As I write, the rain is falling yet again, and today it seems as if spring has literally melted into summer. Of course, I have no recollection of what the weather last year this time was like, but it always seems different. Is there such a thing as an average spring? Or an average winter?
Now as an Ohioan I am considered average. We Buckeyes are sought after for product testing because we are, they say, the average joes and jills. But average weather in average Ohio? It’s an illusion no doubt about it, particularly this spring.
In search of a portrait of the average spring in Ohio, I went to the National Weather Service website where they remember what it was like last spring. Well, I found something peculiar. According to their instruments, it rained 11.24 inches from March 1 to May 31. Now measured against the average rainfall of 8.44 inches for that same period of time in Seattle, it appears it has indeed been a very wet spring. According to the numbers though, our 11.24 inches of rain is 6.97 inches below the wettest spring ever in Mansfield, and 6.79 inches more than the driest spring.
So we fell right in the middle this year. An average spring? Hard to believe but statistics don’t lie. Or do they? I would like to believe that although we may be average, our weather is anything but. Hmm, is there a bumper sticker there? “Proud Buckeye: We may be average but our weather is anything but.”
On being wet
With the average rain that has come, so have a number of questions on what to do with wet spots in people’s yards and gardens. You could go to the trouble of tiling it or bringing in topsoil to fill it in, but I say go with the flow.
You can do so much with wet spots from vernal pools to rain gardens, and there are plenty of plants that are okay with wet places. Asclepias incarnata, aptly named Swamp Milkweed, is one. Four to five feet tall with pretty pink flowers, it is also an important source of food for Monarch butterflies. Other native plants that work in wet are the Turtlehead, Chelone glabra, and the Purple-stem Aster, Aster puniceus whose late summer flowers provide late season snacks for butterflies and bees. Then there’s Cardinal Flower, Joe-Pye Weed, Great Blue Lobelia, and Wild Bergamot.
Try some of the sedges also. They are grass-like plants but differ in that “sedges have edges”, that is if you look at them in cross-section they are angular as opposed to a grass’s round profile. One of my favorite native ones is Carex stricta, the Tussock sedge. In wetland areas, it forms these great humps of grass that stand out like islands in the shallow water.
Some trees that don’t mind dipping their toes in water are red maples Acer rubrum, and the river birches, Betula nigra. If you want to see some of these plants visit the riparian restoration areas along the creek in Seltzer Park in Shelby, or Fowler Woods, a state nature preserve in the northeast corner of Richland County. Also look into the topic of vernal pools and rain gardens for further ideas on developing your wet area.
On using Latin
To most every plant I mention in this column, I attach the Latin name to it. This is not just to sound smart. It is also a way of being clear about the plant I am talking about. For example, I suggested utilizing red maples in wet areas. To me a red maple is always Acer rubrum, but to some a red maple is the red leaf cultivar of Acer platanoides called ‘Crimson King’. Planting it in a wet spot would not be good.
That is why using Latin names eliminates confusion. A plant has only one Latin name. Called a binomial because a plant’s name has two parts, this system of classification was conceived and developed by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in the 1700’s. And it’s used not only for plants but all living organisms including us whose binomial name is Homo sapiens.
Like our family names, a plant’s Latin name tells you who it’s related to. So all trees whose binomials begin with Acer are related. Acer rubrum is therefore related to Acer platanoides, though distantly so. The former is native to America while the latter is native to Norway, hence, its common name Norway Maple.
Sometimes a botanist may question the legitimacy of a plant’s blood line. So he or she brings it up in a paper. There are arguments back and forth, and sometimes names are changed. Recently, Chrysanthemums and Asters were reorganized. Mums were put into a group called Dendranthemum while most of the North American asters were put into genera with unpronounceable names like Doellingeria and Ionactis. And the aster I mentioned above, Aster puniceus should really now be called Symphyotrichum puniceum.
In this classification system, no matter where you reside in the world, what language you speak, what the average temperature is, Acer rubrum is always Acer rubrum. That’s true for every plant, fungi, insect, or animal species. They all have just one name. It’s total global agreement which doesn’t happen often. That’s why using Latin names is not pretension but practicality.
On what’s happening
This Saturday, June 28 is the 8th annual Bobolinks & Butterflies Festival at Byers Woods over in Ashland County, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sponsored by the Greater Mohican Audubon Society it is free, and a must-see if you’ve never seen a bobolink.
Kingwood Center is having a program on Hostas this Saturday also, but it’s not just any program on Hosta. Doug Beilstein is giving it. He is Mr. Hosta, and the program includes a tour of his amazing collection of Hosta. From 10-12, the program begins at Kingwood. There is a fee and advance registration is required. Call 419-522-0211 ext. 107.
And if the skies are clear next Wednesday, July 2, the Gorman Nature Center will be having their monthly “Night Sky” program. Join Director Jason Larson at 9:30 p.m. for a closer look at the darkness above.
Continue to send your questions, comments, and announcements to jmakley@centurylink.net. Requests for bumper stickers will also be taken.
Since his days as forced labor in his mother’s garden, John has learned to enjoy gardening and has actually made a career out of it. From the backyards of Columbus to the rooftops of Manhattan, John has soiled his hands. Former Head Gardener at Kingwood Center, John still gets his hands dirty in the local community. You can contact him at jmakley@centurylink.net.
