If you have content for this update, please let me know at jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net.
Some of the items covered in this update include:
* Meeting summary and upcoming winter/spring 2010 events
* Ask a naturalist - what plants do deer not like?
* Sun Messenger covers FOEC awards
Meeting summary
Our January meeting featured FOEC treasurer Ken Messinger-Rapport on the NEORSD sewer district proposed stormwater management program.Ken addressed watershed management and how this connects with the NEORSD.
The image of Lake Erie as a watershed comes from http://neorsd.org/whatisawatershed.php
Upcoming Meetings
Plan on attending our monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 2 at the South Euclid Community Center at 7:00PM. The presentation is from Frank Greenland, Watershed Manager of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, NEORSD providing an overview of the Sewer District's Stormwater Management Plan.Our March meeting features James Kastelic, former Deputy Director of Community Planning for the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. He is now a planner for Cleveland Metroparks. His talk is about the Environmental Education Collaborative and plans for the opening of the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve at Dike 14. The Dike 14 winter image comes from http://www.dike14.org/images/DSCN0016-2005.gif
Other upcoming events
The http://www.marc.org site shows a typical upper drain installation for a rain barrel.
Please contact Claire Posius about rain barrel workshops. Reach her at 216-524-6580 x16 or cposius@cuyahogaswcd.org. Attend a rain barrel workshop in Highland Heights on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 6:30-8pm. Another workshop is to be Wed., May 12, at Greenwood Farm, Richmond Hts., 6:30-8pm.More on the holiday party
President Fran Hogg appears in the photo in the front center with some of the attendees.
Thank you to Frank Skala for the photo. Thank you also to all who helped make this fund raiser event happen.
Thank you to the following who provided donations: Fran Hogg, Ken Messinger-Rapport, Barb Pophal, Larry and Chris McFadden, Mary Connell, Heinen's, Connie Herron, Ginny Aveni, Botanical Gardens, Richard and Jeanette Evans, Mayor Geogine Welo, Mary Kay Evans, Wild Birds, CT Consultants, Abuelo's Flavor of Mexico, Kathy Schaefer.
Ask a naturalist - what plants do deer not like?
If you have a question for FOEC member and naturalist Barb Holtz, please let me know at jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net and we can include it in a future update. Barb is the manager/naturalist at Look About Lodge in Cleveland Metroparks. I asked her what native plants (good for watershed health) - that deer do not like - would be good choices for our landscapes.
Question:
What plants do deer not like?
Answer:
Barb answered: '"When it comes to deer, folks need to know that deer have defined territories. Just because we build houses or businesses in those territiories doesn't mean the deer are going to leave. When we rid an area of native flora/habitat (like meadows and forest) and replace it with bountiful landscaping, it's like giving deer a bowl of candy.
http://www.ohioprairienursery.com/ shows this picture of coreopsis. Barb is working with the Native Plant Promotion Committee that is part of the Lake Erie Alleghany Partnership (LEAP) on a recommended native plant list for NE Ohio gardens. In that list the group plans to list plants liked by dear. Please stay tuned as Barb provides us with the final list.Barb found a list from her files on what deer do not like in a local landscape that includes coreopsis, small white aster, blazing star, great blue lobelia, beebalm, beardtongue, columbine, mint, and false foxglove.
Plants at the top of the invasive plant list are garlic mustard, purple loosestrife, multifloral rose, buckthorn, phragmites, honeysuckle - amur, tartarian, morrow, autumn and Russian olive. Invasive plants widely sold at nurseries include: burning bush, Japanese barberry, tree of heaven, Norway maple, myrtle/vinca, porcelainberry, Japanese spiraea, crown-vetch, Asian bittersweet, European cranberry bush, privet, yellow flag iris, pachysandra (the non native ones), and English ivy.More on rain gardens and plants to help maintain watershed health
The image of the native Christmas fern comes from http://www.dnr.state.oh.us which states that ferns have been part of Ohio landscapes for millions of years, predating both dinosaurs and flowering plants. The Christmas fern is found in nearly every Ohio county and is a welcome sign year round.
More about wildlife in the watershed and Ohio
As explained at http://www.dnr.state.oh.us sea gulls appear along Lake Erie throughout winter and are some of Ohio’s most watchable wildlife. According to cleveland.com/neobirding "contrary to popular opinion, the birding opportunities actually improve in Northeast Ohio in winter."You may have seen one of these - a blue jay - recently.
More reminders about watershed health
I'm still thinking about how at our November meeting, Claire Posius noted that some of her work deals with good practices in our landscapes.
1. Do not dump in storm drains.
2. Fertilize sparingly and caringly.
3. Properly dispose of household hazardous waste.
4. Clean up after your pet.
5. Practice good car care.
6. Landscape with native plants.
7. Conserve water.
Friends of Euclid Creek hand out awards for work on behalf of the waterway - Sun Messenger article of December 07, 2009 - By Jeff Piorkowski
From http://blog.cleveland.com/sunmessenger/
Fran Hogg, president of Friends of Euclid Creek, was on hand Monday at the Lyndhurst City Council meeting to present the city's service director, Rick Glady, with the organization's "Stewardship Award."
Hogg said Glady was honored for several reasons, including Lyndhurst's change to automated recycling, his efforts to revise the county's solid waste guidelines, the natural wildflower bed planted at Brainard Park, and his interest in the installation and maintenance of rain gardens.The Friends of the Euclid Creek's stated purpose is to promote the social welfare of the area by creek preservation, to educate people as to the creek's importance, and to bring together the cities that are stakeholders in the creek's welfare.Glady was given his award at the council meeting, while other awards were dispersed at a Dec. 1 ceremony at the Mayfield Village Community Center.
Also the recipient of a Stewardship Award was Beachwood Mayor Merle Gordon.The "Volunteer of the Year Award" went to Highland Heights resident Jeanette Evans.
The "Tom Jenkins Award," named for the organization's founder and awarded to the Friends' member whose actions are most emblematic of Jenkins, was Mary K. Evans, of South Euclid.- Posting last updated Jan. 28, 2009 - please check back for the final draft and updates
