Thursday, February 16, 6:30 - 8 PM
Dayton Metro Library, 215 E. Third St., Dayton, OH 45402 Directions
Seating is limited -We are sorry but we have met our seating limit for the February meeting. If you would like to join the waitlist, please send an email to [email protected].

Join DAWO members as we learn about the fungi to be found in the Dayton area with state certified mushroom identification expert Brooke Medlin! Brooke will introduce us to mushrooms that can be readily spotted throughout the year in our own yards and out in the wild. Included in this talk are tips on identifying our local edible mushrooms as well as harvesting rules and etiquette. Expect to leave this talk with an understanding of how and where fungi grow as well as how to identify many of our local mushrooms yourself!

Our speaker, Brooke Medlin, is a horticulturist and landscape designer in the Dayton area. While she started as a nursery technician, her current focus is on creating and maintaining natural ecosystems within native plant landscapes. In 2019, she received her state certification (MI) as a Wild Mushroom Identification Expert, allowing her to expand into teaching others about mushrooms and their identifying characteristics. Teaching people about nature and expanding access to information about the natural world around us is one of Brooke’s biggest goals, and joys.

Snow Trillium Quest - Sunday, March 5, 1 PM

Indian Mound Reserve
2750 U.S. Rt. 42 East
Williamson Lane entrance
Cedarville, Ohio 45314
Directions

Indian Mound Reserve is a 169-acre Greene County Parks & Trails property, with Native American earthworks, an 1800’s log cabin, 8 miles of hiking trails along Massie Creek Gorge, and a scenic overlook at Cedar Cliff Falls. The spring wildflower display is incredible here - be sure to visit the changing floral display throughout the season!

The target of our search on Sunday, March 5 is the early blooming, diminutive snow trillium and a few other early ephemerals in Massie Creek Gorge. The gorge trail is narrow, with rocks and tree roots, and one short but steep slope to climb. The hike will be about 1.25 miles. Bring your favorite wildflower field guide and binoculars!

Families and friends are welcome! Please let us know if you plan to join us.
 
There are three entrances to this reserve - use the WILLIAMSON LANE entrance (link to map and directions below) by the LOG CABIN. We’ll meet in the parking lot on the right and start hiking at 1:00 PM.

Optional: Afterward, we can head to Pearl’s Fen, then walk to Oakes Quarry to view another display of snow trillium on a steep, wooded slope. (DAWO visited this site a few years ago.)

Join us as Tara Poling, Program Coordinator of the Marianist Environmental Educational Center, explores some of the smallest members of the plant kingdom - mosses! They can be found in any environment but are often overlooked. Ohio is home to more than 400 mosses, and we'll cover the ones you're most likely to see along a local woodland trail. We'll look at how they're similar to and different from other species, their roles in the ecosystem, and the adaptations that allow them to survive without the advanced features of larger plants.

Enter the Mount Saint John campus at the main entrance at 4435 E. Patterson Rd.   Drive approximately 0.1 mile up the hill.  The Chaminade Center is the building on the right.  Directions

Please let us know you are coming by registering.

Let’s see what is blooming along the Little Miami River at John Bryan State Park!  This is one of the sites mentioned in ODNR’s weekly wildflower reports.   We will be taking the scenic South Gorge Trail.  Be prepared for a bit of a challenge - it is narrow & rocky, and the lower trail has a few fallen trees to scramble under or over.  There are also streams cascading down the gorge and crossing the trail in places, some with stepping stones, others with shallow water and mud.  But the challenge is well worth it, for the scenery and the diversity of wildflowers!  Last weekend, this included hepatica of every shade (white, pink, blue, & purple), cut-leaved toothwort, purple cress, large-flowered trillium, marsh marigold, bloodroot, bluebells, large-flowered bellwort, Dutchman’s breeches, squirrel corn, & more!

Sturdy hiking boots & trekking pole recommended.   One-way distance is 1.2 miles.  When we reach the upstream bridge, we can cross and return on the less challenging stagecoach trail.  Optional:  to explore a bit of Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve upstream of the bridge before heading back.   

 Families and friends welcome!  Please let us know if you plan to join us.  Be sure to bring your field guides & binoculars!

Spring Wildflower Walk
Monday, April 24, 2023
5:00 p.m.
Garbry Big Woods Sanctuary
2540 E. Statler Road
Piqua, OH 45356
Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/ETLaazMmM3bAksxA9

Garbry Big Woods Sanctuary is a beautiful 100-acre undisturbed wet beech-maple woods, located east of Piqua in Miami County. Every spring brings an impressive and ever changing display of woodland wildflowers well worth the drive! This is a very easy walk on a .7-mile long handicapped accessible boardwalk loop through the woodland habitat, with many of the trees, shrubs, and flowers labeled for easy identification. Several benches are also placed along the boardwalk so if you can't walk the entire loop take a seat and enjoy the scenery. The large-flowered trillium display is already at peak bloom (2 weeks early!) and drooping trillium is just starting to bloom. Other recent observations are goldenseal and blue cohosh, with wild hyacinth in bud.
 
You're welcome to invite family and friends. Please let us know if you are coming!

Please note: We are going to Garbry Big Woods Sanctuary on E. Statler Road, not the nearby Garbry Big Woods Reserve on N. Casstown-Sidney Road! Also, dogs are not permitted at this park.

Join us as Macy Reynolds provides an informative and lively discussion on native plants. Macy’s experience over the years with native plant gardens has helped her come to respect native plants, shrubs, and trees, learning that they can be quirky, stubborn, surprising, and rewarding. 

Join DAWO members Sue Howorth and Maura Boesch as they lead us on a guided tour of the Grotto Gardens on the grounds of the Dayton VA Medical Center. This multi-award winning, post-civil-war era garden is 12 acres of display gardens and trees. The Grotto Gardens, designed and maintained by civil war veterans living in “The Soldiers Home” and in later years falling into a neglected state, has been restored. A stroll along the same paths as earlier veterans provides tranquility and peace as fountains, ponds, grottos, lush perennials, trees and shrubs surround you. The Grotto Gardens is now a Level 1 Arboretum featuring an 150+ year old Blue Ash and incorporates native plants. More information can be found here.

DAWO members Jim & Marcia first became aware of the importance of native plantings in 2020, when they grew tired of a tangle of bushes and vines at the rear of their property.  They did some research to identify species with the assistance of Montgomery County Soil & Water Conservation office, then began removing the invasive species and replacing with natives.  They have since continued planting their backyard in sections - dry sunny areas, a rain garden fed from the home’s downspouts, and shady areas planted with woodland natives.

Their 5-year plan is to convert at least 80% of their property to natives.  New this year is more garden space around their mailbox and front yard.   Also new this year is a raised-bed nursery, where they have begun growing plants from seed.

Marcia states that they are learning as they go and that this yard tour would be good for those just starting on their native plant journey.  Come and see what can be accomplished in just 3 years on a small suburban lot!

Join us for an evening walk in the Beaver Creek Wetlands! We will be exploring this newly accessible site, thanks to the recent completion of boardwalk and trails.   Austin Miller, owner of Birdsong Landscapes and a trustee for the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association, will be our guide as we explore high-quality wetland remnants, a floodplain with towering cottonwoods with an understory of halberd-leaf rose mallow, thickets of gray dogwood and willows, and, if we have time, a mature upland prairie planted in spring of 2011.

The first section we will explore is the wetland loop, about 0.4 miles in length. There is about a 100’ gravel path from the parking area to the beginning of the loop, which is all boardwalk with the exception of about a 30’ gravel trail section.  The wetland loop trail will be good for those with mobility issues (who can negotiate the gravel sections) or those who don’t care to walk as far.  The rest of our tour will be on a combination of boardwalk, gravel trails, and mowed grass trails.

Don’t forget your binoculars & field guides!  Use insect repellent as needed.

The Dave Nolin Wetland Reserve is accessed through the Hickory Hollow subdivision off of Fairground Rd, here:  https://goo.gl/maps/KqwJLC3nQFxNP2zm6 

Michele Banker, the Land Resource Coordinator for Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC) will introduce us to the native plants they use in wet clay soil, and then provide instructions for the seed collecting we will do. We may also visit the pollinator garden to collect additional seed. We’ll then have a seed cleaning demonstration and some hands-on practice. Bring garden gloves, pruners, paper bags, and a marker. You will be able to take a pinch of seed home for your own use, and seed envelopes and a few lunch bags will be available.
 
Registration is limited. You must RSVP to let us know you’re coming and to find out where to meet us.

Join Wild Ones Honorary Director Heather Holm as she explores the nesting habitats, life cycles, pollen collection, brood rearing, and general characteristics of some of the most common native bees in eastern North America, while highlighting the pollination of native plants and the mutualism between native plants and native bees.

When creating and managing thriving habitats for native bees, many factors such as seasonal phenology, nesting strategies, and flower preferences must be considered—and with approximately 3,600 species in North America (north of Mexico), there are many unique aspects to keep in mind when managing successful landscapes for bees. 

DAWO member and Ohio Native Plants nursery owner Ron Corbett has offered to lead us on a hike to view and discuss the large variety of trees on his 6-acre property, which is located southeast of Tipp City and backs up to Miami County Parks’ Charleston Falls Preserve.  He describes the property as offering about ½ mile of trail and it “may arguably have the most native tree diversity in the Miami/Montgomery County area. “   We may even get to tour his native plant nursery afterward!  

Ron advises that the hiking trail is dirt, so if there has been rain, it may be muddy.  There are some modest slopes to navigate, but nothing steep.  He was intentional about keeping the trail comfortable to walk!  There is plenty of room to park in the driveway or in the grass beside it; overflow parking would be in the grass along the road.

Join us for an enlightening webinar featuring authors, Neil Diboll and Hilary Cox, as they present their latest book, "The Gardener’s Guide to Prairie Plants." This comprehensive compendium is a treasure trove of knowledge for gardeners looking to incorporate native prairie plants into their landscapes. Neil and Hilary will delve into the making and application of this essential guide, sharing rich historical and ecological insights about prairie ecosystems, all while showcasing stunning images of prairie flora. 

Announcement of newly elected DAWO officers

Summary, State of the Chapter Report

Updated By-laws

Treasurer's report

January program

Recommendations for 2024 hikes and programs

New Business