your lot, you can enjoy recreation, aesthetics, wildlife and improved water quality.

Topics will include:

• Forest ecology & woodland management principles
• Tree identification
• Converting lawn to natural areas
• Invasive species control

Also explored will be invasive species identification and control.  Unsure of something in your yard that appears to be invasive, climbing or crawling everywhere, taking over?  Bring a piece of it to the session and let Craig identify it for you!

For more information, visit the St. Mary’s College of Maryland website

Information provided by: Jacqueline U. Takacs, Watershed Restoration Specialist

Favorite Native Plants – James Gagliardi and Christine Price-Abelow, Smithsonian Gardens

Native plants certainly have many benefits to the environment, making them an eco-friendly choice for any home gardener. But I love the fact that so many of the people I asked mentioned wildlife value as a top benefit.

Here are a few more contributions for my series on Favorite Native Plants. These are from James Gagliardi and Christine Price-Abelow, horticulturists for two of the Smithsonian Museum gardens.

James Gagliardi is a Horticulturist at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. He mentioned Cup Plant as one of his favorites:

“A native plant currently drawing a lot of attention in the  Butterfly Habitat Garden is the Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum)”, James said. “Reaching a height of nearly 10 feet this plant towers over most others in our meadow planting.  Bright yellow daisy-like flowers bloom throughout the summer but the best feature is its wildlife value.  The plant serves as a host and nectar plant for butterflies.  Cup Plant is also included in the plantings in the new Urban Bird Habitat at the National Museum of Natural History as a seed and water source – its name comes from the way the opposite leaves fuse at the base forming a “cup” that catches rain water.”

Christine Price-Abelow is a Horticulturist at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Christine said that garden phlox and dogwood are two of her favorites:

“Phlox paniculata, garden phlox is one of my favorite summer blooming perennials,” Christine said.   “This native species provides just the right pop of color when the rest of the garden is looking a little stressed out.  I also love the fact that it consistently blooms from July thru October in the Washington DC area.”

“Another one of my favorite native plants is the Flowering dogwood, Cornus florida.  This small tree is considered a staple in the landscapes of Virginia and is a tree featured in everyone’s garden.   The flowering Dogwood is a four season tree with beautiful fall color, winter interest, spring blooms and bright red fruit.”

Thanks for taking the time to add some of your favorites, James and Christine.

To learn more about some of the native plants in the Smithsonian Gardens, visit  the Smithsonian Gardens blog.

Previous posts in this series:

• Favorite Native Plants – Alex Dencker
• Favorite Native Plants – Thomas Rainer
• Favorite Native Plants – Kathy Jentz
• Favorite Native Plants – Alison Gillespie
• Favorite Native Plants – Steve Bates
• Favorite Native Plants – Marlene Condon
• Favorite Native Plants – Peggy Bowers
• Favorite Native Plants – Keith Tomlinson

Native Plant Sale September 7th & 8th

What: Fall 2012 Native Plant Sale at Environmental Concern

Where: 201 Boundary Lane, St. Michaels, MD  21663

When: Friday, September 7th  9:00-4:00   AND  Saturday, September 8th 9:00-2:00

Native plants ideal for Rain Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Shade Gardens, Wetlands, Salt Tolerant Plantings and Songbird Hedgerows will be available. Plants are grown from seed (local and regional eco-types) right here in the nation's first wetland plant nursery!

Pre-orders will be accepted through Wednesday, September 5th.

For more info, call EC at 410-745-9620 or visit www.wetland.org

(Information submitted by Penny Greeley @ Environmental Concern

How to save 150 gallons of water a day….

That’s the headline I saw on a blog post recently so, of course, I had to click over to read it. I’m fairly certain that we don’t even come CLOSE to using 150 gallons of water a day in our home, so I was interested to see how someone could write an article about saving that much. But the writer, Michele Hallahan, writing on LivingGreen Magazine, DID appear to do her homework.
Here are some of the facts gleaned from the article that allowed the writer to come up with the hefty sum of 150 gallons of water savings:

• Water use in the USA is typically around 180 gallons per day per person.
• Switching to low-flow showerheads can save you 12.5 gallons every time you take a 10 minute shower. That’s 50 gallons per day in a household with 4 people showering daily!
• Switching to low flow aerators on your sinks can save up to 21 gallons per day
• Nationwide, irrigation uses more than 7 billion gallons of water a year! Irrigate your garden only before 10am or after 7pm in order to make sure your thirsty plants get the most from your precious water!  Save up to 60 gallons per day by watering wisely.
• Front-loading washing machines use half as much water as top-loaders. Switch to an Energy Star rated machine to save up to 12.5 gallons a day.
• Run your dishwasher only when full. Save up to 6.5 gallons of water per day.

We are definitely good about saving water in our landscape. Not counting what we get from our rain barrels, I would say that we don’t even use 60 gallons of water all MONTH in our landscape. And we save a lot by waiting until our dishwasher is full and not running the extra cycles. But it’s nice to have the reminders for some of the other easy changes.
Here’s the link to the full article if you want to read it: How to Save 150 Gallons of Water per Day Without Leaving Your Home

Favorite Native Plants, Keith Tomlinson, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

Keith Tomlinson, Botanical Garden Manager of Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia was kind enough to share his thoughts about some of his favorite native plants for my current series about Native plant favorites.

“Eastern Leatherwood (Dirca palustris) is a distinctive shrub with very early yellow tubular spring flowers and soft "leathery" wood. It is rare in the backyard or botanical garden, but a real gem.

Hop Tree or Wafer Ash (Ptelea trifoliata) is a native member of the Orange family, a host plant for swallowtails, and rare in trade and gardens.

Frasier's Sedge (Cymophllus fraserianus) is a true Appalachian endemic with beautiful shiny rosettes of long green leaves and small white flowers in the spring. One of the worlds most unusual sedges.”

Keith has managed Meadowlark Botanical Gardens since 1998 but has worked as a naturalist all around the world for the past twenty-five years. And although he may be a little biased,  he says that Meadowlark’s native plant collections are “the best in the DC region”.

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens is a great place to see many native plants in a beautiful setting, since they have  three native plant collections as part of the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation:

• Potomac Valley Collection - plants native to the Potomac River basin.

• Virginia Native Tree Collection - native trees for use in a home setting.
  
• Virginia Native Wetland - A small wetland with local trees.

I also noticed on their website that they have a Gardening with Butterflies workshop coming up on September 15 at 10:00 a.m. so mark your calendars!

Previous posts:

• Favorite Native Plants – Alex Dencker
• Favorite Native Plants – Thomas Rainer
• Favorite Native Plants – Kathy Jentz
• Favorite Native Plants – Alison Gillespie
• Favorite Native Plants – Steve Bates
• Favorite Native Plants – Marlene Condon
• Favorite Native Plants – Peggy Bowers