Jesse Storrs was the visionary who began our Lake County nursery industry in 1854, partnering a few years later with JJ Harrison to form the world-famous Storrs & Harrison Nursery.  His three sons went off to the Civil

Summer Camp

Summer is the season of student-workers at Gilsons.  We’ve tried many different employment strategies over the years…1). ‘Keep the money in the family’ (that didn’t work because there wasn’t enough family or money,  2). local

In 1796 General Moses Cleaveland led a survey party along the southern shore of Lake Erie to chart the areas from the Pennsylvania line to the mouth of the Cuyahoga River.  They traveled by long-boats, perhaps to avoid the

Ask any tree-hugger what a native plant is and they will reply…a plant that was indigenous to North America prior to the arrival of Europeans…generally considered to be about 1750.

Alright.

Does anyone else have problems with this?

First of

North by South

The Historic Nursery Region of Lake County is three to seven miles deep and about twenty miles long, extending from Mentor to Madison.   Once covered by glacial lakes there are three sand/gravel ridges that

Along the Wayside

One of the finest hardy geraniums in our estimation is Geranium sanguinium ‘John Elsley’.  Refined and dignified, like its namesake, it provides great color now through midsummer…bright pink with a hint of purple.  The

Imagine the Cicada who does not want to arise after seventeen years of slumber.

‘I just got to sleep five years ago…’ 

     ‘I was in a dream with this chick who had these great mandibles…let

Michael Horvath was a landscape architect who immigrated from Hungary to New York and eventually to Cleveland where he became the City Forester in 1903. In that role he designed Wade Park and Rockefeller Park, among others. These two parks

Today I was invited by Paul Palagyi, Director, Lake Metroparks, to speak at the dedication of ‘Lake Erie Bluffs’ at the end of Lane Road and Blackmore Road in Perry Township. Other speakers included Congressman David Joyce, FrankPolivka, Lake Metroparks

Kris and I have been talking a lot about pollinators to anyone who will listen. Yesterday that resulted in an interview with local NPR…a story about bats! They do not function as pollinators around here (they do in the SW

A lot of my musings in the past year have been in the form of blog posts for Lake County Visitors Bureau and, more recently, Lake County Historical Society.

Here is a link to my article about the closing of

Last spring I received a troubling email from John Pogacnik, long-time biologist with Lake Metroparks. John lives at the Lakeshore Reservation in North Perry, overlooking Lake Erie. He asked if I had noticed a problem with our local beech trees

In late-October I participated in an Immigration Reform Fly-in to Washington DC with six hundred representatives of business, law enforcement and clergy. I traveled with Bob Lyons, never an easy experience, and eight others from Ohio. We listened to speakers,

The Asclepius tuberosa, native to Ohio, have finished their show of orange blossoms in NE Ohio. I’ve traveled by a patch at the edge of Rt 2 in Painesville for years. This month I finally made the time to leave

The Ohio Chautauqua Festival was presented in Madison over the July 4th week. I got roped into helping Bob Endebrock, retired ODA inspector, put together a local nursery history display. It turned out great and I’m proud of being able

Immigration Reform is finally on center stage in Washington DC! I was involved in three different meetings trying to influence the result with our Ohio legislators.

First, we hosted Caryn Candisky, NE OHio Coordinator for Senator Rob Portman, at Sunleaf

Whoa! Where did the Spring go! The Milky Way Kousa is blooming outside my office…many of the Rhodys are done! But here we go into the Summer Perennial Season! Salvias! Dianthus! Thymes!

We took 24 Master Gardeners on a wagon

Spring is slowly sneaking up on us in NE Ohio! Two weeks ago…the spring peepers began their late-afternoon chorus. Today I noticed the Kingfisher is back. In addition to the big guy who patrols our middle pond, there is a

My brief career in Live TV began and ended today. I was an ‘auctioneer’ on our local Ideastream Public TV auction. My first appearance went okay…hawking some donated items before the camera. I was introduced as a representative of Ohio