Monthly Archives: February 2018

The Mysterious Life of the Wild Neighbor

by Stephen Sedam

It was late. A still, quiet night in the dead of winter.  Everyone else was asleep. I turned off the last light before heading upstairs to join them. Then FLASH!  The motion sensitive light above the garage turned on. A scream of white light announced the presence of something in the backyard.

I slunk to the edge of the kitchen window and peered outside.  Nothing.  On to another window.  Another view.  Nothing. Check the gate across the driveway! It had not been disturbed. 

Then the light turned off.  Darkness returned.

I should just let it go. It’s probably nothing. Turning to go upstairs, FLASH!  It’s back. Uh oh.

The curious inner voice prevailed and within seconds my coat, boots and gloves were on and I headed outside. Cautiously.

Opening the door as softly as possible, looking to the left, to the right, quietly I moved forward. The fresh coating of snow made the frigid night seem quieter than usual yet there was no noise.  Then rounding my car which was parked beneath the light, there it was.  Or, there were its footprints.

Chipmunk and mouse tracks leading from seemingly everywhere to the underside of my Prius. They no doubt found refuge from the cold in a cozy corner of the engine compartment, complete with their own carry-on bedding.

That got me thinking.  What other mysteries about our wild neighbors can only be told by a snowy winter? Here in the Heights, wild animals live all around us – chipmunks, squirrels, mice, fox, rats, skunk, possum, raccoon, deer, rabbits, coyote, hawks, owls, turkey, cardinals and a host of other birds. We see them, some frequently, others rarely. Where do they come from and where are they going? Just what are they doing all day and all night? 

Our snowy winters give us some answers to these questions and even better, let our wandering minds weave stories of their fascinating, undetectable lives.

In a typical week my meanderings take me on journeys through Lakeview Cemetery, in to Forest Hill and Cumberland parks, across a school yard and alongside neighbors’ lawns. There lie patterns of tracks that invite story telling. Tracks creating mesmerizing braids of life.

Tiny, barely visible tracks of mice so light their print is nearly timid. The bold cloven mark of deer. The three pronged wide print of a turkey. The convoluted Escherian travails of a squirrel.

Some tracks speak to independent movement while others show a pair moving together. Or was one being followed by the other?

Tiny tracks appeared in every direction from a small clump of grass in a deserted area. Were they coming to and from home or hiding from a hawk?

Tracks in a solitary line lead to a patch of disturbed snow.  Was there a fight or merely a playful tussle?

Then there were the tracks that ran away from the reddish brown patch of snow. Here was a spot shared by a winner and a loser.

Some tracks of the same animal are smaller than others. Young ones surviving their first winter?

Some tracks give away the sneaky routes of home invaders. So that’s where they come in!

Some tracks come right up to the house. Maybe they are peering in our front windows when we’re peering out the back.

Tracks tell us of the incessant activity of which we are otherwise unaware. They show us swift sprinters and playmates.  Others move slowly, gracefully.

They are awake, doing their stuff, while we are cozy under our covers. By morning, they show a picture that took all night to paint.  It’s not as if you can stand in your bathrobe looking out in the dark and see it all unfold.  You very well know that if you tried, that night you’d see nothing. It’s the next night, when you’re fast asleep. They’re out there putting on a show.

Homes, gardens and sidewalks stretch out across miles and miles and miles of winding roads, streets, boulevards and alleys where once lay fields, and streams and forests. They’ve adapted to us. Some of us have adapted to some of them.  They’re mostly invisible, except for their tracks.

There is no limit to the fascination of life around us. Wild lives connected to us in ways we barely know. Even if you pay attention, it’s hard to keep track.

Some Thoughts about the Great Big Home and Garden Show

by Lois Rose,  Master Gardener Educator
All photos from Ann McCulloh

By February in northeast Ohio we are looking forward to some sign of green. We are hoping to be caressed by the humidity and warmth of early spring, the scent of bulbs pushing up through the soggy soil.

And then there is the coming of the Great Big Home and Garden Show at the IX center. I have been attending these shows for many years in a specialized capacity, answering questions from the public about gardening.

When I have a bit of time off of the answer table, I can wander freely and take on the sights and sounds of the show. And I have to say that this has been a more and more disappointing experience over the years and this year is no exception.

I observed walking into the hall from the Exhibitors’ entrance that there seem to be fewer stands and vendors this year taking up less space. I have not confirmed this as a fact but I know that there were almost no vendors selling plants or plant accessories.

And the gardens that are installed with a mountain of sand, a city of bricks and a lake of water features are less and less what I hope or want to see.

Perhaps I am behind the times, out of sync and outside of the mainstream, but what I saw was primarily hardscape….paths leading in a U-shape through each exhibit. Large patio scapes with fire pits or grills and bars and outdoor seating for entertaining. Oh and there were some plants thrown in. 

What plants you ask? All of the perennials and shrubs and trees and bulbs and annuals have to be forced into bloom at nearby greenhouses. 

This is a challenge and a science and an expensive effort.

There were some triumphs in some of the gardens. For example there were white-flowered hellebores in some of the displays that were tall and showy.

There were a myriad of daffodils and hyacinths, some with excellent fragrance.

There was a forsythia bush in full bloom and a Cornus mas or Cornelian Cherry and a few other fruit trees with good blooms showing.

BUT… I have often groused about the displays of early- mid -late spring flowers shown at the same time as if you would be able to achieve this kind of show in your own garden. Tulips and forsythia and azaleas and fruit trees….February and March and April and May joined together in unity.

I wonder if the average show-goer realizes that many of these plants bloom consecutively and not at the same time…

One display had a charming large metal pot planted with a water garden, papyrus and water hyacinth.

And a sunken Hosta and fern garden under a sidewalk grate.

There was a construction of a house front with a balcony fitted with mannequins reclining near a full complement of jazz band instruments…evoking New Orleans during Mardi Gras, with a small albeit conventional garden below with a very old decrepit upright piano with plants in the top.

It was dark and quiet in the garden display area, with many fewer people so the experience was a respite from the main hall.

They cleverly placed a bistro in this quiet area so that you could eat a nice meal in relative calm. Expensive but quiet.

And on the other side of the ledger there were a few displays that had houseplants as their prominent green material. They were integrated into borders with outdoor plants but still, houseplants with large leaves. Is this fake news? 

So I conclude that the public wants hardscape for their yards and the companies know this and therefore provide it in their displays.

The plants and displays that I remember from the nineties, interesting foliage plants for example, newer cultivars, are clearly a thing of the distant past. I did not find anything much to buy for my garden….metal frames of animals, gnomes, little owls and cute little ….not for me.

But you can ride the ferris wheel for 2 bucks, and buy fudge and a super mop. 

That is the home part of the show which is fully realized. Too bad the garden section has been diminished.