June 13 ~ NPC to Participate in Community Event in Eastchester

Stop by and say "hi" to two of our Steering Committee members on Saturday, June 13 at Green Day Celebration and Summit. Kim and Lucille will have a table with information about The NPC and are looking forward to talking about native plants with you.

Bronxville, Eastchester and Tuckahoe are sponsoring the event at Eastchester Town Hall located at 40 Mill Road, Eastchester, NY 10709

The event is free and will be held Rain or Shine from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Various tents will be set up and other indoor events include educational demonstrations and exhibits for your enjoyment.

Bring your own re-usable mug for a free cup of coffee.

There will be a performance by world-renowned Solar Punch the all solar-powered folk rock band. You'll also enjoy the Musical Munchkins, SHA!Capella, Annie and the Natural Wonder Band and Kristina Con Vita.

So the Rain's Got You Down ~ Well It's Working Wonders in The NPC Gardens

Looking for something to do this weekend? Take a ride over to The Native Plant Center, park in Lot # 1 and enjoy the scenery. Click on photos to enlarge. While you're here,

have a seat on Betsy's bench,

or just stop and smell the roses.

Wear your walking shoes and enjoy a walk around the Westchester Community College Campus. Do you you the history of your community college? Click here to read more about Hartford Hall.

DIRECTIONS TO THE GARDENS AND VALHALLA CAMPUS

400 Years after Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain

Sunday was a day full of sunshine and adventure as Westchester County residents flocked to Hudson River Fest.

The Native Plant Center had a chance to display native plants and literature to inform residents about The Center.

Lyndhurst was the ideal setting for the County to celebrate its 400th Anniversary.

Get Acquainted with The NPC

Sunday, June 7
~ The NPC will have a table at the Hudson RiverFest at Lyndhurst, Tarrytown at 10 a.m.

If you missed The NPC's Annual Wildflower and Native Plant Sale in April, now's your chance to buy some native plants. Plants will be on sale at 10 a.m.

The Quadricentennial event offers a creative line-up of activities that highlight the significance of the Hudson River.
Bring the family and take part in the Hudson River QUEST... a unique, family treasure hunt!

Additional events include:
Musical performances • Children’s games • Nature walks •
Live animals • Outdoor market • Over 50 hands-on displays and exhibits •
Presentations by historians, scientists & authors • Visit the rose garden in full bloom.

Rain Garden Question

My backyard collects a lot of water when it rains. As an alternative to a drainage system, I was wondering if I could plant a rain garden to control the large amount of water that collects. The ground is very muddy after extensive rains, and there are always wet spots. I had to remove an above ground pool due to shifting because of water that collected under the pool. Is this possible to do in Westchester and also be "deer proof". Deer come through my backyard all of the time.

I'd appreciate any help you can offer.
Thank you,

Alan

Answer:
Dear Alan,

It is possible to have a rain garden just about anywhere that erosion and/or poor drainage is a problem. In addition to their utilitarian and ecological function, they can be a beautiful addition to your landscape. For tips on construction you can start by checking out these sites: http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/raingarden_design/construction.htm

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/runoff/rg/rgmanual.pdf

As far as deer are concerned, there are no plants that are completely "deer proof" - even plants that aren't completely eaten may be nibbled as a "taste-test". There are many lists of so-called deer-resistant plants and, in my experience, they often contradict each other. And sometimes it seems that different deer populations have different snacking preferences!

As far as deer-resistant native plantings for a rain garden/wet area the safest bet are grasses, sedges, ferns and horsetails (Equisetum spp.). Woody and herbaceous flowering plants that may prove successful include, but are not limited to: river birch (Betula nigra), shadbush (Amelanchier spp.), bald cypress (Taxodium distichum, pond cypress (Taxodium nutans), tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), bayberry (Morella pennsylvanica), red buckeye (Aesculus pavia), Leucothoe spp., summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), swamp rosemallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), cattail (Typha latifolia), skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), blue flag iris (Iris versicolor), wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), swamp milkeed (Asclepias incarnata), obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana) jack in the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum, green dragon (Arisaema dracontium) and pitcher plants (Sarracenia spp.).

Good luck with your rain garden project!

Sincerely,

Darrin Duling
Director, The Native Plant Center

Growing, Growing, Not gone 'til October

The NPC Gardens are open from dawn to dusk everday, and are located at Westchester Community College.

Each week something new begins to bloom. So be sure to come by anytime between now and autumn. You'll be glad you did.

To learn first hand about native plants, join us on Sunday, July 19 for the Garden Conservancy Open Day Tours. Free, guided tours begin at 12 noon until 4 p.m.

WILDFLOWER AND NATIVE PLANT SALE TODAY AT 11 A.M.

The Native Plant Center

Westchester Community College

75 Grasslands Road

Valhalla, NY 10595

http://www.nativeplantcenter.org/

Plant Sale Preparations

Native Plant Center's Plant Sale - Saturday, April 25 at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.or when sold out.


I'd like to thank all the fabulous volunteers who weathered the storm and helped on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They are all truly dedicated people!! More volunteers will be here on Friday and Saturday to make it all possible.
























Over 6,000 plants were unloaded on Monday for the 10th Annual Sale. More arrived on Tuesday.

First the Fence - Then the Tent - Now the Signs. What's Next? The Plants of Course!

I realize you probably have no idea what this picture is. So, to clarify, all those white signs you see in the distance are where the plants for next week's Plant Sale will be placed, all 6,800 of them.



Beth and her volunteers were very busy yesterday setting-up the Sale area. They hung signs, pounded stakes, and prepared odds & ends.


I picked up the street signs late yesterday and as traffic passes the college this weekend they'll learn about the Sale on April 25 at Westchester Community College.


This morning this is what I found blooming in my garden. Two of the plants I bought last year. This is why you should refrain from buying any plants this weekend. Now I know it's a beautiful day out there, and we're all tempted to "stop and smell the roses." That's what you should do, stop and look (only). Because what you'll find at The Native Plant Center's Sale next weekend will far surpass what's out there today.
April 18, 2009















Celandine Poppy from 2008

The same Celandine Poppy in 2009
You may not hear from me for a few days since we begin unloading on Monday and Tuesday, so mark that calendar 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 25.

Plant Sale Tent Goes Up

At 11 a.m. this morning the tent went up for the 1oth Annual Plant Sale at The Native Plant Center. On Monday, nearly 6,800 plants will delivered! We'll keep you posted on the progress.

Don't forget to come to the Sale on April 25 at 11 a.m.

For more info, visit the web at www.nativeplantcenter.org.

Today's trip to the Garden Education Center of Greenwich was a huge success, over 40 attended.

And So It Begins - The NPC's 10th Annual Wildflower & Native Plant Sale

It's hard to believe another year has passed. But it has, and we're doing it over again, and even better this year. Last Thursday the lawn was mowed! Yesterday, one of our many devoted volunteers -Annie, delivered the wagons.

At 7:29 this morning I pulled on to the campus of Westchester Community College and began following a truck carrying snow fencing. All of a sudden it hit me, it's our fencing!!

Visit the blog daily, it will be updated daily with the progress of The Native Plant Center's 10th Annual Wildflower and Native Plant Sale. The Sale will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, rain or shine at The NPC located at WCC Valhalla Campus.

If you are interested in volunteering, please phone 914-606-7876 and let Beth know if you are available to work on Saturday, April 25 between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

If you haven't had a chance to read the blog, now's a great time to do it. By reading from the first post, you'll see why native plants are so important to you, the environment and wildlife. Once you have that info under your hat, you'll know why The NPC Sale is the place to come.

Volunteer Opportunity Sunday, April 19

“PITCH IN FOR PARKS” ON APRIL 19
Westchester’s annual spruce-up promotes teamwork and stewardship.

Spring is here and Westchester County Parks is issuing the call to civic-minded individuals, organizations and community groups to take part in the annual “Pitch in for Parks,” Sunday, April 19, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at most county park locations. Volunteers of all ages, interests and skills are invited to roll up their sleeves and join in this worthwhile community effort to help spruce up the county parks, pathways and nature preserves for the season ahead.

“Pitch In for Parks,” the largest single-day volunteer activity of the year in the county parks, is co-sponsored by the Friends of Westchester County Parks, Inc. a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for the Westchester County Parks system. “Pitch In” welcomes groups and individuals who want to spruce up their favorite spot for hiking, swimming, picnicking or relaxing, or who just want to make a difference in their communities. By pitching in, participants play an active role in the stewardship of the Westchester County parks, which encompass more than 18,000 acres of parks, trails and nature centers. Volunteers help with such tasks as trail clearing and pruning, flower bed preparation, debris removal, staining, painting, sweeping and cleaning. Whether you have a specific skill or specialty, or prefer to contribute wherever the need is greatest, there will be many ways to take part in this important effort.

You can volunteer for an hour or two, or spend the entire day. Participants should dress appropriately for work. Work gloves and cleaning tools and supplies will be provided for all volunteers who sign up in advance.

In the event of rain, “Pitch In for Parks” will be held on Sunday, April 26.
In the past, “Pitch In” has drawn more than 2,500 people annually who have worked an estimated 12,000 hours and removed more than 55,000 pounds of trash and debris, cleared 27,000 linear feet of trails, and performed general clean-ups at a variety of county park locations.

Businesses are also sought to support the effort by donating snacks and beverages for volunteers at a park of their choice on the day of the cleanup.
Click here for more information, or to sign up for a specific project call (914) 864-7054.

Book Review - Final Installation

Review by Carolyn Summers

Continuing our review of Bringing Nature Home, by Douglas Tallamy, this book is an irresistible invitation to all of us to open our hearts, minds and gardens to the little critters that make the world run. Not just butterflies and other pollinators, but all manner of wondrously bizarre-looking caterpillars and bug larvae, which just happen to be the only food source for over 90% of our baby birds. This book has the potential to be as influential as Sarah Stein’s Noah’s Garden. It has certainly influenced my own work. I believe it will help convince many more gardeners and landscape professionals to turn away from stylish biological deserts and towards gloriously productive wildlife habitats.

My single disappointment with the book is a lack of information about maintenance. How do we keep from undoing our good work by mowing or raking at the wrong time? It would be nice to have some signal, tied perhaps to some annual phenomenon such as shadbush flowering, to let us know that the over-wintered caterpillars are out and about and we can commence spring clean-up without harming them. Others may wish for more specific information about using native plants in many different design situations. In my forthcoming book, Indigenous Plants for Northeastern Gardens, Restoring the Food Web One Plant at a Time, I will address those and related topics. The book, published by Rutgers University Press, will be available in spring 2010.

Scroll down to read Part 1 and 2 of this book review.

I’d like to thank Carolyn Summers for giving her time to write this wonderful article during such a busy time. I just got a call yesterday from a gentleman who went out and got the book on Carolyn’s advice. He was quite pleased, and asked me to let her know!

Book Review - Part 2

Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in our Gardens

By Carolyn Summers

Continuing our review of Dr. Douglas Tallamy’s Bringing Nature Home, How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in our Gardens, let’s see how this book answers the questions raised last week. Over thousands of years, plants evolved in the presence of insect predators; in self-defense, plants produced specific changes in leaf chemistry particular to each species. No two are exactly alike. The defenses are successful in reducing the number of predators to usually no more than a handful (sometimes only one) species for each species of plant. This is the origin of host specificity, a concept many butterfly gardeners are familiar with. Perhaps the most well-known example of butterfly-host plant relationships is the monarch, whose caterpillars can only survive on milkweed plants. The flip side of beneficial host plant-insect relationships is that exotic plants are safe from predation by our insects ("pest-free") by virtue of their unique leaf chemistry – great for the individual plant, great for the individual gardener – terrible for the world at large. Every exotic plant taking up space here is raiding the refrigerator. Although the exotic plant converts the sun’s energy through photosynthesis, that energy is unavailable to the rest of the ecosystem. At the point where exotics begin to make up a high percentage of our vegetation, insect populations will inevitably plunge.

The uninitiated may think that sounds fine, in the same way that warmer winters from global warming may sound fine to someone who dislikes snow. But those of us who love our gardens full of color in motion and bird songs will recognize that without an adequate supply of high-protein insect food, baby birds cannot fledge. And, of course, the food chain doesn’t end with birds. The good news is that we, as native plant gardeners, can turn things around. The chapter entitled "What Should I Plant?" provides practical guidance for gardeners of all levels. The following chapter, engagingly entitled, "What Does Bird Food Look Like?" is a mini-field guide to insects, many of which are outrageously beautiful, as shown in the excellent photographs.

To read the first installation of this article, scroll down to the post on Wednesday, March 25.

Visit Wednesday, April 8 for the final installation of the article.

Ridding Your Phlox of Mildew

Darrin Duling, director of The Native Plant Center:

"Mildew is a common problem with garden variety summer phlox and is best prevented by proper siting: planting in full sun in open areas with good air circulation, with little or no overhead watering is a good first-line defense.. Further to this, select so-called mildew-resistant varieties (note "resistant" vs. "mildew-proof"). Here are a few: 'David' and 'Delta Snow' - white flowers, 'Eva Cullum' - pink, 'Katheriine' - lavender, 'Laura' - light purple w/ white eye, and 'Starfire' - hot pink. These are some of the better-known varieties that are said to resist mildew, but by no means is this a comprehensive list.
~ I recently attended a lecture given by Tony Avent, owner of Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, North Carolina, in which Tony extolled the virtues of Phlox 'Minnie Pearl'; a naturally-occuring native phlox hybrid discovered growing wild in Mississippi that has so far shown no mildew problems. As an added plus, this phlox has a dwarf habit - only growing 1' tall, is extremely floriferous with sparkling white flowers, and blooms about a month earlier than other phlox of its kind. Tony also offers many other varieties of phlox that he has found to survive the steamy summers in Raleigh with little or no mildew problems. These, along with many other excellent native plant selections that he has trialed, may be viewed in his catalog posted on the Plant Delights Nursery website."

Helping Sow Seeds of Knowledge

The native plant blog has recently been announced on a couple of sites by Bill Cary of the Journal News, and Joanne Wallenstein of Scarsdale. Please visit their sites to learn more.

If you know of a like minded organization that may be interested in linking, leave a comment and help make the connection.

Echinacea purpurea, also known as purple coneflower, is a beautiful native plant as well as a provider of ingredients commonly used during cold and flu season. Some studies have shown that Echinacea has the ability to stimulate the immune system. Echinacea may reduce the duration and severity of the common cold and flu.
As with any other medication or herbal treatment, speak with your doctor before using.

On April 25 at 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. the Tenth Annual Wildflower and Native Plant Sale will be held by The Native Plant Center in Valhalla, NY. Three varieties of coneflowers will be available, Echinacea ‘Summer Sky’ - ‘Big Sky Sundown’ - ‘Kim’s Knee High.’ Many other natives will be for sale.

For further information and directions to the Native Plant Sale visit The NPC's website.

Here's another interesting bit of news about wildlife on the global level. "Since the mid-1980s, governments in the UK and parts of Europe introduced voluntary agri-environment schemes which require farmers to remove some of their land from intensive production and manage it in a more wildlife friendly way. "

Exclusive Book Review - 3 Part Series

Bringing Nature Home:

How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in our Gardens
By Carolyn Summers

For those of us native plant enthusiasts who have struggled to explain our gardens to those gardeners who insist on planting anything from everywhere, Doug Tallamy has given us a wonderful new tool called Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in our Gardens. True to its title, this book is chock-full of compelling facts based on late-breaking scientific research proving that gardening with native plants is not just fun, but necessary, if we are to save our wildlife populations from crashing. Professor Tallamy reinforces his passion for the natural world with the dispassionate scrutiny of a scientist, citing facts, statistics and studies to build the case that native plants are the base upon which the entire food chain rests. Learn more about Tallamy.

Although, for many reasons, I have long believed in the necessity of growing native plants, this book has answered questions that I never even thought to ask. For example, when the nurseries advertise exotic plants as "pest-free," is their claim valid? And, if so, are pest-free plants a good thing? What makes them pest=free? When was the last time you saw a parent bird bringing berries or seeds to baby birds in the nest? If seed and berry-eating birds don’t bring those foods to the nest, what are they bringing? The opening chapters answer these questions and more with simplicity and clarity.

Come back to the blog next Wednesday, April 1 for the second installation of this article.

The Cultivation of a Native Neophyte

What's the best way to entice a novice to learn about native plants? This is what I asked myself as I embarked on the task of creating this "Why Natives" presentation.

Being somewhat of a novice myself, I knew many of the questions I would like to have answered.

After consulting native plant expert, Anne Megaro, Land Program Director of Groundwork Yonkers, I approached this project full force. The more I researched, the more I wanted to learn about native plants; I'm sure you will too.

After viewing the production, you will want come to The Native Plant Center on Saturday, April 25 and purchase native plants to infuse into your landscape. You will not only enjoy the native blooms, but also the wildlife they attract all year long.

View previous blog entries to learn even more about native plants, as well as other like-minded organizations. Be sure to click on all of the links to see their activities and views on the environment. Be sure not to miss hard-to-find footage of Lady Bird Johnson within the links.