Ohio Valley Region Forum???

It's been mentioned a few times, usually when some other group was asking for their own forum... the suggestion of Ohio was laughed out of the "Mid South" discussion, although, unless you live in Southern Ohio, you have no idea how "southern" it actually is. When the Michiganders got their forum, a few suggested a "Great Lakes" forum that would encompass Northern Ohio... when the "Midwest" forum was discussed, Ohio was excluded from that as well. It seems we're just the odd man out of the Nation out here, not in the middle, not in the east, certainly not in the west, and not quite in the north (to some)

I wouldn't suggest a forumjust for Ohio, because Ohio varies as much North to South both in climate and growing conditions as it does in dialect. Southern Ohio has growing conditions similar to southern neighbors, and Northern Ohio has conditions similar to northern neighbors, so why not include the neighbors too.

I would like to suggest a forum for those living in the Ohio Valley Region... areas along the Ohio River Basin, Ohio, WV, KY, IN and could include parts of NC ,PA, IL, Northern TN and Western Virginia. Basically Zone 5ish 6ers in this general area of the country. I don't want to exclude anyone who feels that their growing conditions are similar to ours. We can have brutal winters, or we can have hardly any winter at all, we can have mild summers, or we can have summers so hot and humid we rival the deep south, and dependent upon which area of the state you are in, you could be in a microclimate of 7 or 4. But generally you're listed as a 5 or 6.

I'd just like to see somewhere that I can ask, Have you started your seeds yet, when are you setting plants out, what grows good for you? How are your tomatoes doing this year, and have folks with the same general growing conditions answer.

I've always disliked the notion of individual forums, but it seems like they're here to stay, and so I thought we may as well ask for our own little corner of the garden, now seems timely with all the recent additions and changes.

Other name suggestions also welcome... "Not quite Middle US Forum", "by no stretch of the imagination this area of the country forum"? "Don't fit anywhere else forum"? LOL Just somewhere to gain information from folks with similar conditions in the same vicinity of the country, and finally a forum suggestion that INCLUDES Ohio :-)

Yes, The Ohio River Valley seems like a logical grouping to me, too. And, yes, we'd better get together a forum before we are left out!

http://www.fws.gov/orve/images/refmap.jpg

Interestingly, I found this map of the Ohio River Valley Ecosystem, and it coresponds pretty much to the areas you mentioned, Melissa, and even includes a little of New York State!

I hope others are interested. Thanks for bringing it up, Mellissa. I wonder what others have to say?

p.s. If one is not already in the works, we can have a plant/seed swap at our house this spring/summer to kick it off (if somebody wants to organize it.)

p.s. What are you doing up at 3:09 a.m.?!!!

Have a great day. t.

HEAR HEAR!!!!

Oh, Dave..... I think this is a wonderful idea!!!! An Ohio Valley Forum is right up my alley :)

I just hope others think so too :)

Janis

Probably wouldn't be such a bad idea :) It's a challenge growing things in thick clay that stays wet and nasty all winter...and then dries like concrete in summer! I'm sure this type of forum would be helpful for some :)

Yes.. and we can get to know some folks in our region if nothing else :)

This forum makes perfect sense. I've visited the Ohio River Valley on long fishing trips and will probably be back in the area later in the year for a horse related convention. There is such an amazing variety of flora in your area, I do hope you get your forum so that some of us interested in regional gardening can experience what you're growing there.

best of luck,
don

What kind of fool would live in the Ohio River Valley?
Brutal Winters/then none.
Hot humid Summers/then cool wet
Warm inviting Springs/then snow
Cold windy Autumns/ then Hot & dry till Thangsgiving

We're Zone 7 w/ Zone 4 Winters at times

What kind of foolish Gardeners would choose to live like that?

Ric (The Fool)
BTW:GW has a Forum like this that worked great when I was still there.

PS Sign me up!!!

Judy, here is a map I found of the Basin, and it also includes a section of NY... that is interesting. :-)

Yes, the clay.... how could I have forgotten the clay... and yes, you're right about the concrete ground... it's amazing how the ground can be so soft and easy to dig in, then 2 weeks later you have to have a pry bar to chip it out.

Judy, yes, I'd like to start working on a get together/swap... maybe in May so we have less chance of cold weather? Of course this year, April might be bringing us 80 degree days... part of the challenge of living in this area... do we start our gardens in early April, as I have done many times, or do we have to wait until almost Mid May like I did last year? We also have a beautiful new park on the River... it's in the Clermont County Park District, but the views are breath-taking...it's not as close to hotels as Steam Boat, but it is less busy. :0) I'll look for some pictures.

An Ohio Valley Region forum sounds great to me.....and you're right, how in the world could you forget this nasty clay, LOL...and for my little corner of the region, rocks, rocks, rocks.....did I forget to mention that it's a little rocky here :-)
Vicki

Vicki---yes! We want the Kentuckians--despite the awful clay and rocks they are fabulous gardeners and plantspersons!

I forgot to attach the map I found.
Vicki, you're right about the rocks too. :-)

Glad to be included :-)

Wow, I didn't realize the Ohio Valley area was so large!

Ric summed it up pretty well I think LOL But don't forget the road construction. I read someplace a couple years back that the OH Valley had 2 seasons, winter and road construction :)

Here it is, January 17, and my ground is workable, and it is raining very lightly, and is warm like the spring days you pray for. Our luck it will still be in the 20's and freezinbg come June LOL ( hope).

Seriously, I do think this is a great idea, and really hope that Dave sees enough of a need to give us a forum

DrDon, where at in the OH valley do you go?

I didn't realize that it was so big either..... the OH Valley that is, I thought it was just OH PA and WV. Learn somethin new every day

Janis

Hi, again,

Looking at the basin map, I think we should have some good representation on the forum from the West Virginians, too, and, of course, Indiana is a big part, and Penn., in addition to much of KY and parts of NY, TENN, and ILL.--

The river basin is quite large, isn't it?--and lots of good gardening goes on there...until I looked at a map I didn't realize the river ecosystem was such a large territory...

I already have a couple 'region specific' topics for threads in mind-- for instance, the famous "Hosta College" event presented in Piqua, Ohio this March 10/11 that everybody should know about; and, notes and pics on a trip to 'Fallingwater' --FLWright designed home in western PENN (or isn't that in the OH Valley?); and, a garden and architecture tour we want to go on in Columbus, IN. http://www.columbus.in.us/page.asp?page=Gardens . And there is a wealth of great gardening going on around Lexington and Louisville and all over KY, of course, to discuss..

Yes. I think we would have enough interest if we could get a forum. Don't you think so?

Janis - Your weather sure sounds like ours. It was beautiful and 60 here yesterday, today it's pouring rain and is supposed to be in the 20s by morning :-( I never plant anything tender until the next-to-last week of May, I hate covering plants, and I have seen hard frosts more often than not at least thru mid-May. I always fret every year when the frost gets the first new growth on my roses, I try to remind myself that they're always ok and I don't bother covering them any more.

T - I hate to admit it but I'm such a home-body that I've not been to any of the gardens around KY, in the 18 years I've lived here! I am going to get up the nerve to drive thru Cincy this summer to meet Belinda (daylily970) at Valley of the Daylilies though. How difficult is it to just drive thru, looks like I stay on 75, then take 71 to Lebanon? LOL, no telling where I'll end up, I'm not much of a traveler.

You better invite me! You'll be going right by my house. LOL

I'M IN!!! Woohoo! It *has* been an odd winter.

Someone suggested I come over here since I mentioned in the fragrant gardening forum about wanting to try a Kleim's Hardy gardenia as a foundation planting this year. :)

So here I b. Hallo all of you Ohio River Valley-ians. :)

-Joe

Over in GW they have an Ohio Valley forum and a Great Lakes forum. Believe me, here in central Indiana, I never felt like I fitted in either one. I was pushing the envelope either way. I am not in Kentuckiana.

If Melissa's map is used, I feel included as my drainage is to Sloan Ditch; then to Pipe Creek; then to White River [West Branch]; then to White River; then to the Wabash River; then to the Ohio River..

This message was edited Jan 19, 2006 6:51 PM

OK 'technically' Dayton is not in the Ohio River Valley.
It's the Miami River Valley.
That's Dayton Ohio obviously Dayton KY is ORV.
Dayton gardening is a whole other animal.
I grew up there.
It is like upper and central OH in climate, soil and especially snowfall.

The newer Zone maps just getting ready to come out have tabasco and I as Zone 7.
River affect comes into play for us.
I am actually at least a zone warmer than mystic who is way south of us. And now Badseed has lost a Zone. Sorry dear! lol
So we're actually talking Zones from where the Ohio ends to Pittsburg. Probably 7a-5b.

tabasco DMailed me w/a GREAT idea.
All you Ohio River Valleian's (is that a word?) get in touch w/ everyone here you know in the basin.
Have them chime in here.

Ric

Sign me up!
I moved here 4 years ago and I am still making the adjustment!
I am in the "in between" zone of 6a.

As henryr10 states:
Brutal Winters/then none.
Hot humid Summers/then cool wet
Warm inviting Springs/then snow

Also we have hills! This makes gardening a challenge (drainage; top soil loss and mended ACLs issues).

I think we are also Southern wannabes. I know several of us have more tropical plants than those DGers in Florida.
Some discussion about overwintering tropicals and fostering microclimates would be great.

And how about discussing deer resistant plants. We have herds and herds of the vermin here in SE Ohio.

ROX

Ric-
Is Athens still 6A? My plants want to know!
ROX

Ric, where is the new zone map? They've had me in a 6b on the current one, a teeny patch right along the river... how close are you to the River? I'm 1/2 mile or so. I know when I drive to Wilmington the difference in the time things start emerging here in early spring and there is amazing. I had daffs out 3 weeks before they did there.

Those of us in "The Basin" I like it... doesn't identify with one particular state... just the Basin.

Besides winter hardiness zones, there are heat zone maps for summer. Actually I am warmer in summer than some of southwestern Ohio and some of southeastern Indiana....something to consider besides first sprout ups.

Generally it is warmer in summer west of me and cooler in summer east of me.

This message was edited Jan 17, 2006 4:58 PM

Well gee...because Dayton isn't included..I guess that means not me either? I'm NW of Dayton...near the Indiana border...zone 5a. What forum should I go to????

Okay Ric, who is more than happy to shove me out of my zone! Temps here run identical to temps there and sometimes we are a degree or two warmer. So, pllllllllllllllllllllllllgh!

I really don't think regional forums are a bad idea so long as they don't get out of control. There are SO many forums now that I rarely even bother to look at any that are not on my home page. There just aren't enough hours in the day.

I believe this is another version of what Melissa posted. How is Dayton NOT included? http://www.fws.gov/orve/images/refmap.jpg

Marcy, that was my whole point of asking for an entire area or region... no one in the general vicinity would be excluded. :-) I think Ric was just pointing out the differences we have in Ohio alone, and the Miami Valley (Dayton) is a part of the Ohio River Valley :0) the Miami (great and little)flow to the Ohio, and are considered a tributary. Of course the Ohio is a tributary of the Mississippi...

This article even includes parts of Georgia in the Ohio Watershed area...The Ohio Basin bumps the Mississippi Basin... I'm sure the growing conditions in the Mississippi Basin are fairly similar to each other too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River

The idea is to have a place for those of us in the same General area... and Dayton certainly is included. :-)

BOTH Daytons are included I should say. :-) and yes Chele, that map is close, and you're right.

Here is a little bigger one yet.

http://www.ent.ohiou.edu/~orbcre/basin/index_files/image001.gif

OK, everybody,

so we're all in sinc here--and let us not get too technical ---let's all agree there are lots of micro climates and micro seasons here in the 'ecosystem' we all garden in, so there is a wide range of topics to discuss in this general area. LOL

--(Even the authorities can't decide on the Hardiness Maps, Heat Zones, and Growing Degree Days around here, so we can't hope to either...)

The maps show pretty much the territory we would like to include--give or take the edges as people join the discussion--and it looks like a very sensible place to start....The point is to be 'inclusive' so we can have a lively forum. And, yes, Marcy, of course you are included! So---

Now, we need to garner more interest--particularly from DGers in Indiana, KY, WVA, western PA and outlying areas...

Who can do that?

I know a lot of posters have been put off by the s-l-o-w-n-e-s-s- the site has been experiencing lately, but it seems to be better now (or not?) so maybe we will hear a few more comments yet this week. And then have the forum up starting next week.

I hope so. :-) t.

Here is another vote for starting an Ohio Valley Region forum.

voting for a ohio valley region forum!

Not exactly an Ohioian but count me in. I have been to some of the gardens on the Columbus Indiana site and it would be a great tour-round-up-get-together thing .They will be (if the weather cooperates) gorgeous in May. Lou

Yes yes yes!! I love it.. great idea! So many times I'm interested in something new, and gather lots from those who've grown it, but with our quirky part of the map there's always a ?. I have always thought it interesting KY was a border state during the civil war, and is climate wise to. Cold winters, must have hardy plants, but hot southern summers. And the same for the entire region described above.

Thanks for letting me know Melissa!
Neal.

Well... I just was seeing what Henryr10 was saying....and yes...we are the Miami Valley..but.......like Tabasco says...there seem to be many microclimates around too! I have many things growing here that are classified as zone 6...and they do just fine!
Anyway..count me in for the forum! Sounds good!

I've never really liked the idea of Regional Forums because I feel the whole community misses out on those experiences we deal with in our own regions. It does appear that many are popping up and I for one would like a place to kick off my shoes and play in the dirt. Ky like Ohio never really fit in with the other regional forums. This one seems like the place for me.

I couldn't agree more with the weather conditions described above and did somebody say clay soil? I think we do have unique conditions that warrant a forum of our own. So count me in!

I would like to see an Ohio Valley forum, too.

I was teasing about Dayton not being in the ORV.
I'm from there and took a kayak from the creek near my childhood home in Kettering down to the Ohio.
Actually if not for the twin Miami's the Ohio River would be a creek most of the year.

We DEFINITELY have some unique growing problems here that don't really apply to most of the rest of the US.
If you go to the members's list here and click on the state.....all the members in that state appear.

http://davesgarden.com/memberlist/

Sorry if this is old news but until Katrina I never knew this function was available.

Time to start DMailing your friends and neighbors.

Ric

I am from the ORV area as well and I would definitely put a forum like that in my "watched" list...so here's another vote toward it.

QV :-)

Quiet Voice, WELCOME... what part of the county are you from? I was born and raised in Highland County, and lived there until about 11 years ago when I ended up on the river. :-) I still worked there until 5 years ago, and all of my family is still there :-)Who knows we might know each other in real life! :0)

Now see, if we hadn't been talking about this forum, I might not have ever run across Quiet Voice.... I think adding a regional forum like this might allow us to "meet" someone we might not otherwise simply because, as badseed said, there are sooo many forums now, no one has time to go to all of them, but a common ground like this regional suggestion, gives all of us something in common, and might even encourage some of us to visit other forums based on something we learn in the regional forum.

Not to exclude anyone, but it would be nice to be able to have plant and seed swaps and post where those who are close enough for it to be practical will see it. I think there have been some in the vicinity that I was unaware of until it was too late.