 8 Plants and How to Kill Them - Part 2
A love of gardening doesn’t necessarily translate into a green thumb. In fact, sometimes the greatest lovers of the flora are actually serial murderers when it comes to the plants in their care. Buckle up for the exciting conclusion and to learn from Meghan and Elyse’s mistakes! Aloe - E My grandmother had so many of these she would repot them and give them away as gifts whenever she had the chance. She taught me to “soak” the plant once a month, i.e., just leaving them in the sink for 20 minutes with water running to get them nice and hydrated without worrying about spillage. When they are finished dripping, you put them back in their plant hangers and voila, a happy aloe plant with heavy leaves that grandma would break off to use on your sunburn after a day in the pool. After killing several of my own aloe plants this way, I attempted to water them in a regular manner. When that didn’t work, I tried full on neglect, which interestingly, has kept them alive the longest! I still have some hanging on for dear life in too-small pots and I can’t remember when they were last watered. I’m scared to even touch them. Fig Tree - M Anyone who has ever walked the grounds at Historic Kenmore has probably noticed the huge fig trees that grow there. Those trees are a favorite of mine, so I decided to try growing one. 7 years later, I had produced exactly one fig. And while the tree was not actually dead, it was tiny and very close to its end. In this case, I know exactly what the problem was: groundhogs. A family of them moved in under my garden shed, and apparently they love figs as much as I do. Not so much the fruit, but the leaves and even the branches. I tried building a fence, then a cage, then covering in netting. Nothing could dissuade these furry invaders. But they sure are cute. So in the end, it was my soft spot for cute animals that killed my fig tree. Philodendrons - E This one is embarrassing, on multiple levels. One big, beautiful philodendron was gifted to me by a friend who had several and wanted to pare down. This plant was in great shape. I thought, “You know, such an established plant might be able to survive my brown thumb, let’s give it a shot”. That was until I left it outside for some rain and sunshine in August like good plant parents do. However, good plant parents usually don’t leave them out there until November. Sorry Judy… In conclusion: If you aren’t killing plants, you aren’t gardening hard enough! If at first you don’t succeed… Meghan Budinger and Elyse Adams are shameless plant murderers and do not work at Downtown Greens for obvious reasons. This article was published in the March 2023 edition of Front Porch Magazine. To view the full publication use the link below.
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 The Secret Life of the Rollie Pollie
No time for a clever opening, we have a LOT to cover! I’m sure we have all seen a Rollie Pollie/Pill Bug/Doodle Bug at one time in our lives and have seen it roll into a perfect little ball for protection! Native to the Mediterranean, ‘Armadillidium vulgare’ have been a delightful and harmless companion to anyone spending time outside. But here is what most of us didn’t know… These useful creatures not only help with composting organic material but are actually very useful in contaminated sites for their ability to eat and crystallize heavy metals that stay in their bodies for the 1.5 years of the bugs life. Rollie Pollies are actually crustaceans, making them closer to crabs and lobster than to insects. In fact, you can tell how much they loved the water at one point because these little cuties still have gills! To keep their gills from drying out they tend to hang out in moist places such as under rocks. Rollie Pollies are the ULTIMATE recyclers. They self-coprophagy, meaning they eat their own feces, which allows them to obtain nutrients they may have missed in the first digestive cycle. Also, they are able to drink water through their mouths or through tubes located in their rear. So, there you have it! Some of the weirdest facts about one of the cutest bugs. Janet Douberly is now wondering why her mom always calls her Doodle Bug, at Downtown Greens. This article was published in the March 2023 edition of Front Porch Magazine. To view the full publication use the link below.  Hello Hellebore!
What kind of plant is crazy enough to bloom in February? That would be the helle-poisonous Hellebore! Commonly called Lenten Roses or Christmas Rose, hellebores are a perfect spot of beauty during a dark and cold time of the year! Despite its common names, hellebores are not in the rose family but are instead cousin to the buttercup in the Ranunculaceae family. There are 20 species of hellebores, some being evergreen while others send up their leaves in the late fall/early winter and send up their bowed blooms in winter and early spring. A distinctive feature of hellebores is how the blooms face downward. One can only imagine they do this out of shame for hellebores are extremely poisonous! Eating any part of the hellebore plant is a big no-no as it will make you very sick, at best. The poison of hellebores was first used in the First Sacred War at the start of the sixth century BC to poison the water supply of the city of Kirrha! Just touching certain species of hellebore can cause extreme irritation for some people. It is recommended, when collecting seeds, to wait for the seed pods to dry completely and then just shake the seeds from the pod into a container. With such a beautiful yet dangerous reputation it is no wonder that hellebores have two meanings in the Victorian Language of Flowers. They can mean both scandal and hope! Janet Douberly is a helleboring employee at Downtown Greens. This article was published in the February 2023 edition of Front Porch Magazine. To view the full publication use the link below.  8 Plants and How to Kill Them - Part 1
A love of gardening doesn’t necessarily translate into a green thumb. In fact, sometimes the greatest lovers of the flora are actually serial murderers when it comes to the plants in their care. Learn from Meghan and Elyse’s mistakes! African Violets - M An African Violet was gifted to me when I moved into my first apartment. I took care not to over water, as I had been warned that was the surest way to kill African Violets. That’s why I was very surprised that after a month or so the entire plant just…fell off. The entire plant just rolled right off the pot one day. Turns out, you can’t water African Violets from above. You have to put water under them, and allow the roots to soak it up. Peonies - E My grandparents’ home was surrounded by several flowering plants that seemed to grow effortlessly, and my favorite of them were my grandfather’s Chinese Peonies. After buying my first home, I went to the greenhouse to find those pink flowers with piles of soft, weightless petals. They didn’t have them, but they did have some coral-colored hybrid called a ‘Singing in the Rain’/ Itoh Peony. As a huge fan of musical theater, the name alone stole my heart. I had planted them in the perfect place, I thought, right by the patio with the best soil- where the grass grows tall and green. But with tall grass comes the need for mowing, and let’s just say that 14-year-olds are NOT the most observant of their surroundings, and they were mowed right over by my son, all because I wanted them to have the best spot in the yard. Shamrock Plant - M I bought one of these to give to a friend who had recently lost an elderly (and Irish!) family member. I managed to kill it in the short period of time between buying the plant and delivering it. I had assumed that an “Irish” plant would need a lot of water. I was wrong. Especially when that plant is headed into a dormant season and should actually be put away in a dark corner and utterly ignored for a while. I killed it with my attentiveness. Yucca - E My cat peed in the pot. Like, dozens of times. I’m not even going to take credit for this, cats are like that. Zinnias - M I have tried growing them from seed and starter plants. I put them in pots and on the ground. I place them in bright sunlight. I give them some shade. I water regularly – I let them get a little dry. I have killed Every. Single. Zinnia. Meanwhile my neighbors have bed after bed of enormous, brilliant colored flowers all summer. And those neighbors just look at me and shrug. To be honest, there’s no lesson here. I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Will the authors ever learn? Have they had enough? Tune in next month for the thrilling conclusion of 8 Plants and How to Kill Them Meghan Budinger and Elyse Adams are shameless plant murderers and do not work at Downtown Greens for obvious reasons. This article was published in the February 2023 edition of Front Porch Magazine. To view the full publication use the link below. True or False "Daddy-Longlegs are one of the most venomous spiders, but their fangs are too short to bite humans" Many of us have heard this wisdom passed down from generation to generation but is it true? The answer is no, and also no because... As for the most obvious no, Daddy Longlegs make their living by eating decomposing vegetative and animal matter although they are opportunistic predators if they can get away with it. They do not have venom glands, fangs or any other mechanism for chemically subduing their food. Therefore, they do not have injectable toxins. Some have defensive secretions that might be toxic to small animals if ingested. So, as far as harming humans, this old tale is false. Another reason this is technically not true is that Daddy Longlegs are not spiders. Though in the arachnid class along with scorpions, ticks, mites, and spiders, their order is Opiliones. True spiders are in the Order Araneae. One way to tell the difference is by looking at their bodies! Opiliones have a single segment for their head and body, surrounded by 8 creepy-crawly legs. Spiders have two segments for their head and body while still sporting the creepy-crawly leg look. So, when you next see one of these leggy beauties, feel free to let them crawl all over you...if that's your thing... Janet Douberly is technically not a spider at Downtown Greens. This article was published in the January 2023 edition of Front Porch Magazine. To use the full publication, use the link below.   2023 or Bust
New is the year and familiar are the projects ahead of us! As the new normal we’re all adjusting to rolls over us like a 400 pound black walnut limb, 2023 brings us new and familiar tasks that come with caring for our land and community. New is the compost system that will feed our vegetables, new is the native plant meadow on Daffodil Hill, and new are the hopes and dreams that we possess for our 56 acres of land. As we saddle our “new” we also undertake the familiar - the impending spring cleaning, the usual garden maintenance, the kickstart to familiar fundraising, and the turning of beds in the Youth Farm Program for another season of kids learning. We look forward to similar mushroom workshops and new foraging programs, welcoming back garden volunteers and celebrating new ones. We have removed familiar invasive plants to pave the way for new Virginia native plants... Are you picking up on the trend here? While we adjust to the new normal we recognize that the familiar can bring the comfort we’re looking for. We aim to embrace both. This new year for Downtown Greens may look similar to the years past, but our team dynamic has developed like a fine stinky cheese. Fortunately this lends to comfortably settling into our new groove for 2023. Our Garden Coordinator is nearing their 1 year anniversary in March and after adjusting to their position here is excited to roll out new programs for spring and summer. With our expanded Take What You Need Garden beds we will grow new kinds of fruits and vegetables for the Free Fridge and Pantry. We’ve compiled a photo album that will help us catalog what’s blooming and when in hopes to better identify plants and their bloom times around the gardens. We look forward to the daffodils in March, the redbuds in April, eating serviceberries and mulberries in May, monarchs in June, and July blooming Liatris. We have hopes of achieving our goal of fundraising for our new land and the conservation trust locked down, and so much more. We’re taking what we learned in 2022 and applying it to our future with vigor. As we roll over into another year, we are met with similarities and the potential for new developments. While there may be a new normal happening for a lot of us, we can revel in the fact that some things will never change - our love for gardening and environmental stewardship, our dedication to youth education, and our commitment to our community and neighbors. With the growth we’ve experienced in 2022, we hope to take what we’ve learned, and what we’ve lost, and begin anew. Our Lower Garden looks different with the snagging of our great Hackberry tree and our education department looks different with our Education Coordinator expanding her horizons (We miss you, Savannah!) But you know what Heraclitus said about change… it’s the only constant in life. Unlike our black walnut trees last January, we strive to bend and adapt as these changes wash over us like 14 inches of snow. Cheers - Salud - Jubel - Proost - Good health to 2023! Em Ford is the Garden Coordinator at Downtown Greens who is hoping the lower garden isn’t leveled again by another winter storm. This article was published in the January 2023 edition of Front Porch Magazine. To view the full publication use the button below. |
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