February marks the down-side of winter, as gardeners count the days until the garden wakes up.

photo by E Barth-Elias

A cautious look down on an icy path offers respite to gray and brown-weary eyes. Drifts of feathery, green moss weather the cold with aplomb. How do these tiny plants manage winter’s extremes? Mosses, classified as Bryophytes (and relatives of liverworts and hornworts), are ancient plants with simple structures and mechanisms.  They have no leaves or branches, but small leaf-like structures (phyllids). Only one cell thick, phyllids both absorb nutrients and water (rain, dew, mist, even fog) and conduct photosynthesis. Mosses are non-vascular—they lack a water and nutrient conducting system. Each plant cell absorbs water directly through osmosis, water which is essential for growth and reproduction. Having no roots, mosses anchor themselves with thread-like structures called rhizoids.  

Although water lovers, mosses are masters of adapting to dry conditions. During periods of drought, they simply dry into a dormant state (poikilohydry). When moisture returns, they rehydrate. They are also adept food producers. When temperatures are above freezing and adequate moisture available, mosses photosynthesize—even under shallow layers of snow! Scientists believe that mosses produce an antifreeze-like chemical, which becomes more concentrated in fall, prevents their cells from freezing, and melts the surrounding snow and ice. Some speculate that this chemical is produced by bacteria that live on the surface of the moss. Whichever the case, this system enables mosses to flourish during winter months.

There are more than fifteen thousand species of moss, and they can be found on every continent and in every plant-friendly locale. Mosses play a vital role in their local ecosystems by stabilizing soils and absorbing excess water. They act as a carbon sink, absorbing more carbon from the atmosphere than they release, and filter pollutants. Mosses create humid microhabitats for the invertebrates, microorganisms, and other creatures that call them home.  They are better adapted to shade than most grasses—something for lawn owners to consider.

Rich, green mosses soothe the senses on hot summer and freezing winter days. Upon close inspection their intricate beauty rivals that of the most coveted specimen plants. Get close. Look around!

FLORA OF PENNSYLVANIA: Mosses

VERMONT LAND TRUST: The Wonder of Moss in our Backyard

K Edgington

photo by E Barth-Elias

Another blustery day, another sub-freezing walk, and our thoughts turn to a trip to the tropics. If that’s not in the cards, consider bringing the tropics home with an alocasia house plant.  

Alocasias are having a bit of a moment these days due to their unusual leaf shapes and bold colors. A member of the arum family, this genus of over 80 tuberous perennials is native to Southeast Asia and Australia. Also known as elephant ears or taro, they are hardy in zones 9-11, and as such, are considered houseplants (or annuals in our summer gardens) here in Ohio. You may notice them in the lobby of your favorite hotel or restaurant as some varieties can be quite sizeable. 

Alocasias have a reputation for being finicky, but in reality, they just have very specific growing conditions. If you can meet these requirements, you should have a long and prosperous relationship with your plant. Native to rainforest climes, they love warm temperatures and frequent waterings in well-drained soil. They grow best when daytime temperatures range from 68 to 77° F. If temperatures fall below 50°F the plants may go dormant. They are prone to root rot so err on the side of underwatering if in doubt. Providing the humidity they need can be challenging, but manageable. Read about it HERE. They do not like drafts, so keep them away from entryways or space heaters and you should be good to go. Indoor conditions of medium, bright indirect light are best.

The fun of alocasia is in the variety.  Color, texture, variegation, and size all work together to make these plants showstoppers. There is one out there for you. Maybe it’s Polly, (Alocasia amazonica), sporting vivid arrow-shaped leaves with bright green veins that grows 1-2’ tall. Add drama with a Black Velvet alocasia (Alocasia reginula) which has downy dark green/black leaves with high-contrast white veins. 

If color is your thing, Pink Dragon alocasia (Alocasia calidora) will catch your eye with dramatic pink and green leaves, burgundy undersides, and unusual pink stems as an added treat. It reaches a robust 4’ tall. Alocasia Jacklyn (Alocasia tandurusa) will catch your eye with its “etched” lines on the leaf surface and forked leaf shape. It’s a newly discovered species from Indonesia. If you were expecting striped leaves on an alocasia named Zebrina, you’d be wrong. The striping is displayed on the mottled stems that support the deep green leaves.  

Jewel alocasias are a group of hybrid alocasias that are smaller (some fit in the palm of your hand) and have dazzling leaf shapes, colors and textures. They work well in terrariums which might be a good jumping-off point for alocasia beginners. 

Alocasias can be propagated by division. They are easy to find online and locally, so even if you can’t find the varieties mentioned above there are similar ones available and more are being introduced as the public discovers these bold plants. Unfortunately, they are toxic to children, dogs and cats due to the calcium oxalate crystals in the leaves and thus aren't suitable for some households. Spider mites can be a pest so monitor plants for signs of webbing, yellowing or browning leaves or a dusty appearance and treat with soaps and or neem oil to control them. Watch how HERE.

As gardeners, we want to learn and grow things we may not have considered previously. Some plants are worth the extra effort. And with that effort comes a little learning, a little artistic expression and yes, a little fun! 

ALOCASIA: Missouri Botanical Garden

 J Gramlich

photo by E Barth-Elias

I write about “creatures”, but my Dear Editor never actually defined that term. Today we’ll test the extent of her, ahem, flexibility. Living organisms are divided into three domains—Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya. The Eukarya domain (organisms with nuclei) has four kingdoms—Plantae, Animalia, Protista and Fungi. We’re going to take a walk on the wild side and focus on—drumroll, please—a fungus amongus. 

Historically classified as a plant, fungi are now considered more closely related to animals. (Their evolutionary lineage is closer to animals and, unlike plants, they obtain food from external sources.) Over 100,000 species have been identified, with possibly millions more to go. You may recognize fungi as mushrooms, yeasts, molds and penicillin, but there is much more to this creature than what you see. Let’s dig a bit deeper…

The body of all fungi is made of a network of tiny threads (hyphae) called a mycelium. Fungi are usually invisible as they grow inside a food source like soil or wood. The mycelium may be tiny enough to fit inside an ant, or it can be very large. The aptly named Humongous Fungus, considered earth’s largest living organism, covers almost 4 square miles under a forest in Oregon, beating out the 110-foot-long blue whale for the title. Hyphae can grow remarkably fast—up to ½ mile a day. The mycelium’s job is to take in nutrients, digest them and produce fruiting bodies (a reproductive structure that makes spores), such as mushrooms or truffles. 

Fungi are divided into 8 groups, and honestly, you wouldn’t want to hang out with a lot of them. Most are decomposers, feasting on formerly alive stuff. Others eat living organisms (the cause of your athlete’s foot, yuck). But mycorrhizal fungi are different. They are a symbiotic, mutualistic, FRIENDLY fungi. 

Mycorrhizae fungi have a symbiotic relationship with plant roots (mycorrhiza means “fungus-root”). The fungus “infects” plant roots, but it’s a good thing, helping plants absorb water and nutrients; in return the fungi obtain sugars and carbon. This is no fly-by-night relationship—it’s gone on for hundreds of millions of years. 

How does this work? The tiny threads that form the fungus body (hyphae) are smaller than plant roots and can reach areas roots cannot. There are two types of mycorrhizae fungi— endomycorrhiza, where hyphae penetrate inside the plant root’s cortical cells (cells that form the root’s outer layer), and ectomycorrhiza, where hyphae wrap around the outside and between the cortical cells. 

For the most part, the less than five percent of mycorrhizhae fungi that are ectomycorrhizal have this relationship with trees and woody plants; the remaining endomycorrhiza fungi benefit most species of plants. Mycorrhizhae fungi work their magic on 80-90% of all species of plants. That’s one fabulous fungi. Sir David Attenborough, as usual, does a wonderful job of capturing the magic of fungi. Watch it HERE.

And that’s not all these fungi do! Mycorrhiza increases plants’ resistance to pathogens and also help plants tolerate difficult conditions such as drought, increased temperatures, acidity or toxins in the soil. See this OSU FACTSHEET.

So this fungus is pretty amazing, and we haven’t even touched on the coolest thing it can do. Sorry—you’ll have to wait until next month’s Root to learn how mycorrhizal fungi make up the “woodwide web,” help trees talk to each other, send resources between trees, and even help out ailing tree neighbors. For a sneak preview watch HERE and HERE.

C Christian

We continue our series on common gardening mistakes—easily preventable practices that can put the kibosh on gardening success.

Lilacs set next year's buds shortly after they flower in spring. Prune immediately after the flowers fade to ensure beautiful blooms next spring.

Photo by E Barth-Elias

Why are some gardening mistakes common? In many cases it's a matter of knowing your plants. Take these three garden “oops” examples:

Get the light right

Plants have specific light requirements for optimal health and growth— getting sun/shade locations right is crucial for a thriving landscape. The recipe for success is on the plant tag and can be easily found online.

Example: If a grower recommends that a specific flowering shrub be planted in full sun, but mine gets 2-3 hours of sun, chances are it will survive and even appear relatively healthy. However, its foliage may lack fullness and vigor, and flowers may be smaller and fewer in number. Some under-performers become weak, which leads to breakage and invites pests and diseases.

Shade-loving plants which are distressed by too much sun may develop brown leaf tips, leaf margins, or appear faded and bleached out. Failure-to-thrive situations such as these may be remedied by relocation.

Here are a few directives (and their definitions) often found on plant tags:

• Full sun: 6 or more hours of direct sun
• Full shade: 6 or more hours of shade 
• Part sun: 4-6 hrs sun, lean toward more sun
• Part shade: 4-6 hrs shade, lean toward more shade 
• Morning sun: won’t tolerate hot afternoon sun 

Siting plants in their preferred light conditions sets them up to flourish by encouraging vigorous, productive growth.  

Water wisely

While the following three best practice tips are helpful, they require gardeners to know how much water each plant needs to perform its best. Start by grouping together plants with similar water needs. 

• Using a rain gauge, track rain and irrigation amounts to determine when plants will need supplemental water.
• Water slowly and deeply, thoroughly soaking 6-8 inches of soil. This is far more advantageous than a hasty drink every day as it encourages deep root growth. Shallow watering promotes shallow roots which dry out very quickly in the heat of the summer.
• A few inches of fine-textured, organic mulch (sourced from untreated plant material) will limit water evaporation from the soil. Added benefits of mulching include keeping plant roots cool, suppressing weeds, and improving soil structure as the mulch breaks down. 

Don’t prune off the blooms

Understanding a plant’s growth and bloom cycles is necessary to avoid inadvertently pruning next year’s flower buds off while making pruning cuts or deadheading spent flowers.

Plants that flower on old wood set their buds for the following year shortly after they bloom. If the plant needs to be pruned (for size or shape), it is advisable to do this immediately after blooms begin to fade. If no pruning is needed it is safe to deadhead the spent flower at its base without cutting into the stem. Examples of old wood bloomers include rhododendrons, forsythia, lilac, azalea, flowering quince, wisteria, magnolias, spring-blooming spirea, and spring-blooming weigela.

Know your plants, and act accordingly. A bit of education now goes a long way in preventing an OOPS moment later.

E Barth-Elias

The blooming meadows in Cascade Meadow Metro Park provide inspiration for back-yard meadows.

photo by E Barth-Elias

There’s little more that makes my gardener’s heart sing than a field of flowers under a cloudless blue sky. Given our weather over recent weeks (Can you say brrrrr?) it’s hard to imagine such a scene. But spring will come, and soon we’ll trade our shivers for shimmering sunlit days, watching in awe as the world emerges in living color.

As I contemplate the beauty to come, I look forward to spring's garden tasks, but mowing is not one of them. Because I have managed to exchange much of my lawn for flowers, mostly native perennials, I can cut way back on mowing and make a contribution to the environment. It’s part of a journey I’m taking to give biodiversity as much help as I can. I want to make meadows.

Why? Humans are destroying Earth’s ability to support life. Sounds drastic but we are creating environments that are uninhabitable for the creatures we depend on for food and water. We need to do something. In an effort to slow climate change, stop extinctions, eliminate pollution—the list of the threats we face is almost endless—people are turning to renewable energy via solar panels, reducing household waste streams, making agriculture more climate friendly, and much more. I focus on biodiversity because it contributes in so many ways to Earth’s resilience. Mostly, biodiversity helps insects, the “little things that run the world,” as renowned biologist E.O. Wilson sees it. Like them or not, insects eat plants, birds eat insects and the plants and then disperse seeds to grow more plants. These plants provide ecosystem services like food crops, carbon sequestration, soil stabilization. Insects are key to biodiversity. Lawns are insects’ enemies and one of biodiversity’s biggest threats.



Turf takes far more resources than it returns. According to the University of California at Santa Barbara, lawns are the largest irrigated crop in the country, using enough water each year to fill Chesapeake Bay. Lawns require about 2.4 million metric tons of fertilizer to maintain, much of which is washed into and pollutes local waterways, rivers, lakes, and eventually oceans. Lawn maintenance impacts climate change. In addition to the air pollution caused by lawn equipment, each ton of fertilizer manufactured puts two tons of carbon into the atmosphere. While I sometimes struggle to see any benefit to lawns, I only need to watch my granddaughters chase each other or the dog in their back yard to soften my distain. Turf was made for outdoor fun, and for creating pathways from one flower bed to another. However, we don't need a green outdoor carpet; a little bit of lawn can suffice.

I haven’t fertilized or watered my lawn since I moved here in 2012. Still, not taking care of a lawn isn’t the same as contributing to the environment. Why a meadow? Unlike meadow flowers and grasses, which have roots extending 10-15 feet into the earth, turf grass has very short roots. Plant roots sequester carbon; short turf roots don't provide good carbon storage. Lawns are food deserts for insects. I want to create a smorgasbord.

Doug Tallamy, University of Delaware entomology professor and one of the leading advocates for biodiversity, decries the amount of land devoted to lawns in America. He offers a solution to the waste they represent. Lawns, or the land they sit on, can be used to create much-needed biodiversity. Tallamy sees private property as “Nature’s Best Hope,” also the title of one of his four books. Private lawns in America cover about 40 million acres. If even half that land was turned into meadows and places where insects and other wildlife thrive, it would cover an area larger than the Everglades, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Teton, Canyonlands, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Badlands, Olympic, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, Denali and the Great Smoky Mountains national parks put together. Tallamy calls that land “Homegrown National Park.” By doing that, the problem shrinks. Yes, protecting large areas like parks and reserves are needed. But Tallamy’s project takes a monstrously huge problem and divides it into human-sized pieces someone like me can tackle. 

Being avid gardeners, how can we make our contribution to HGNP? For me, it’s to make a meadow. Next month: Getting started.

                         S Vradenburg

February Checklist:

• Plan for and buy annual and vegetable seeds now for the coming growing season.
• Take stock of your seed starting equipment such as lights, heat mat, and sterile medium.
• Start indoor seeds for cool-season vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, kale, and onion. COOL-SEASON VS. WARM-SEASON VEGETABLES: PennState Extension
• Visit local arboretums/greenhouses for gardening inspiration.
• Begin hunting for spotted lanternfly egg masses on trees and other wood and remove them. Here’s how: WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WITH SPOTTED LANTERNFLY EGG MASSES: PennState Extension
• Clean out bluebird and other houses in preparation for spring nesting.
• Fertilize houseplants, rotate them toward the light, and keep checking for pests.
• Trim oak trees while dormant. This may require a professional.

J Gramlich

More learning opportunities:

• Summit County Master Gardeners on Facebook
• Follow Summit County Master Gardeners on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/osusummitmgv
• Submit questions to Ohio Master Gardener Volunteers at Ask a Master Gardener Volunteer (AaMGV)
• Find fact sheets and garden information at OhioLine Yard and Garden