 Make Sure Your Landscape is Well-Grounded
We often think about the importance of native canopy trees, understory trees, shrubs, and wildflowers and other herbaceous plants. But what about the ground layer and healthy soil? It's particularly appropriate to talk about the importance of soil in 2015, which is the International Year of Soil.Learn how we can create a healthy landscape right from the ground up. Presented by Janet Allen, President of HGCNY. WHEN: Sunday, Apr. 26 at 2:00 pm WHERE: Liverpool Public Library ( Directions) Free and open to the public, so bring a friend or two! Note: Fire regulations require a limit of 80 people. Come early to be sure you get a seat! Other habitat gardening talksI'll be speaking at some events that are open to the public:
Habitat Gardening for Life - Sat. May 2 at 2:00 pm at the Rice Creek Field Station in Oswego
Our Future Flies on the Wings of Pollinators - Wed. May 13 at Manlius Library - an Onondaga Audubon meeting
Janet Allen, President
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2015 Native Plant Shopping Guide
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 The most common question people have asked over the years is "Where can we get native plants?" Central New York does seem to be behind other areas of the country in making native plants available, but each year there are more plants available, and our Native Plant Shopping Guide will tell you where to find them. Download it for free on our websiteThe Guide is in three parts:
Or you can download the complete Guide (Introduction, List by scientific name, and List by common name). Please read the introduction! In addition to information about the vendors, it suggests guidelines for choosing plants. For example, it's beneficial to choose species rather than cultivars. The Introduction provides additional information. New this year is a link (the asterisk in the left hand column) to a map of each plant's distribution county by county as part of the Biota of North America Program at http://bonap.net/NAPA/Genus/Traditional/County. If you're looking for a particular plant, be sure to call ahead to be sure the vendor has them in stock on any particular day. Thank you to our vendors for taking the time and effort to provide a list of their native plant offerings. Special thanks to Randy Nonenmacher, Carol Biesemeyer, and Randi Starmer for their assistance. And THANKS to all of you who choose native plants! |
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Tallamy is coming to Syracuse!
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You've heard about Tallamy's book and ideas many times in this newsletter. He has also had a huge impact in the world beyond Central New York, and we're honored that he's an Honorary Director of Wild Ones. Hear him in person on April 25, 8:30 to noon at Justin's Grill. The event is sponsored by The Men's Garden Club of Syracuse and is co-sponsored by HGCNY. Tallamy's talk is entitled "Creating Living Landscapes." This is sure to be a sell-out, so send in your registration as soon as possible!
Print out the event brochure (a .pdf file) and mail it to the address indicated in the brochure.
(Note: This file has a long name generated by Constant Contact. You can download the same file from the HGCNY homepage.)
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Too many slugs? No - not enough toads!
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Soon you may hear a beautiful chorus at night. No, it isn't crickets, which sing in the fall; it's toads. It's hard to believe, but this beautiful singing emerges from this curmudgeonly looking creature. Despite its looks, it can be one of your garden's best friends. Toads eat slugs, grubs , snails, sowbugs, earwigs, cutworms, and others. And they eat a thousands of them each season. They're nocturnal, so you may not see them often, but if you have a toad-friendly landscape, they're probably there, hunting your garden's enemies at night. A toad-friendly yard has moist hiding spots - i.e. lots of low-lying vegetation. And be careful with the lawnmower, a modern-day hazard for toads (and another reason to have a smaller lawn...) A toad-friendly yard is pesticide-free. Pesticides and amphibians don't mix. Pesticides are one of the reasons amphibians are in trouble. Toads aren't dependent on ponds for their daily lives, but they do require at least a vernal pond (a spring pond that dries up) for breeding. This doesn't have to be in your own yard, though it's more likely you'll have toads if such a pond is nearby. Don't add fish, which can eat the toad eggs and tadpoles. And no, they don't cause warts (but why are you handling them anyway?) If you do handle them, though, wash your hands afterward since they release
fluid from their paratoid glands that could hurt your eyes. In fact, wash your hands before handling a toad so you don't harm the toad with any insect repellents etc. you may have on your hands (but again, why are you handling them??)
Read more about creating an amphibian-friendly pond from Tree Walkers International.
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Two of our field trips are open only to Wild Ones members. There's still time to become an "official" Wild Ones member (and thereby an official member of HGNCY). See the sidebar at the right for details on joining.
Field Trip to Geddes Brook with Joe McMullen
Sun. June 7: Open only to the first 35 Wild Ones members. RSVP to Carol at
Skaneateles Conservation Area
Show Me Help Me Field Trip
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Non-native invasive Japanese honeysuckle
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This area is an abandoned USDA Soil Research Station (and briefly an Army for helicopter training site). Much of it now consists of highly-degraded fields of buckthorn, honeysuckle, privet, and multiflora rose. Volunteers have been removing some of the invasives within the last few years, but they could use some ideas about good replacements. See http://skaak.org/the-areas/federal-farm/ for historic aerial images of the site, and http://skaak.org/the-areas/federal-farm/federal-farm-clippings/ for some history. Randy will "show" us what they've been doing to remove the invasives and what the result has been over the last few years, and he's interested in our "help" as part of this Show Me Help Me Field Trip. Because this is public land, only licensed applicators are allowed to apply herbicides, so many of the invasives re-sprout and need to be recut over and over. It has made room some for natives to pop up on their own, but those need to be protected from herbivores, and it's only a limited number of species. Dr. McGee ( at June 13 trip only) will help answer the more difficult questions and provide suggestions of his own. His Wildflower Restoration project is being done on a site (the Guppy Farm, on the other side of Gully Road) that was reforested earlier and has less of an invasive species problem, but native woodland wildflowers are absent. See more about that project at http://skaak.org/flora-2/wildflower-restoration/. Sat. June 13 at 10 am. Open to Wild Ones members. RSVP to Carol at cbieseme@twcny.rr.com. Sat. June 20 at 10 am. Open to all. RSVP to Randy Nonenmacher at ranonenmacher@twcny.rr.com. Details will be sent to registrants.
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Wildlife Returning: Images of a Recovering Onondaga Lake 
Sun. April 26 1pm-4pm
Audubon New York is hosting this exhibit, which features colorful songbirds, eagles, and other wildlife that show why Onondaga Lake achieved designation as an Important Bird Area. This free exhibit will take place at the Onondaga Lake Visitor's Center. For directions and to read more ...
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More opportunities to get native plants!
Finger Lakes Native Plant Society
WHEN: Sat. May 16 (No other information yet ...)
Master Gardeners of Onondaga County
Native plants & others
WHEN: Sat. May 23
10 am - 2 pm
WHERE: Beaver Lake Nature Center 8477 East Mud Lake Rd Baldwinsville
Call 424-9485 x 236 for more info
Baltimore Woods Nature Center
Plantasia Plant Sale and Garden Festival
WHEN: May 29-31
* Friday 4-7pm (Baltimore Woods Members only on Fri.)
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Onondaga Audubon's 2015 Bird Festival
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Fun for the
whole family
Live hawks and owls, bird and nature walks, kids' activities, arts and crafts, photography, food. WHEN: Sat. May 9 10 am to 5 pm WHERE: Derby HIll, Mexico, NY ( Directions) Free admission and free parking For more information...
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Since HGCNY is a chapter of the national organization Wild Ones, when you become a member of Wild Ones, you're automatically a member of HGCNY, too. And since Wild Ones is an official not-for-profit, your membership is tax-deductible.
It's easy to become a member, receive the bimonthly Wild Ones Journal, and support our mission.
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As more of us participate on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/hgcny, this will become a useful resource for asking (and answering!) local HGCNYers' questions about habitat gardening.
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 Visit Our Habitat Garden website for information on providing habitat, earth-friendly gardening practices, plants, and various creatures here in Central New York. |
Visit Our Edible Garden website to see an example of a local vegetable and fruit garden. An edible garden is a perfect complement to your habitat garden. Email me if you want to receive a vegetable gardening e-newsletter.
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