Morningside Garden Zone 7b: First Flower of Spring

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

First Flower of Spring

It snowed here in Richmond VA. still, the first flowers of spring have arrived. I'm am relatively new to gardening so I will attempt to document every new bloom throughout the growing season. My garden is a mix of flowers and plants: what was here when I moved in 4 winters ago, what my wife has planted with her focus on a whimsical English Cottage Garden, and what I have planted with my interest in native and medicinal flowers and plants. I will try to give as much information as possible about each bloom: its common name, its scientific name and its origin both to my backyard and to this country, why I grow it and why I haven't eradicated it if that particular bloom be either weed or alien.

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TIPS that I practice

STOP:

Stop Gas Powered Lawn mower, Weed eater & Leaf blower emissions: One old gas powered lawn mower running for an hour emits as much pollution as driving 650 miles in a 1992 model automobile. In 2006 lawn mower engines contribute 93 times more smog-forming emissions than 2006 cars, according to the California Air Resources Board. Lawn Mowers May Account for Five Percent of U.S. Air Pollution, EPA Says.
Stop using dangerous fertilizers on you lawn. Phosphorous runoff from lawns contributes to algae blooms in our waterways and eventually wind up in our oceans destroying reefs and fish habitat.
Stop using invasive exotic plants for you landscaping. Plants like English Ivy might be pretty but they provide no benefit to wildlife and choke out native plants
Stop filling Plastic Garbage bags with leaf & yard waste & stop sending it to landfills. Fifteen to twenty percent of solid waste sent to landfills is comprised of leaves, grass clippings, and other yard wastes
Stop using Poisonous Bug Spray & Weed Killers: Exposure to common pesticide such as Roundup is documented to cause cancers, skin disorders, spontaneous abortions, premature births, and damage to the gastrointestinal and nervous systems. Think about what your doing to your air and soil when you unload a full can of ant or wasp killer on your patio a place where your children and dog play.

START:

Buy and use a reel push mower, it will make you a healthier person by giving you exercise, they require little or no maintenance, produces no pollution and make no noise. Other options include electric & solar powered mowers. If you must mow with a gas mower buy a newer model with a catalytic converter
Use native plants for your area – Native Plants require less care, less water and provide food for native animals in your area
Use Xeroscaping – Use plants that require less watering especially if you live in places where drought is common.
Replace your lawn or portions of your lawn with ground cover that require less care like moss, clover, buffalo grass, Mixed fescues or native ground covers. Also reducing the size of your lawn, which will reduce your watering bill. Change a portion of your lawn to a rock garden, a sand box a horse shoe pit or a badminton or volley ball court
Plant a Native Tree - A single tree, a natural source of carbon sequestration, will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime. Trees also provide food and cover for wild life and they will lower your homes cooling costs by providing shade and windbreak.
Grow some of your own food, tomatoes and cucumbers require very little care
Companion Plant: Marigolds with tomatoes, garlic and thyme with roses. Some plants provide disease-fighting properties and repel insects while others attract beneficial insects. Use plants that have insect repelling properties like lemon balm & penny royal
Go Organic, Stop using pesticides & herbicides. Start using organic fertilizers – not only is this good for your family its good for the plants and animals
Compost – A natural source of fertilizer. Reduce landfills, compost your kitchen wastes. If you can’t compost, many cities have leaf pickup for a small fee
Rain Barrel – Supplemental water source from rain run off
Encourage beneficial insects & animals – Ladybugs, praying mantis, spiders, predatory wasps, birds, bats all consume an enormous amount of “bad” bugs like aphids. Learn what is a good bug and what is a bad bug and stop killing everything that moves.
Create a certified wildlife habitat in you backyard. It’s very simply, just provide a source of food, shelter and water.
Use leaves as mulch and leave grass clippings on you lawn as green fertilizer
Go Solar with your outdoor lights
Eradicate invasive exotic plants & noxious weeds from your property, but don’t do it with harmful chemicals.
Use plant-based mosquito repellent and eradicate standing water from your property during summer months.
Think about what you are doing, at what cost is that perfect Rose or that perfect unblemished tomato. What you do affects everything from the simplest microbes below the surface to the very air that your family is breathing. Talk with your neighbors and friends about what they are doing to their yards and gardens. Teach your children how to care for the outdoors.
Most of all, Start working in harmony with nature.