June 16, 2014
Introducing my new brand logo, this will be the new look of White Horticulture. I hope you like it.
The new site is still under construction, there are many aspects of the site that are taking some time to develop. I hope to have it operational Summer 2014. This is a sneak preview of what’s still to come.
June 8, 2014
I spent some time last week relaxing and consulting with a think tank in Central Florida, I am posing with my contact above. I am now refreshed and focused and ready to finish getting the new site launched.
~ Michael
May 16, 2014
Just a note in case something weird seems to be going on with my blog, I’m upgrading to a full self hosted WordPress site. I’m not sure what to expect, so please be patient with me through this process. See you soon with a more flexible site!
~ Michael
May 12, 2014
I had a great time at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens with others in the green industry. To find out more about the day read my post about the BYGL Diagnostic walk at the Zoo, it’s titled “Sustainable and Green: The Cincinnati Zoo”
~ Michael
May 10, 2014
Growing Degree Day Update
383 Growing Degree Days in Cincinnati, Ohio as of this date.
Next upcoming events:
Euonymus Scale first egg hatch 406 GDD
Boxwood Leafminer Adult emergence 440 GDD
May 5, 2014
Yes, this is still White Horticulture! I have been doing some Spring cleaning which includes this new look for my blog and removing some pages that just don’t fit with the direction I would like to go with this. Over the next days or possibly weeks there may be some more page changes as I work out all of the details. So please be patient as I make some adjustments to this blog. Thanks
~ Michael
April 27, 2014
Civic Garden Center Upcoming classes for May and June 2014
Shitake Madness: Growing Mushrooms on Logs
Saturday, May 10, 2014, 2:00-4:00 pm
Instructor: Romain B. Picasso, Mycologist
Cost: $30, or $75 for the 3-class series
Shitake Madness completes our Homegrown Mushrooms series by moving the operation outdoors—a great garden solution for a shady yard. This hands-on workshop focuses on the cultivation of mushrooms on logs, while also exploring other opportunities for outdoor cultivation. Learn to select, harvest, inoculate and care for logs in order to grow abundant and lasting mushroom crops. Participants will prepare a log for cultivation and take it home to see the fruits of their labor. Japanese Shitake farmers used to beat their logs as a form of shock to initiate mushrooms to grow! How far will you go to grow your shitake?
Fabulous Containers: Edible and Ornamental
Thursday, May 22, 2014, 6:00-8:00 pm
Instructors: Bennett O. Dowling, CGC Horticulturist and Ali Burns, Horticulturist
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers – call to register 513-221-0981)
Location: Park+Vine, 1202 Main St, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Are you interested in gardening but lack a yard? There are plenty of plants you can grow in containers”¦ on a roof, balcony, stoop or even indoors. Learn the basics of keeping container plantings healthy and fresh throughout the seasons. We will dive into how to design both ornamental and edible containers for visual, olfactory and taste appeal.
Garden Basics: Keeping your garden looking great all summer
Monday, June 9, 2014, 6:00-8:00 pm
Instructor: Bennett O. Dowling, CGC Horticulturist
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers – call to register 513-221-0981)
The work you do in the garden all summer not only contributes to its beauty, but also can be pivotal in ensuring the health of your plants. This class covers watering and water conservation measures, pruning, feeding, common pest and disease issues, and other seasonally appropriate topics.
Medicinal and Edible Plant Workshop
Saturday, June 28, 2014, 10:00 am-2:00 pm
Instructors: Wes and Diantha Duren, Marvin’s Organic Gardens
Cost: $30, includes salves, tinctures and teas to take home, registration required by June 15
Utilizing plants for food and medicine connects us with our ancestors, and empowers us to benefit from the wealth that nature has to offer. From roots to shoots, blooms to berries, together we will explore useful plants that have an innate ability to optimize our health and vitality. The time honored tradition of growing and cultivating edible and medicinal plants will be discussed as a way to maximize nutrient density and potency. This exciting, hands-on workshop will introduce many useful plants that we can grow in our own gardens and containers, and how such plants can be used to bring health and balance to ourselves, families and community. Together we will craft powerful plant remedies such as salves, tinctures, teas and learn the art of blending herbs to create synergy and longevity. Bring a brown bag lunch.
April 22, 2014
Growing Degree Days Update
212 Growing Degree Days in Cincinnati, Ohio on this date
Next Insect event occurs on:
Birch Leafminer adult emergence at 215 GDD
Elm Leafminer adult emergence at 219 GDD
Alder Leafminer adult emergence at 224 GDD
Honeylocust Spider Mites egg hatch at 227 GDD
Honeylocust Plant Bug egg hatch at 230 GDD
Hawthorn Lacebug adult emergence at 253 GDD
Hawthorn Leafminer adult emergence at 260 GDD
Events Since last update
Insect Event GDD
| Exotic Ambrosia Beetle | first adult emergence | 136 |
| European Pine Sawfly | egg hatch | 144 |
| Inkberry Leafminer | adult emergence | 150 |
| Spruce Spider Mite | egg hatch | 162 |
| Boxwood Psyllid | egg hatch | 179 |
| Gypsy Moth | egg hatch | 192 |
| Azalea Lace Bug | egg hatch | 206 |
| Viburnum Leaf Beetle | first egg hatch | 210 |
April 8, 2014
Growing Degree Days Update
98 Growing Degree Days in Cincinnati, Ohio on this date
Next Insect event occurs on:
Larch Casebearer egg hatch at 128 GDD
Exotic Ambrosia Beetle first adult emergence at 136 GDD
European Pine Sawfly egg hatch at 144 GDD
We should start accumulating Growing Degree Days rather rapidly starting this weekend. The forecast for this weekend is over 70 degrees F.
March 26, 2014
Growing Degree Days Update
54 Growing Degree Days in Cincinnati, Ohio on this date
Next Insect event occurs on:
White Pine Weevil Adult Emergence at 84 GDD
Eastern Tent Caterpillar Egg Hatch 92 GDD
March 24, 2014
Upcoming Classes to add to your calendar for April
Spring Grove Cemetery
Hosted at the Oak Hill Cemetery 11200 Princeton Pike Cincinnati, Ohio 45246
Civic Garden Center Upcoming Classes
Edible Yard
Tuesday, April 8, 2014, 6:00-8:00 pm
Instructor: Sue Trusty, Horticulturist
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers – call to register 513-221-0981)
Would you grow strawberries, currants, gooseberries, serviceberries, elderberries, jujube, pawpaw, persimmon, and other fruit and nut trees if you knew they were easy to care for, tastier than store bought, and looked terrific in the landscape? In this class you will learn how to choose and prepare the best site for your fruits, which cultivars perform well here, where to buy good-quality plants, pruning and training, pests, fertilizing, watering and harvesting.
Get to Know Plant Families and Identification
Saturday, April 12, 2014, 10:00 am-noon
Instructor: Mary Dudley, Youth Education Coordinator
Location: Green Learning Station at the Civic Garden Center
Cost: FREE, presented by the Wild Ones of Greater Cincinnati
The key to successful gardening is knowing plants – from which weeds to pull, to learning to identify plants seen in other gardens or in the wild. Plant identification is also crucial to restoration projects and environmental conservation. Mary Dudley, who holds degrees in both Botany and Botanical Education, will walk participants through the basics of understanding plant families and classification, and how to use a dichotomous key to identify plants. An indoor presentation will be followed by a walk through the CGC grounds and adjacent Hauck Botanic Garden to put your new knowledge to the test! Please dress for the weather.
To register, call 513-221-0981.
March 22,2014
Growing Degree Days as of March 22nd 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio is 47
March 8, 2014
Get Ready for Zoo Blooms
Are you tired of Winter? Are you itching to get outdoors again and enjoy the things of Spring? Then here’s something your going to want to add to your calendar! The Cincinnati Botanical Gardens and Zoo will be presenting Zoo Blooms 2014 everyday from April 1st until the 30th. The Cincinnati Botanical Gardens and Zoo is one of two accredited botanical gardens in Ohio, and it boasts one of the largest tulip displays in the entire Midwest with over 100,000 tulips of every color imaginable. So make plans to round up the family and enjoys some time together in the gardens of The Cincinnati Botanical Gardens and Zoo this April.
Back by popular demand, the Cincinnati Botanical Gardens and Zoo will be presenting Tunes and Blooms every Thursday evening from 6:00 until 8:30 P.M. Each evening there will be a different group performing in the gardens for your enjoyment. So put it on your calendar to kick back on a Thursday night at the Cincinnati Botanical Gardens and Zoo and enjoy Spring with the beautiful blooms and enjoyable tunes.
Who’s your PawPaw? Boone County Arboretum Shelter #2 April 2, 2014 1:00-3:00P.M.
Joins us for the rare opportunity to learn how the experts at KSU select and graft new varieties of PawPaw.
Fruit Trees for our Region
Civic Garden Center Saturday, March 22, 2014, 10:00 am -12:30 pm
Instructor: Dave Koester, Campbell County Extension
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers – call to register 513-221-0981)
This class will include a classroom presentation and an outdoor pruning demonstration.To grow successful fruit trees it helps to start with plants that are the right size for your site and are disease resistant. Take home ideas for fruit tree varieties that are well adapted to our region and will provide the best opportunity for harvesting quality fruit in your own backyard. We will also discuss the best Rootstocks for our region. Learn what you need to do to keep them healthy and disease-free, including shaping and annual pruning.
The Greater Cincinnati Orchid Society Spring Orchid Show
at the Krohn Conservatory March 15,16 2014
The Greater Cincinnati Orchid Society will be presenting the 2014 Spring show and competitions at the Krohn Conservatory on Saturday March 15th and Sunday March 16th from 10:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. each day. Come enjoy all of the beautiful orchids and see how they fare in competition. Vendors will have quality orchids available for you to purchase. Be sure to mark your calendars for this unique display.
Designing and Selecting a Native Plant Landscape
March 15th 2014 10:00A.M. until noon at the Civic Garden Center
Join the CGC’s horticulturist, Bennett Dowling, to learn how to design a native plant landscape and select the plants to include in the installation. Whether you are starting from scratch, renovating an existing landscape or adding to what you already have, this class will teach you the foundations of good design. Bennett will also suggest some of his favorite native plants to use in your design, and show you some great examples of well-designed gardens, weather permitting. Chris will share some tips on preparing your soil to have a successful garden.
How to Build and Use a Rain Barrel
Saturday, March 15, 2014, 1:30-3:00 pm
Instructor: Jerome Wigner, CGC Volunteer
Cost: $10 (free for CGC volunteers – call to register 513-221-0981)
FREE WATER for your plants! A rain barrel is a great way to help reduce storm water runoff and save a little money spent on summer watering. Take home tips to help you install and maintain a barrel at your home.
March 1, 2014
2014 Symposium Highlights
I alway look forward to the sustainable Urban Landscape Symposium organized by Scott Beuerlein, who is an outstanding recent addition the the Hort staff at the zoo. This year there were three lectures that I found of special interest. The first was Aquaponics: Going Swimmingly at CZBG presented by Dan Devilbiss of Waterfields LLC. The second was Gardening for Pollinators presented by Denise Ellsworth of OSU. The third was Planting,Tracking,Maintaining: Community Forestry At Keep Indianapolis Beautiful presented by Nate Faris of the non-profit Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.
When I was at the zoo last Spring to see the opening of the first phase of the new Africa exhibit, I noticed the greenhouse and the makings of what was to become an aquaponics system on Zoo’s property. I remember being excited to see the final results of a really nice hobby greenhouse and the makings of several growing styles of aquaponics in pieces within the assembled structure. There was a sense of satisfaction when I saw that the first lecture of the day was Aquaponics: Going Swimmingly at CZBG, at last an update to the Zoo’s Aquaponics project!
This was the tour of the greenhouse which I made sure I didn’t miss. How cool is this when the chef can walk out of his kitchen across the patio and into the greenhouse to harvest fresh greens for food served at the Zoo’s restaurant! The Cincinnati Zoo has worked hard to earn it’s recognition as “The Greenest Zoo in the United States” so I believe Aquaponics to be an obvious and necessary next step. Why a necessary next step you say? In my view The zoo has established itself as an innovator and exhibitor of “green technologies” and methodologies. Aquaponics gardening has become a huge buzz over the past several years. With so much noise over this extremely green closed loop growing system, the zoo had to try it and demonstrate the results to the community. This is what the zoo was doing at this symposium, sharing what aquaponics looks like ,and what aquaponics can do with the green community first to start getting the word out to the communities of Greater Cincinnati. I can’t wait to see the ripple effects of this project on Cincinnati.
I have noticed more emphasis on pollinators lately, especially after the incident in Portland and the unfortunate ill timed application to Linden trees that resulted in a high loss of pollinators. Denise Ellsworth did a great job of presenting the need for gardeners to develop and enhance pollinator habitats, including patchwork gardens. She did a great job of describing the different varieties of bees and the environments they need to survive. This was an enjoyable, informative lecture.
The talk that seemed to steal the symposium was from Nate Faris, hands down. Nate came to share what the non-profit he manages has been doing to beautify Indianapolis. Nate manages groups, mainly high school students, to plants trees all over Indianapolis. What makes this different than most tree planting events is that the students are “employees” that get paid a wage above minimum wages. They get job reviews and promotions too. This is a improve your community, build your work skills, earn a fair wage opportunity. There were so many questions about how they were doing things and what has your experience been with questions for Nate. I expect to see some form of what Nate is doing in Indy to startup in Cincy in the near future. For more information on what Nate is doing check him out at: http://www.kibi.org
Opening Welcome March 1, 2014
Welcome to my horticulture page established on March 1, 2014. I decided that it was important to share my experiences and gained knowledge in horticulture. Thank you for taking time to read what I have learned and experienced along my journey.
~ Michael
White Horticulture 