Twigs from my garden

Cream and yellow daffodils, golden boughs of forsythia, pink and white magnolias, and fuchsia redbuds have put on an especially spectacular and long-lasting spring show in my yard this year. Then arrived phalanxes of outstanding tulips and lavender creeping phlox spilled generously over my flagstone wall. Flowering pear trees are bearing heavy-laden snow-white branches, crabapple limbs are bending with voluptuous pink blossoms, and weeping cherry are showering soft pink flowers like rain. The flowering quince bush has announced its arrival into the season with bright orange-red flowers and my lilac bushes burst into panicles of gorgeous purple blooms. Without a doubt, this spring has been the longest lasting and most luxurious blooms we have enjoyed for several years.

However, the bad news for gardeners is the dandelions are also enjoying a beautiful bountiful spring. Even worse, the garlic mustard is growing rampantly wherever it can grow, which is almost anywhere. Last year I made two passes pulling and eradicating every garlic mustard plant I could find. In complete innocence, I believed by doing so, there would be fewer plants to pull this year. Now I discover this invasive plant has propagated beyond all my imaginings - it is growing everywhere! Will I be able to make any headway this spring toward eradicating this non-native nuisance?

Imagine how much must be growing in our local parks and preserves! The roots of garlic mustard secrete chemicals into the soil that can kill our native wildflowers. Garlic mustard is one of Ohio's top 20 nuisance plants. The Nature Conservancy estimates Ohio has 2,300 different types of plants growing grow wild. Of these, more than 500 species are non-native plants introduced from other countries, either accidentally or for a specific purpose, such as medicine or for soil erosion. Many are escapees from our own gardens!

Like the ubiquitous garlic mustard, some are very invasive, displacing native plants in woodlands, wetlands, prairies and other natural areas. They also endanger our native wildlife that rely on native plants for food and shelter. A few non-native invasives in Ohio are purple loosestrife, multiflora rose, bush honeysuckle, Chinese tree of heaven, Asian bittersweet, Russian olive, privet, Japanese honeysuckle and dame's rocket. The Nature Conservancy suggests we remove nonnative invasive plants from our garden, volunteer at local parks, refuges or other wildlife areas to help remove invasive species, and help educate others about the threat.

On Mondays (excluding Memorial Day) and Thursdays from now through June 5, volunteers are asked to gather from 5:30 p.m. to dusk at Kendrick Woods. Volunteers will pull garlic mustard at the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Parks District area. For details, call 419-223-1025.

If you live outside Allen County, there is probably a park or preserve nearby where you could volunteer to help. On the other hand, if like me you own any amount of land that is overwhelmed this year with garlic mustard, fight the good fight. We shall prevail!

Events

• At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Parks District Senior Naturalist Rita Thelen will speak to the Gardeners of Lima about hummingbirds. The gardeners will meet at the stone garden house on the east end of Faurot Park in Lima at 7:30 p.m. Guests are welcome to attend and learn about hummingbirds and how to attract them to their own yards and gardens.

• At 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday, Happy Hours Garden Club will hold its annual plant sale at 1511 Wendell Ave., Lima, to raise funds for the club's civic projects.

• At 11 a.m. Saturday, Lima Garden Club will have its annual plant auction at the Cole Street Shelter House in Faurot Park, Lima. Perennials, wildflowers, shrubs, trees and bulbs from members' own gardens, as well as garden books and accessories, will be for sale. Sandwiches, beverages and dessert will also be available to buy. The proceeds will be used for civic projects.

Master Gardener Tip of the Week

Here is an interesting idea. If you want to attract many, many birds to your yard, scatter a bag of sunflower birdseed over a prepared area, cover with a little soil and keep well watered until the seeds begin to sprout. Thin the seedlings if necessary and allow the seed heads to mature for the birds to eat. Not all seeds will germinate, but this is a quick, inexpensive way to plant a large area to attract birds to your yard. Just don't allow any garlic mustard to intrude!