Autumn Gardening Checklist
Updated October 24th, 2019
Indoor plants: Bring your ornamentals — like spider plants, ferns, ficus, rubber plants, tropical hibiscus and potted herbs — inside before the first killing frost. Water them heavily about two weeks before the frost to kill insects and disease, and re-pot the ones that have outgrown their containers. Remember, these plants will likely go into shock […]
Killing the Callery
Updated October 24th, 2019
Like Audrey II in the movie “Little Shop of Horrors,” the callery pear tree is like an alien pod bent on taking over the world — well, if not the world, at least large swaths of our forests, grasslands, and parks. But University of Dayton master’s student Meg Maloney is determined to stop the spread […]
The climate’s changing, but so can we
Updated October 3rd, 2019
Indicators of climate change are in our faces like never before. Hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, floods and droughts are becoming more common and more intense. The ocean is warming at a rate 24 percent faster than normal and that rate is expected to rise. The average sea level is six to eight inches higher than it was in […]
Update: Five Rivers MetroParks to continue discussions to preserve Knoop Prairie
Published September 6, 2019
Paul E. Knoop Jr. Prairie. Photo courtesy of Aullwood Audubon. UPDATED SEPTEMBER 6, 2019: In Five Rivers MetroParks’ continuing discussions with the city of Dayton, the city informed MetroParks the proposed development at Knoop Prairie will not move forward. MetroParks will continue to engage the city in discussions to protect the prairie. Read more about Five Rivers MetroParks’ […]
No Cape Required
Updated August 21st, 2019
Megan Rude has cool superpowers: She saves trees, counts deer and hears ultrasonic bat calls. The Five Rivers MetroParks intern is actually part of a MetroParks team that inoculates trees against the emerald ash borer, and she places cameras that monitor deer for the park system’s annual population survey.The high-frequency bat calls? They’re recorded with […]
“An impact for the whole community”
Updated August 21st, 2019
Last year, Janice Mittelkamp saw a documentary called “Lives Well Lived,” and the next day she applied for a horticulture position at Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark. Mittelkamp had been a landscape architect since 1990 and she liked her job, but after she heard the elderly adults in the film talk about how important it is to love […]
Employee Spotlight: Sherman Howard
Updated August 21st, 2019
You’ve probably seen him doing his facilities rounds at the 2nd St. Market, easily smiling and making his way calmly through the crowds to take care of the next task, one of many he’s probably already done since he unlocked the doors at 5:30 AM. Sherman Howard is the backbone of the Market, say Market […]
Rare Fly Sightings
Published August 21, 2019
The Five Rivers Metroparks conservation team went on insect patrol in late July and found two rare dragon and damselfly species at the Great Miami Mitigation bank. MaLisa Spring, a dragonfly expert from the Museum of Biological Diversity in Columbus, joined the search and was thrilled when the group spotted a large population of Paiute […]
Native Plants Get Their Own Law
Published August 21, 2019
A new Ohio law doesn’t make it a crime to plant non-native flowers, trees or shrubs, but Amy Sellers hopes it will make people think twice about what they’re putting in their yards and gardens. “I’m kind of a native plant dork,” says Sellers, a horticulture technician at Cox Arboretum MetroPark. And she hopes that House […]
(Somewhat) urgent care for ash trees
Updated July 12th, 2019
The tree will tell you when it’s ready for its shot, thank you very much. Five Rivers MetroParks Conservation Supervisor Meredith Cobb and her team of technicians are beginning this summer’s emerald ash borer treatments, but as the temperature climbs or the humidity falls, the treatment window gets narrower. “You have to use a lot […]
