Tag: plants

In 2013, Great Parks began a park-wide assessment of habitat quality through plant surveys. FQAI, short for Floristic Quality Assessment Index, allows us to compare habitats in different parks, as well as to other preserves outside the parks. Why do we do this? Because being able to compare areas helps Great Parks determine where to […]

The Great Parks of Hamilton County landscape department has partnered with the Diamond Oaks horticulture program for several years. The early periods of this partnership involved the horticulture program producing plants for Great Parks. We were also fortunate to pick up an outstanding landscape technician, Brandon Garman, through an internship with the Diamond Oaks horticulture […]

With cold temperatures, bad weather and other challenges that come with winter, it can be hard to get motivated to get outside. However, if you can muster the strength to do so, you may find a winter walk can be quite calming and rejuvenating. At first glance, it can appear as though there isn’t much […]

While we may not get snow during the holidays, you can still find reminders of the season outdoors. Just recently Stewardship staff found this American holly tree (Ilex opaca) along the Parcours trail at Triple Creek park. Many people are familiar with hollies from Christmas decorations and landscaping plants, but did you know they are […]

There are many fall edibles that we often take for granted or don’t even realize. During the end of summer to early fall, I begin to go in search of some of these wonderful edible nuts and fruits.  These include shagbark hickory nuts, white oak acorns, paw paws, walnuts and many more. These same foods […]

The Stewardship Department really knows the parks inside and out. They’re almost always out in the field collecting water samples, conducting plant surveys, tracking native species or any number of behind-the-scenes conservation activities. As the days get longer and there’s more time for exploring outdoors, a few members of the Stewardship team shared their favorite […]

“Oh nuts!” said the wild turkey. “There are only half as many acorns as last year.” While 2013 yielded a bountiful black walnut, hickory nut and beech nut crop in our area, acorn production is down across Ohio. Every year, Ohio Division of Wildlife personnel generate statistics regarding Ohio’s annual acorn crop. This information is […]

If you’ve been to Sharon Woods lately, you may have noticed that the lake looks a little different than usual thanks to one of the smallest flowering plants in the world: duckweed. Duckweed (Lemna minor) is a very small floating aquatic plant that is often mistaken for algae. While it may look like one solid […]