Inside/Out & About

Instead of the usual Derby Day festivities, I’m heading south east, to the Pine Mountain Settlement School where Tom Barnes is holding a workshop.  His new book How to Find and Photograph Kentucky Wildflowers was just published,

I want to witness fields of white trillium in bloom now, before it’s too late.  Not only do the flowers bloom only for a short time in spring, but the threat of strip mining operations scarring scenic vistas puts fear into my heart that someday soon, they may be gone for good, unless Kentucky moves to protect them. I’m hoping that the history, environment, and safety for area residents takes precedence in the minds of our Commonwealth’s leaders.

It’s an odd feeling to be moved by such beauty, and at the same time anxious that it will be ruined.  Just today on AOL.com, environmentalist, film maker and photographer Sebastian Copeland, who is preparing for a trip to the North Pole, said “Anyone who ventures out into the wilderness tends to become a warrior in its defense.”  To wedge ourselves out of our comfortable, everyday suburban environment and experience how awesome the natural world can be makes for some powerful and  visceral revelations.  I’m betting on it!  Maybe I’ll see you there, too?  To read more about what’s going on at Black Mountain and environs this weekend, CLICK HERE.

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Wonderfully Wild 

Here’s your chance to meet the Wild Ones, and let yourself grow native in your garden.

With reckless abandon, dismiss the notion that gardens are only tidy places to collect and cultivate exotic horticultural specimens acquired from sources all over the world, in big box store nurseries and fliers in the back of Sunday newspaper advertising inserts.  Instead, attempt to revive the genius loci  in your piece of ground with the wild and untamed natives that were once growing just fine on their own before you even got there.   If that’s an idea just too radical to consider, and if you (like me) kinda think that your landscape approaches perfection as it is now, with the fragrant lilacs you dug from Granny’s yard, and the rose bush reblooming from some Mother’s Day past, and those fancy frou-frou pouf-pouf echinaceas in a rainbow of colors and petal patterns for which you paid a premium price at the garden center this year, then maybe your could start with just one native plant, or with considering why you might want one.  Maybe they’d have a better chance at surviving without lots of chemical treatments, and with not so much watering.  For sure, some butterflies need certain special native plants to survive: monarchs love milkweed and viceroys lay their eggs on willow leaves; the list goes on, and  butterflies are pretty nice to look at.  Something else flutters around in the back of my mind about loss of biological diversity (too scary to examine closely, along with global warming and invasive insects), but then it also seems like it should be brought to light and taken into account.  Then again, how do I know which plants are native, which natives are suitable for my garden, and where to even find those suitable ones?  There’s a lot of learning that needs to go on.  So here’s what I did… I spent some time with three new friends-Wild Ones- at a native plant conference last weekend, asked a few (ok, many) questions, and bought myself a pipevine plant for my yard;  It’s a host plant for the pipevine swallowtail butterfly.  The tag says ‘Aristolochia macrophylla’ Dutchman’s Pipe. The pipe, because the flowers are pipe-shaped, the macrophylla because the leaves are large, and the Aristolochia (this took some google-work) because it translates to best-delivery, referring to its olden-times use to expel the placenta after a birth and explaining another common name for this group of plants, birthwort.  I found I just wanted to know more about the plants I’m choosing, now that I’m reacing a little deeper than “pretty color” and “on sale” into the reasons I’m selecting them.  It’s a start!

You can start, too, by checking out the Wild Ones’ web pages … CLICK HERE Wild Ones – Lexington Chapter.  This national organization, which is dedicated to landscaping with native plants, will help you discover some ideas for planting native species you’ve never heard of before, and to think of the environment in a holistic light.  You’ll find field trips, like the one the Wild Ones has planned for this Saturday, August 14, where they’ll be  out taking a look at the prairie and meadow plantings at Shaker Village at Pleasant HIll, with naturalist Don Pelly.  They note….The hike will last about 2½ hours, gathering first at 9:15 a.m. in the parking lot welcome area near the main gift shop. Bring water, sunscreen, a hat…whatever you need to feel comfortable. Even though the terrain is not difficult, good hiking footwear is always a wise choice.   And be sure to say hello to the newborn baby donkey, too.   CLICK HERE for directions and information about Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill,  

The Wild Ones have monthly meetings scheduled, so that little by little, you can discover what going native is all about, and along the way have some fun walking on the wild side.

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Betty Hall

Grow Wild …

Even though you may not have heard of the national Wild Ones organization, you probably will recognize one of its goals: to encourage the use of native plants in creating landscapes.  Educational programs at the local level help gardeners to discover new paths to sustainable, ecologically sound, and naturally beautiful plantings. 

Ann Bowe, President of the local Lexington Wild Ones chapter, notes that their upcoming  meeting, 10 a.m. (sharp!) to 12:30 p.m. on July 10,  will focus on butterflies.  In A Backyard of Beauty and Butterflies!, local photographer Betty Hall, and landscaper Connie May will team up to talk about how they raise butterflies through lifecycles, in a metamorphosis from egg to caterpiller, then chrysalis and butterfly.  Both a practical “how-to” and an inspirational photographic journey, it is interwoven with ideas for using native plants on which the insects rely for food and habitat.   

The meeting will be held at Springhouse Gardens, where owner Richard Weber will lead a tour through rain and meadow gardens, focusing on plant food sources for larvae and nectar.  Registration for this program is limited to 35; you must pre-register by contacting Julie at Springhouse Gardens: 859.224.1417 or greatplants@springhousegardens.com.  Meet at the landscape office, Springhouse Gardens, 6041 Harrodsburg Rd., Nicholasville.  

Just a CLICK away … Learn more about:

Wild Ones, Lexington Chapter

Wild Ones, National

Betty Hall Photography

Connie May Landscaping

Springhouse Gardens

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Want to learn about the birds and the bees, and other possible pollinators?  Take a walk along the Kentucky River palisades in Floracliff Nature Sanctuary.  It is spring wildflower season, and Floracliff is a hidden treasure right in southern Fayette County. 

Beverly James, the preserve’s manager, sent in a note this morning.  She writes:   “We still have plenty of spaces available in this Saturday’s hike. James Wagner from Transylvania University will talk about pollinators and their relationship to the spring wildflowers. The hike starts at 10 am and will be a great chance to catch the spring display of wildflowers at its peak. Call 859-351-7770 or email floracliff@aol.com to register.”

Hikes are usually limited to 15 people, so “plenty of space” is a relative term.  There is a fee of $4  per person, or $10 per family.   Find out more, and explore the photo gallery at Floracliff.org.  

GARDEN GLORIES

Opening this weekend at The Arboretum on Alumni Drive is the Glories of the Garden exhibit.  All sorts of artistry, including fiber works, paintings and photographs with garden-related themes, will be displayed during regular Arboretum hours, from February 5th through 24th.   A reception February 21, 2-4 p.m. will give you the opportunity to meet the artists; the events are free and open to the public. 

One of the exhibitors, Joe Dietz, has some fantastic orchid photographs displayed.  Featured on the cover of the September 2009 Orchid magazine, his dazzling close-ups conjure up a warm, tropical atmosphere that brings some relief to the February freeze, allowing a moment to bask in the Glories for Valentine’s Day. Dietz and fellow orchid expert Tim Brooks, who wrote the text for the accompanying feature article and was elected to the national Board of Trustees of the American Orchid Society last April, have recently added a collection of temperate-climate orchids, commonly well-known as Lady’s Slippers, or to horticulturalists as Cypripedium,  to The Arboretum’s collection.

Floracliff  

If you’re already dreamiing of spring wildflower walks by the Kentucky River, here’s some good news:  Floracliff Nature Sanctuary, located in southern Fayette County, has broken ground for the future Winifred W. Haggart Nature Center at 8000 Elk Lick Falls Rd.  The 2040-square-foot Winifred W. Haggart Nature Center, designed by James W. Potts Architects, will serve as a visitor’s center, classroom, meeting room, library, and a location for employee offices. The building will also have restrooms, a kitchenette, and storage facilities and will be fully handicap accessible. The classroom will allow the organization to expand educational programming that focuses on the natural environment of the Inner Bluegrass. Anderson Communities has signed on to be the general contractor.

The means to build the Nature Center was made possible by a bequest from the late Winfred W. Haggart. Ms. Haggart was a close friend of Dr. Mary Wharton, who founded Floracliff Nature Sanctuary. Both women taught at Georgetown College, where Dr. Wharton headed the biology department and Ms. Haggart headed the art department. Knowing Mary Wharton (who died in 1991) had recognized the need for indoor space to facilitate and enhance the accomplishment of Floracliff’s mission, Ms. Haggart left this bequest after her own death in 2002.

The building and surrounding parking lot will include many elements of green design. Permeable materials will be used for the parking area. The building will incorporate high efficiency windows and insulation, SEER rated HVAC system, metal roofing, and locally harvested wood for the interior.

The project is expected to be finished by early summer of 2010. Once the building has been constructed, they will be hosting an Open House celebration.  Check Floracliff’s Web-site for updates.  For more information, call manager Beverly James at (859) 351-7770 or email floracliff@aol.com.