|
| Just a few of the people on the Saturday tour
(Photo: Joy Swenson) |
Show Me Help Me Tours
Our Show Me Help Me tours give us a chance for some of our members to SHOW their habitat gardens and also a chance for us all to HELP if the host has some landscaping dilemmas. Thanks to Sue Boettger for hosting a wonderful tour of the many and varied gardens in her yard in Fayetteville - a wonderful transformation from what had formerly been a half-acre of lawn and some trees and shrubs to a wide variety of native plants! Aug 8: Starting and Growing a Habitat Garden in the Burbs - Diana's Yard in Onondaga Hill
Being inspired by Janet Allen's photographs of native flowers, birds and monarchs, Diana converted half of her front yard into a Habitat Garden two years ago. What additional plants would fill out this garden and keep out the weeds? No RSVP necessary.
WHEN: Sat. Aug. 8 at 10 am WHERE: 4304 Abbey Rd. on Onondaga Hill Abbey Rd. runs off W. Seneca Turnpike (175) across from the Inn of the Seasons restaurant. Coming from the city: go West on Seneca Turnpike (175) past OCC. Turn left on Abbey Rd. and go about a mile. The road goes up a hill, plateaus, then descends. Diana's house is a light cedar-sided ranch on the left at the base of the descent, just past a culvert. Coming from Camillus: south on 173, right on Split Rock at the 4-way light, then immediate left on Harris Rd. to Left on W. Seneca Trnpk., then right on Abbey Rd. Try carpooling because parking in the driveway is limited, although you can park on the road.
Our Habitat Garden / Our Edible Garden tours
If you'd like to tour Janet's yard, feel free to contact me and arrange a tour BY APPOINTMENT (email me at hg.cny@verizon.net to set up a time). FREE Presentations open to the public
I'll be giving these free presentations: Wed. July 22 at 7:00 pm Creating a Monarch Waystation Manlius Public Library 1 Arkie Albanese Ave., Manlius Fri. July 31 at 2:00 pm Our Future Flies on the Wings of Pollinators Manlius Public Library, 1 Arkie Albanese Ave., Manlius Janet Allen, President
|
 |
|
|
Bees and climate and ... and ... and US!
|
You may have heard the news this week about some bumble bees being in a climate "vise." In other words, as the climate warms, they aren't relocating or expanding their range, and some species are becoming locally extinct. As a Xerces blog points out, though, climate isn't the only problem facing bees. Habitat loss, emergence time, and the use of herbicides and insecticides are additional factors, as well as pathogens harbored by commercial bumble bees. Rather than relocating bumble bees to more northern areas, which can often adversely affect native species in those areas, Xerces suggests that it would be wiser to remove the stresses bumble bees face by becoming better stewards of our land.
|
|
|
|
A habitat garden is good for your health
|
|
| |
Who wouldn't be happy with hummingbirds in their yard, here getting nectar from the native honeysuckle vine
(Lonicera sempervirens)
|
Cornell's YardMap website has a wealth of information about creating quality habitat for birds, but research finds that bird-friendly yards are good for people, too! Some of the findings reported by YardMap:* Personal well-being, as well as the well-being of the neighborhood, were positively related to the diversity of birds and density of plants. * People whose yards contained greater biodiversity (both in plant life and in animal life) reported greater neighborhood satisfaction. * Biodiversity in yards was correlated with positive interactions with neighbors and housing value. * Urban-dwellers have higher well-being and lower mental stress when living in areas with more green space.
Read more (including links to research) on the YardMap website ...
|
|
|
Monarch Joint Venture, the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project, and other citizen science projects have created a monarch citizen science app. Currently, Monarch SOS helps identify monarchs in all life stages and also any look-alike butterflies, such as the American Lady butterfly and the silver-spotted skipper, whose eggs look like monarch eggs. It also identifies various milkweeds and herbivores associated with them. In the future, the app will provide a way to record and report data directly while out in the field. You can find it by searching "Monarch SOS" on the Apple Store (currently only the Apple version is available). It's free. Please send your feedback on the app to info@mlmp.org: what you would like to see from the next phase of development, and how Monarch SOS can be most useful to you.
|
|
2015 Native Plant Shopping Guide
|
 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! |
|
|
|
|
Baltimore Woods
Summer Nature
Day Camps
|
|
You can be part of this
Wildflower Workshop
|
You're invited to join Geoff Griffiths, an ESF student and Baltimore Woods Nature Center staff for a two-part workshop and training session on native woodland wildflower restoration. Part I, Sat. Aug. 8 Participants will explore the diversity of native plants at Baltimore Woods Nature Center, learn proper planting techniques, and discover how they can participate in an ongoing restoration project as "citizen scientists." Part II, Sat. Aug. 15 Attendees will plant native seeds and rootstocks of wildflowers under the guidance of ESF students in a restoration area. Attendance at Part I is recommended, but not required for participation in Part II. If you have any questions, or would like to sign up, please contact Geoff Griffiths at gegriffi@syr.edu or call (631)241-2009.
|
|
In one weekend, we spent $60 million on [the movie] "Signs." But in one year we spend $25 billion on 20 million acres of a crop that we can't eat, wear or sell.
We use 32 million pounds of pesticides, 580 million gallons of gasoline, and more water than we shower on ourselves in order to color and keep the grass green. ...
My movie? It would be about the struggle with an alien species that forced humans into slavery while it took over 20 million acres of land. ~ Ellen Goodman, Deseret News, 8/02
Obsession with a perfect lawn should be mowed down
|
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.
|
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.
|
 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.
|
|
|
|
