Friends of Belle Isle’s Environmental Stewardship Committee needs your help removing invasive plants in the park’s old growth forest. Each stewardship day, volunteers will meet and enjoy a breakfast snack, a hot drink, and a meet-and-greet.

Bring your favorite water bottle, warm boots, and a smile. Tools and work gloves will be on hand. Most work days we will remove woody invasive plants such as honeysuckle, privet, and buckthorn. The work is not very strenuous. We work along a paved path in the forest.

Upcoming dates:
Saturday, Feb 19, 9am-12pm
Saturday, March 19, 9am-12pm

Friends meet at the Belle Isle Nature Zoo at the East end of the island. Please RSVP to Mebby Pearson before each event so there will be enough bagels & coffee on hand.

248-647-7841
Melvadean.Pearson@gmail.com

Following the day to day progress of plant growing from seed never gets old. Even better is watching the progress in a time lapse video. It’s like watching a symphony—mesmerizing. Check out this great video by Dave Le.

The gardening world mourns the loss of Fred Case, a teacher, botanist, and true plantsman. Case passed away on Wednesday, January 12, 2011. He and his wife Roberta authored three books, including “Trilliums,” and many articles for magazines and scientific publications about native orchids, trilliums, insectivorous plants, wildflowers and gardening.

A full obituary can be found here.

Gardening is a healthy activity with many benefits. That said, you may not know that you are burning significant calories when you are out in the garden. Here is just a sampling of averages complied from various sources:

272 calories/hour – Gardening in General
306 calories/hour – Weeding
306 calories/hour – Pruning Trees or Shrubs
306 calories/ hour – Mowing with a power mower
340 calories/hour – Digging

Above calculations assume a body weight of 150 lbs.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) recently confirmed small infestations of the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) at sites in Emmet, Macomb, and Ottawa counties.

“Nursery operators, landscapers and homeowners should never accept hemlock from quarantined areas, and never accept hemlock without proper certification,” said Ken Rauscher, MDA Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division Director.  “Examine your hemlock for the presence white, cottony masses on the underside of the branches where the needles attach.  If you suspect HWA, contact MDA immediately.”

The positive sites in Macomb and Ottawa counties were discovered by two alert arborists who reported their suspicions to MDA.

“These detections underscore the importance of citizen involvement in exotic pest detection,” said Rauscher. “Without these alert and conscientious individuals, these detections may have gone unnoticed for months, or even years, making eradication of this devastating pest much more unlikely.”

These infestations represent the first detections of HWA in Michigan since 2006, when it was found in hemlock nursery stock grown in West Virginia and planted for residential landscaping in the Harbor Springs area. This population was eradicated, and the area was subjected to several years of intensive pesticide treatments and surveys.

The new infestations are also believed to originate from hemlock nursery stock originating from HWA-infested areas of the U.S.  The infested trees at each site have been removed and destroyed. Nearby trees are being treated with pesticides and surveys are being performed to determine if HWA has spread.

“MDA is requiring removal of positive trees and treatment with an approved insecticide and will also conduct survey activities where HWA has been confirmed,” said Rauscher. “Homeowners should be on the look out for white cottony masses at the base of the needles and report any suspects to MDA.”

HWA is a small, aphid-like insect that uses its long, siphoning mouthparts to extract sap from hemlock trees. Native to eastern Asia, HWA was discovered in Virginia in 1951, and has since spread over an area from Georgia to Maine, decimating hemlock stands across much of the eastern U.S.

Over 100 million hemlock trees are present in Michigan forests, providing valuable habitat for a diversity of animals, including birds, deer, and fish. These trees are critical to the ecology and aesthetics of Michigan’s northern forests.

Michigan law restricts the movement of hemlock into the state, and includes a complete ban on the movement of hemlock from infested areas. Details on this quarantine and more information on HWA can be found at www.michigan.gov/mda.

Berkshire Middle School
Berkshire Community Garden grew an impressive crop for local charities in 2010.The Berkshire Community Garden at Birmingham’s Berkshire Middle School grew a bumper crop of vegetables in 2010. The total harvest included 700 tomatoes, 481 peppers, 286 cucumbers, 231 onions, 138 zucchini, 124 eggplant, 68 radishes, 44 squash, 29 beets, 21 carrots, 16 heads of broccoli and one large bushel of string beans.

Produce was donated to Forgotten Harvest, Gleaners, South Oakland Shelter, Lighthouse, Baldwin Center, and Matchan Nutrition Center in Pontiac.

Congratulations to the many volunteers that worked in the garden to contribute to this bountiful harvest.

The majesty of winter’s quiet beauty is a breathtaking backdrop for discovering birds on a crisp morning at Edsel & Eleanor Ford House. Birders have seen and heard the beautiful notes of songbirds and witnessed migration overhead.

Ford House and Rosann Kovalcik, owner of Wild Bird’s Unlimited in Grosse Pointe Woods, continue their partnership by offering novice and experienced bird watchers the opportunity to walk among the magnificent grounds during the Winter/Spring Bird Walk series at Ford House. Over the years, participants in walks have discovered more than 190 species of birds. 

The Winter/Spring Bird Walk series begins Saturday, Jan. 15 and continues on the following days: February 12, 8am; March 12, 8am; and April 16, 7:30am. 

Reservations are required and may be made by calling 313.884.4222. Admission to the bird walk is $7 per person. For additional information, visit www.fordhouse.org.

This is the time of year to start thinking about what to grow in your vegetable garden this summer. If you’re considering spinach, this informative piece from the National Garden Bureau is a must-read.

Forget Popeye! Spinach contains many more nutrients than just iron. Actually, the amount of iron in spinach comes way down the list after vitamins A and C, thiamin, potassium and folic acid (one of the B complex vitamins). Dark green leafy vegetables, like spinach, contain lutein and zeaxanthin, both carotenoids. Studies show carotenoids help your eyes stay healthy as you age by preventing macular degeneration and the formation of cataracts. Vitamins A and C, both antioxidants, keep your cardiovascular system healthy, thereby reducing the risk of strokes and heart attacks. Folic acid is essential for the production of red blood cells and for normal growth, and may reduce the risk of certain cancers. It’s particularly important for pregnant women.

Read more…

Flickr / Steve Drolet
An apple blossom amaryllis in bloom.There is no better way to brighten your home during winter than growing some bulbs indoors. Here’s a good story from nj.com to get you started:

After the Christmas tree comes down and the wreaths are tossed, a long spell of bleak days looms ahead with nary a hint of green in sight. Fill the void with winter’s brightest bulbs and you won’t have to pine for vibrant, living color.

The key species for winter bloom are two showy flowers: amaryllis and paperwhites narcissus. Both are easy-to-grow windowsill plants offering quick, if not instant, gratification. Delicate paperwhites can bloom in as little as four weeks and gaudy amaryllis in six.

Unlike familiar spring-flowering bulbs, including tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, these two species don’t require a long period of cold temperatures to trigger bloom. Native to regions of the Southern Hemisphere, they are programmed to flower on an upside-down schedule in our winter months.

Read the rest of the story about indoor bulbs at NJ.com

Interesting story from mlive.com about two enterprising Flint gardeners that are doing their part for job creation and urban renewal with their commercial startup:

Urban gardening projects have been sprouting all over the city, but one new project may be the city’s most visible, even before a single seed has been planted.

A massive hoop house — a kind of greenhouse that uses a plastic covering to hold in heat from the sun — now stands covered in Christmas lights on a plot of land off Court Street just west of Miller Road.

Read the rest of the story here…