Susan Durisek's blog

Heptacodium miconioides: 7 Son Flower

Susan Smith-Durisek — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:15:35 +0000

Heptacodium miconioides

7 Son Flower of Zhejiang

You’ve probably never heard of this small tree, or perhaps what you’d call a large shrub. After one glance, you may want to hear more, because this time of year it is a standout in the landscape. Loaded with fragrant white flowers in late summer, then deep rose-colored calyxes in autumn, and finally an interesting exfoliating bark in winter, it is a fantastic replacement for more invasive but temptingly bright bushes like Burning Bush (Euyonymus alata).

Heptacodium miconioides was found by plant collector E. H. Wilson in 1907, on an expedition to Hupei, China. Arnold Arboretum botanists recorded the find, however it was not brought into cultivation until after 1980. Pest resistant, fast growing, and salt tolerant it is quickly becoming a favorite landscape accent specimen, growing to about 20 feet tall; it prefers a sunny to part-sunny location and is hardy in USDA zones 5-9.

Book Look: Farm City - A Humorous Look at City Farming

Susan Smith-Durisek — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:03:13 +0000

For a review of Farm City please click HERE.

BOok LOok: William Cullina’s Understanding Perennials

Susan Smith-Durisek — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:42:33 +0000

Wondering what to do to get your perennial plants ready for the winter? For a timely review of William Cullina’s new book Understanding Perennials, click on the following link: Master Gardener Book Looks

Of Pests and People

Susan Smith-Durisek — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:59:54 +0000

Deer, rabbits, squirrels, mice … all are animals with which we homeowners and gardeners sometimes co-exist, but often engage in a battle for territorial control. Then, there are moles: not so often seen, but their work just as ruinous. Sweeney’s, a company which offers products to help keep invaders at bay, hears a lot of stories of pests and people, so they established an I Hate Moles, because … essay contest a few years ago to allow some mole woe venting and peer group pouting. This year’s winners were just announced. Read them at the Sweeney Web-site by clicking HERE: I HATE MOLES. You may not find solutions, but it’s theraputic reading, from ‘Shock & Awe’ to ‘Field of Screams’.

Bulb:Bulb:Bulb . . Easy-Going Gardening!

Susan Smith-Durisek — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:07:02 +0000

Bulb Time!

Want to learn some quick and easy gardening tips that will bring you early spring blooms, even if you’ve never gardened before?

CLICK HERE FOR BULB-o-RIFIC ideas.

Hookers Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky Cross Ohio River to Visit Stripes Exhibit

Susan Smith-Durisek — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:06:11 +0000

Flower by Setsuko Fukuda, Kokubunji City, Tokyo Japan

Rug hookers, that is. Here’s a Post Script to this Saturday’s Herald-Leader Inside/Out feature story about Rug Hooking. (Click HERE to read the original feature article.) The P.S.: If you’re interested in rug hooking , there is also an international exhibit up at the Carnegie Center in New Albany, Indiana. which is just across the river from Louisville. If you go to the Association of Traditional Hooking Artists’ (ATHA) show in Louisville this coming weekend, it’s just a short jump away. The exhibit up at the Carnegie Center in New Albany is called Stripes, which is a world-class, travelling Japanese-American collaboration of 56 rugs on display now through the month of October. What can you create using stripes? A variety of ideas can be seen in this show. If you time it right, while your there you can also visit the Cat House Rugs shop in nearby Floyd’s Knobs, Indiana, too. Click on the following links to find more information:

Stripes Exhibit Carnegie Center for Art and History 201 E. Spring St., New Albany ; (812) 944-7336. Open now through October 24,10 a.m.-5:30 p.m, Tuesday through Saturday,. Free.

Cat House Rugs 4106 Andrew Dr., Floyds Knobs, Indiana; (812) 923-0200

ATHA Biennial Convention at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville.

Orioles a Home Run for Springhouse Gardens Blog

Susan Smith-Durisek — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:19:19 +0000

If your only connection with Orioles is a baseball team from Baltimore, here’s a chance to broaden your awareness. I’ve been reading a brand new garden blog posted by Richard Weber, the very knowledgeable proprietor of Springhouse Gardens, which is a landscape and garden complex located just south of Fayette County on Harrodsburg Rd. Weber and his crew have been winning awards with garden designs and customer-friendly programs, so the blog idea is a natural for him. Only three entries have been posted so far, but the most recent about finding oriole nests hits a home run with timely, cool and engaging info in the field of garden discoveries. Check it out by clicking HERE.

Rain Gardening in the South

Susan Smith-Durisek — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:56:49 +0000

Many folks are establishing home rain gardens, both as a water feature in the landscape plan and as a way to handle storm water runoff by conserving and spreading out the effect of natural rainfall.

Want to learn more about rain gardens? To read Fayette County Master Gardener Sherry Thomas’ review of Rain Gardening in the South, written by horticulturalists Helen Kraus and Anne Spafford from North Carolina State University, click HERE.

Butterfly Metamorphosis & Migration

Susan Smith-Durisek — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:28:07 +0000

Hard to believe, but the same insect can take on many different forms during tis life cycle. Take butterflies, for instance. First, they’re just tiny eggs, which hatch into caterpillars, followed by a dormant period in a cocoon or chrysalis, finally emerging as a classic fluttering butterfly.

Don’t expect them to stick around here much longer, though. Monarch butterflies, which we are observing as they pass through Kentucky, migrate thousands of miles south this time of year to overwinter in Mexico. You can track their progress at the Journey North Web-site by clicking HERE.

Ash Tree ID: Take a Look …

Susan Smith-Durisek — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:17:01 +0000

The Emerald Ash Borer has been in the news recently because it was just spotted in Kentucky earlier this year. This exotic insect pest, thought to have originally arrived in North America in wood aboard ships coming from Asia into Great Lakes ports, was discovered in Michigan about 2002, and has been spreading into other states since then; one of the major means of dissemination is thought to be cut firewood. Homeowners have been advised to keep an eye on their ash trees for signs of an infestation, and not to plant new ash trees in light of this insect threat. But do you know how to identify an ash tree? Community members have been putting green ribbons on them, so if you see a tree marked that way, take a closer look. UK College of Agriculture Entomology professor Dr. Michael Potter also suggested that it might be helpful to put up some illustrations:

Ash trees have compound leaves, which means that individual leaflets are grouped onto stalks. They forma leaf unit made up of smaller leaves, which is then attached to the branch. On a mature ash tree, the bark has ridges that seem to interlace in a diamond-shaped pattern, but on younger trees, the bark is smooth.

To go to a CSI style investigation of the Emerald Ash Borer, CLICK HERE.

Want to learn more about the Emerald Ash Borer in Kentucky? CLICK HERE.