Cincinnati Re-Wild - Backyard Ecological Restoration Umbrella's Journal

Just a quick journal post to call attention to a couple projects with similar intent.

Biodiversity of Native Plant Gardens
This project might appeal to those who want a way to contribute observations from a native plant garden or restored area without the extra step of creating a place and project of their own. "It is designed to showcase cultivated/non-wild observations from native plant gardens and cultivated ecological restoration sites, and explore the biodiversity these plantings attract." Casual observations of cultivated native plantings are encouraged, "as well as any insects, animals, fungi, or other organisms that have been attracted to visit these sites". There is no bar to clear before adding observations. Just join, observe something in your native plant garden, and add that observation to this project.

Home Projects Umbrella
I shamelessly copied the idea behind this project and applied it to our region. This home projects umbrella allows projects like ours to exist within a global network of people with similar intent. It might allow knowledge gleaned from restoration sites on the other side of the world to be applied to our region. What controls lesser celandine for gardeners in its home range? What genus of plants has been observed out-competing it? What types of insects are observed eating it?

Update: I had a question about adding batches of observations all at once. Here's how to quickly add observations from your "place" to Biodiversity of Native Plant Gardens.

Go to your observations

- Click "Search"
- Enter the name of your place into "Place"
- Click "Batch edit"
- Select All
- Click "Add to project"
- Click the "Add" button next to "Biodiversity of Native Plant Gardens".

If you have more observations that fits the project's criteria, but are not shown on the first page of search results... Scroll all the way down, and add each page of results separately.

In March of 2018, my wife and I decided to conserve a small amount of wooded acreage in Brown County, Ohio. We purchased the property because there were many woodland plants that exist in large numbers at this property but not in the woods behind our house here in Cincinnati. I spend a lot of time at Britton Woods clearing invasives. This makes me feel ok about occasionally collecting seeds, cuttings, and sometimes whole plants for re-establishment here at home.

My success at establishing these species here at home has made me think of Britton Woods as a farm for native woodland plants with local genotypes. Because I think of it this way, it would be gratifying to me if I were able to offer some of my "crop" to the followers of this umbrella. Although I think of Britton Woods as a farm, I'm willing to offer these woodland plants to umbrella followers for free.

Here are the species with local genotypes that I've been successful with.

If you'd like to try any of these, message me privately or comment below. The only thing I'd ask in return is that you make an "open" or "obscured" observation when the plants are established at the new location and that this new observation include the following observation field with the following value...

I would enjoy seeing how the different species move out of my conserved area and across the region. Setting this observation field and value will allow me to see a list of all the colonies being established via the Britton Woods parent plants.

We have not, as of yet, formally conserved Britton Woods via a conservation easement. For now, it's only guaranteed to be conserved while we own it. If we ever do create a formal easement, I'm hopeful there will be a way to continue sharing my crop of woodland herbaceous layer species with other "farmers".

~ Jason & Kim

I got an exciting message from a member of Horizon Community Church the other day. The church sits on 70 acres of Little Miami River corridor. Riparian corridors, especially those that run North to South like this one, are especially important to migrating birds. I don't have all of the details yet but there is talk of invasive removals, replacing lawn with prairie, and native plantings.

I think of the umbrella as hosting backyard projects, but it'd be silly to leave out this large church "backyard". They are a group of gardeners with varied backgrounds trying to limit pavement and grass with thoughtful plantings. Just like us.

Register for future volunteer opportunities here...
https://horizoncc.com/calendar/?calendar=&keyword=ecological

Or just follow along in support of their ongoing observations here...
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/horizon-community-church